The Wines of Brasil Overview
GDP reviews the wines from Brazil, a one-of-a-kind wine region with a lot of surprises
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Test your knowledge of the main wine regions of Brazil. Didn't know that Brazil has a main wine producing region? Well they do, and its been around for 150 years. Read the article, learn the facts and earn your Wines of Brasil badge as you find out what you need to know about one of the world's least known fine wine regions! Have you earned your first Wines of Brasil badge? Check ou...
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Comments
Bermudez
I am fond of tasting new wine flavors every now and then. As a matter of fact, whenever I'd go to a country, I'll go and head to a popular wine store and see which one sells the most. Of course, I will also try to search for some <a href="http://yourwinestop.com">Wine Reviews</a>, but to be honest, I'd try almost everything. I haven't been in Brazil in particular, so, what have you found out? lol were you shocked in a good or bad way? :)
Aug 05, 2012 at 11:20 AM
I visited the south of Brazil in February and discovered the amazing wines that are now being produced there. I lived there years ago and most of the wines were forgettable. Now, families have taken control instead of huge co-ops and have started producing expressive, interesting wines. I found the Merlot and the Moscato to be of particular interest as well as the Cabernet Sauvignon. Worth a try for sure.
Aug 06, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Sorry to disagree.
Brazilian red wine is grade 3 (in a 0 - 10 range). In my opinion they are still "forgettable" as you said. I agree with that.
On the other hand Brazilian sparkling wines are among the top in the world.
They are fabulous and surprisingly tasteful. Try 'em.
Aug 06, 2012 at 3:05 PM
Jennings
Thanks for an informative piece on the development of Brazil's wine industry. After tasting a couple of Brazilian reds several years back that I can only describe as tasting like declassified cough syrup, I have done little to seek out Brazilian wines. Sounds like I'll need to take another look at this country's wines.
Aug 06, 2012 at 3:25 PM
lydecker
The best producer in Brazil is Lidio Carraro. Their Dadivas Chardonnay is out-of-this world. And the Agnus Merlot is equally impressive. Great wines for great prices, Highly recommend!
Aug 06, 2012 at 5:05 PM
oliveira
Yes, well we over here in Brazil - sommeliers, restaurants, consumers, etc. are boycotting ALL national wines in response to a possible raise in taxes on imported wines. And, guess who is behind this protectionism act? ALL the wineries that Gregory Dal Piaz visited. Maybe the next article should be about that... As Hamlet would say, there is something rotten in the country of Brazil. Beware.
Aug 06, 2012 at 6:22 PM
Very good snapshot of Brazilian winemaking at this point in time, Greg. One of your best to date.
Aug 06, 2012 at 7:42 PM
Very interesting, Greg. Thank you very much. I have a passing interest in both geography and geology. I appreciate your introducing these topics and how they shape the wine.
I also have to say that the political environment that Viviana highlights is also very interesting. Viviana, I find this interesting although I do not think I have a horse in this race. Please feel free to keep us up to date.
Aug 06, 2012 at 8:11 PM
Zotz
I am a Brazilian who lives just around one hour by car from Vale dos Vinhedos, in Bento Gonçalves. Although Italian immigrants arrived in Rio Grande do Sul in the decade of 1880, our viticulture is still too young as so as the country itself. As Dal Piaz said, the fine grapes started to be recently cultivated. Actually, around 30 years ago but the wines started to be marketed from the 90’s on. Because of that, what I see in Brazil is a huge discrepancy in quality among Brazilian wines. On the one hand, one can taste some merlots with fine polymerized tannins and on the other hand, there are acid and weak bodied reds. Many wineries have been pushing to qualify their wines and investments in the wine industry have importantly risen over the last 15 years. So, it’s necessary to explore the range offered. The best tip I would give for someone who wants to know good Brazilian wines would be: start with sparkling. You won’t make a mistake. There are excellent champenoises here which are made with such devotion that seem to have monks as their winemakers. Valmarino & Churchill Extra Brut Champenoise is, certainly, among the best. I don’t think it can be easily found though.
Aug 06, 2012 at 8:18 PM
Viviane, e quem vc pensa que está por trás desse artigo?!?
Aug 06, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Viviana, perdäo.
Aug 06, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Junior
Some thoughts :
Red Wines from Brazil are far from being 3 out of 10, if only people remembered that grades are only representations of their opinions and not absolute truths... there are good reds and i can mention several : cave de pedra's special blend, milantino's GRAN, almaunica's pinot noir, larenti's merlot, viapiana's cabernet sauvignon and marselan...many more, if only one would take the honest effort to GET TO KNOW one's field before stating judgment. As for whites and sparkling wines, Brazil has excellent wines. Wines of which the world already knows and recommends. Needless to speak of them.
Drink before judge, let your tongues and noses be the voice you actually hear and not someone who has one's own truth not necessarily selfless. Do not listen to me also. Drink, feel and judge. That is all.
Aug 06, 2012 at 9:12 PM
Made my day to see this article. I live in Brazil and have visited many of the wineries in the main Sao Bento wine region and surrounding areas (including the Garibaldi ‘sparkling wines’ region). We’ve got some great stuff in Brazil - and as a big fan of Chilean and Argentinian wines, I don’t say that lightly.
Many of Brazil’s best producers are small outfits that don’t have enough scale to promote their products and as a result of that and other factors much of Brazil has no idea about the many great quality wines produced here. And, yes, there are also quite a few producers that generate mass produced forgettable and even undrinkable wines (Aurora, anything from the Sao Roque region).
What I like about the Brazilian wineries is the range of grapes grown and innovation. As Greg mentions, there is a strong Italian influence. As well as French and Spanish. But what I think is unique to Brazil is cultivation of Portuguese grapes like touriga nacional which seem to do very well here. There is some special stuff in Brazil that you can’t find anywhere else. For example Rio Sol’s great touriga nacional grown in a valley practically on the equator. Beyond the merlot that everyone talks about, I think Brazil’s best grapes are really cabernet franc and touriga nacional. Have also had some great syrahs and cabernet sauvignons.
A few favorites:
Cabernet Franc - Valmarino, Churchill
Touriga Nacional - Dal Pizzol, Rio Sol
Cabernet Sauvignon - Pizzato
Syrah - Almaúnica
Aug 06, 2012 at 9:34 PM
Tinoco
It´s hard to me drink Brazilian Red wines because the price and the quality. I live in Brazil and the other red´s wine(Chilean, Argentine,Italian are better quality and price! From Brazil I Prefer the sparkling wines and I think that the most representative and cultural-climate to Brazil,
Aug 06, 2012 at 11:17 PM
lover
Too much money for an average quality, very few efforts worthy, extremely agressives and arrogants economical and polictical management (including some safeguard requirement claimed by very well-succeed producers). The country could be in a better way, but is dangerously playing according to political procedures wich could be described likek "the new wave of south-american dictatorial policy". Brazilians, patiently, could be even proud of their first steps, but not blind and arrogant about their future! Let the world judge for themselves!
Aug 07, 2012 at 12:28 PM
I visited Bento Goncalves last year and stayed at Valduga. After trying reds from a few of the vinhedos and sharing the same experience as many of you, I decided to focus more on the whites and sparkings. I LOVED the sparking wines from Chandon!!! They were much different than any of the American-produced Chandon sparkings. Do you know or have you heard of anyone importing any of the BR Chandon into the States?
I can't wait to see your notes on the vineyards next week. I also visited and have notes from Pizzato, Garibaldi, Almaunica, Valduga, Mielo, Cava de Pedra, Vallontano.
Johanna
Aug 07, 2012 at 2:31 PM
Club-
Brands
Very informative article. We agree with the lack of Brazilian Moscatos available in the US. That's why this past month, we (Island Club Brands) launched Carnaval Brazilian Sparkling Moscato Wines (http://www.carnavalsparkling.com). From Vinicola Aurora Winery in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Carnaval is currently available in Florida and Tennessee, with national expansion expected within the year. We are trying our hardest to get it to the masses, as demand is definitely soaring!
Emily
emily@islandclubbrands.com
Aug 07, 2012 at 3:41 PM
Bittencour-
t Pereira
I'm very happy to see a foreigner article made for a honest guy talking about our wines. This is a proof that we are in the right path, even seeing some foreigners (and some brazilians) rating our wines with a grade 3. In fact, this is a proof that they don't know anything about brazilian wines! People talk about Vale dos Vinhedos, but know less than the article and never tried a wine from a different region! I can give you guys a good example of one excelent red wine that comes from Campanha called "Província de São Pedro Lote 1 and 2" made for a french family that has 200 years producing wines in France and brought their expertise to produce a "Brazilian Bordeaux" (It´s not a Bordeaux because was made in Brazil and it is a varietal, not cut of 3 grapes): Light, rubi, biodynamic and honest! However, the winery is very small and the heavy taxes and unfair competition with "our hermanos" does not allow this excelent Cabernet Sauvignon arrives in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, places where public opinion is very important, specially for the wine market. People talk about Vale dos Vinhedos, but forget to mention the most promising terroir in Brazil: The Santa Catarina Highlands. There you have Wineries such as Villa Francioni with a Premium Rosé called " Vinho da Madonna" translating "Madonna's wine": A provence rosé made with 8 different grapes that rests in oak french barril first use for months. The singer Madonna was in São Paulo in 2010, when in a blind taste guided for the sommelier Manoel Beato this Rosé was introduced among wines from the rest of the world. You guess what happened? She took a box of this wine that was bought in the most fancy restaurant (Fasano)! Do you guys know that in São Joaquim (Altitude Wines) is produced a Brazilian Ice Wine? Ice Wines are the most difficult process to produce wines in the world! They harvest the frozen grapes in negative temperatures and still in the field, they load a freezer 'till their facilities to press and drain the rich juice of concetrated alcohol and tanin to make a small bottle that reaches R$ 300,00 (Prized many times). Only 5 or 6 countries in the world make this kind wine. Wines from Santa Catarina State (São Joaquim region) are the finest from the ultimate terroir in Brazil, but people insist to talk about things that they don't know or compare supermarket wines, ranking foreign wines as top!
Aug 10, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Very informative article. When I get down to Rio Grand do Sol I can make a more definitive statement strained through my obvious bias for nervy northern wines. An outstanding question: Merlot is a staple in this region of Brasil and apparently leaves the author cold. The author is not drinking the proper wines. Merlot does not happen to be a personal favorite with me either, but let us agree that Pomorol can produce something we can agree on - depending on the property of course. And Brasil does indeed produce very drinkable Merlot from my meager experience with the products of this Antipodal nation.
Aug 24, 2012 at 10:36 PM
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