While clearly playing second-fiddle to Chile and Argentina, Brazil´s wine industry has made undeniable progress over the last few years and has a few - but not many - very good niche wineries.  

I have had the opportunity to visit its wine region a few times and most of its wineries, and definite stand-outs in my book are Marson, Valduga, Aurora, Dom Candido, and Salton, particularly the Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots.  The price range is quite reasonable, but as niche wineries can be difficult to spot in some wine stores or certainly supermarkets.

It is very difficult if not impossible to find a decent white  here; personally I don´t like Chardonays (way too sweet for my taste) and the Brazil variety leaves a lot to be desired.  However, Salton has an excellent Sauvignon Blanc.

I didn´t particularly take to the Miolo wines, and on a recent visit there finally found out why - it is the only Brazil winery which I visited which does not harvest all of its own grapes, it purchases second-hand grapes from other wineries to meet ambitious production targets, making quality control and consistency somewhat difficult.  

In the end of course it´s all a matter of personal taste.   Before dismissing Brazil wines see if your neighborhood  wine store offers a wine tasting of any or all of its stock.



Edited by miguel

Thanks dude for the accreditation, but in fact a wine lover pleasantly surprised by a few local wineries!  As this thread indicates, a number of us site members have actually gone Brazilian & found  some local wines that we enjoy.

I've never seen a Brasilian Zinfandel.  I do recommend a Brasilian cabernet called Rio Sol, it's from Pernambuco, in the NE.  It's quite nice too.  I like it MUCH better than Miolo.  http://www.gestaodoluxo.com.br/segmentacao/materia_19.htm

I also agree that Chandon has great sparkling wines, YUM.

My husband calls Brasilian wine "glorified grape juice" which is exactly what it tastes like to me.