Ed Walker
The wine producing nations of South America are making great strides in improving the quality of their product. In the fourth part of this series we will look at the wines of Brazil.
Many people are surprised to learn that Brazil has a wine industry. After all, how often do you think of wine and Brazil together? Brazil also has a wine-image problem, as people think Brazil is just too hot. In addition there is also widespread scorn of Brazilian wines by Brazilians themselves. Perhaps this is all justified, because in truth Brazilian wine isn‘t of high quality. However, if you are selective there are some very drinkable varieties out there, at great value for money.
The history of wine in Brazil started in 1532 with the arrival of the Portuguese emissary Martin Afonso de Sousa, in whose expedition Brás Cubas, was also a member of the crew. Brás started planting his vine on the coast of the state of São Paulo and in lands later to become the city of São Paulo. In the 17th century, Jesuits introduced vine-plants in the "Missões" (Missions) region, in the south of Brazil. In the two centuries that followed, American hybrids were introduced due to the difficulty in acclimatization of the European varietals.
During the last quarter of the 19th century, with the intensification of immigration, especially from Italy, there was the first boom of winegrowing on Brazilian soil. Throughout the 1970s, viticulture reached a higher level of quality, following the reintroduction of European grape varieties and the arrival of more modern technologies. This phase has also been marked by the great increase in the domestic consumption (Brazil was the only country in the world to have its consumption doubled in the past ten years) as well as by the increasing supply of imported products in the market.
The state of Rio Grande do Sul accounts for more than 90% of the wine production in the country and it is where the best wineries are located. The majority of these wineries can be found in the Serra Gaúcha region, with cities Bento Gonçalves, Garibaldi and Caxias do Sul nearby. The climate makes it extremely arduous for quality vines to be cultivated. High acidity of the soil together with high rainfall (approximately 1,800 mm per year - 2 to 8 times as much as in the classical regions in the world) result in grapes with low glucose values, little alcohol and relative acidity in wines.
Mostly because of the climatic conditions the best wines are those that desire high acidity such as; espumantes (sparkling wines) produced using the classical method, champagnes (Pinot Noir/Chardonnay), whites (Gewürztraminer) and reds (Gamay and Pinot Noir), light and fruity. They can be attractive wines and they are made for immediate consumption. The best vintages of the past two decades were: 1982, 1986, 1991 and 1999.
The following district appellations are presently renowned as distinguished trade names in Brazil: Miolo, Valduga, Don Laurindo, Dal Pizzol, Cave D‘Amadeu among others.
Check out the Brazilian wine section of your supermarket and please let other gringoes.com readers what you think the best wines are by sending comments and recommendations to gringoes@gringoes.com
Read previous articles in this series:
South American Wine Guide: Argentina
South American Wine Guide: Chile
South American Wine Guide: Uruguay
Brian Hazlehurst has sent us his recommendations for some Chilean Wines;
Tarapacá - Cabernet Sauvignon or Carmenère (R$16 and R$24 respectively in Rio's Zona Sul supermarket chain - difficult to find elsewhere). Of course, there are other Tarapacás over R$1,000 for the real connoisseur too.
Casilheiro del Diablo - around R$35 - R$50 in Rio supermarkets. Excellent, well-bodied red.
Undurraga - white (the one in squat bottle) - marvellous
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