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Story & Photography by Manos Angelakis
Brazilian Wines, an Overview.
At the invitation of Apex-Brazil, Ibravin and Wines from Brazil, I visited Serra Gaúcha, in Rio Grande do Sul, the area that currently produces almost 90% of Brazilian wines. Quality wine production in Brazil has grown substantially since the early 1990s. Most of the grapevines planted (60%) are table grapes and American and Hybrids slated for grape juice, grape jelly, vinegar and low priced wines (labrusco) for domestic consumption; a small but fast-growing percentage of the production, with an eye toward exports, is fine wine from Vitis Vinifera. Currently, Brazil is the fifth largest  wine producer in the southern hemisphere, with an overall production of 3.2 million hectoliters this year.
A group of 12 international lifestyle writers and wine critics from the USA, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, UK, Switzerland, France and Singapore, spent 5 days in Bento Gonçalves and the Vale dos Vinhedos, meeting Brazilian Wine Institute and Wines from Brazil executives, touring many of the most important producers and vintners in the area and tasting their wines, both still and sparkling. All the facilities we visited were state-of-the-art; a few were very large cooperatives with hundreds of grower-members, while the majority was family owned and operated producers, descendants of the Italian emigrants that brought viticulture to Brazil in the 1870s. Actually, some of the best wines we had came from these smaller producers, with blends of Tannat or Malbec and Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Carmenère or Pinot Noir being on top of my list. From the monovarietals, the Merlots seemed to be the most successful. We also had some credible Nebbiolos, Chardonnays, and Sauvignon Blancs. The sparkling wines that I liked were classic, methode champegnoise blends of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; however; there was also nice Prosecco, made in the Charmat method. That is not surprising, considering that most of the Italian emigrants came to Bento Gonçalves from the Veneto and Friuli. One of the producers also makes a very fine 15-year old Brandy that tastes like an aromatic, off-dry Armagnac.
 The wines that we tasted varied in quality from average to excellent, but considering how young the Brazilian wine industry is, I think that in a few more years they will be competing on an equal footing with the other quality wine producing South American countries. There are a few details that will have to be worked out before a buyer can be confident that what is purchased is a high quality product; especially the “Reserva” and “Grand Reserva” designations on a label, that currently just mean that the Brazilian producer considers the contents of the bottle to be their best wine for that particular vintage. In other producing countries, these designations connote the minimum time the wine spends in wood.
© April 2008 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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