Touriga Nactional Vines

Matt Slayen · Post by **Matt Slayen** » Tue May 16, 2006 5:08 pm

Weird question:

Does anyone know of any places (preferably CA) that sell Touriga Nactional vines? I would like to plant one in my yard for sentimental reasons....

Thanks
MATT

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Tue May 16, 2006 5:26 pm

Matt,

I hope you are planning to plant your vines in some Douro Schist 8)

Derek

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Tue May 16, 2006 7:41 pm

Thats a great question, does anyone know.

I too would be interested in planting a couple of vines in the backyard, just for the fun of it and in no way would I try to make my own port

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed May 17, 2006 12:48 am

The issue is not obtaining access to the vine cuttings, as I could help you with that. The real issue is getting them back to the USA as it against the law to bring "agricultural products" back into the USA. Hey, I know of folks in So. Africa who have done it (no names mentioned!) so it is not impossible, but you are probably better off purchasing cuttings of Touriga Nacional vines that have already made their way into the USA.

Matt Slayen · Post by **Matt Slayen** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:51 am

Thanks.

I have no idea how the wine industry goes about obtaining plants for thier vineyards... I actually imagined that a nursury would specialize in different vine stock...
i have no interest in importing the plants from abroad.

Thought there might have been a place to buy "hobbiest" vines.

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:11 am

There are a number of different places to buy vines in the USA. King Estate in Oregon has a large number of grape vines from particular cultivars for sale. UC Davis in CA also has them available. Whether or not they carry the Touriga Nacional is questionable. If you are serious, do the homework as it really is not that hard.

tvstorey · Post by **tvstorey** » Wed May 17, 2006 12:53 pm

Matt, your best bet would be a wholesale nursery. Vintage Nurseries(http://www.vintagenurseries.com/index.htm) is in California. They have a wide variety of stock available. They have "touriga" available, but it is a safe bet that is Touriga Francesca and not the Nacional. They might direct you elsewhere if they don't have it.

There are some wineries in Virginia working with Touriga Nacional now, so there may be nurseries there that have it available. Be aware, though, that agricultural regulations make it highly unlikley that you could legally ship vines into Calfiornia from another state. Some people do sneak around the regulations (state, national and international), but think of phylloxera, chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, lerp psyllid, green ash borer, citrus tristeza, etc. It's irresponsible and just not worth it.

I too have considered growing some "port" grapes just for the heck of it -- Phoenix has prime grape-growing weather. I was thinking of the Touriga Francesca rather than the Touriga Nacional, mostly because the "fresh" flavors of the former are more aromatic and floral than the latter.

Good hunting,

Matt Slayen · Post by **Matt Slayen** » Wed May 17, 2006 2:06 pm

That is very helpfull. Thank you.

Mario Ferreira · Post by **Mario Ferreira** » Fri May 19, 2006 1:29 am

I guess I may provide some help here :)
Actually, there's a vine nursery near Sacramento, California, that can supply Touriga Nacional and also Touriga Franca to vine growers.

If I'm not mistaken, the nursery is owned by a gentleman whose name is SILVA, which is a quite popular portuguese family name. (Mr Silva has portuguese ancestors.

If I do recall it correctly, the company goes under the same name: SILVA.

Back in 2002, when I had the pleasure to meet Mr Silva at a Port Tasting in San Francisco, he told me that big Californian vine growers have been already making experiments with Touriga Nacional.

Right now I'm travelling, away from office in Portugal, and I'm not sure whether I would be able to find Mr Silva's card once I get home.

Marc J. · Post by **Marc J.** » Sat May 20, 2006 11:21 am

Mario - thanks for that tip! I was thinking about incorporating some Tourgia National vines into my vineyard but I just assumed that they were unavailable on this side of the pond. I'll do a little investigation to see if I can determine the particulars on that source you mentioned in the Sacramento area.

Marc