Viticulture

The Borracho results from the use of goatskin, which adapts to liquid container due to its resistant and malleable material.

It was traditionally used to transport the grape juice, called must or “new wine”, from the wine press, where the grapes were trampled, to the lojas (repositories, store rooms), where the barrels were stored.

This artefact, also called odre, maintains the shape of the animal’s skin, which is used turned from the inside out, with only the openings in the areas of the paws and head tied. The wine is introduced and removed through the neck opening, as this is the largest.

It is an easy-to-transport container, because it adapts well to the backs of the transporter. The suspension is made by connecting the skin of the near, anterior and posterior limbs, in the form of “loops”, to which the headstall is attached, formed by two parallel tow-braided strings, which rests on the front of the conveyor. These men, who carried the borracho on their backs, walking long, steep paths, inaccessible to other means of transport, were called borracheiros.

Credits: Madeira Ethnographic Museum