December 2nd. I just arrived at Porto Alegre Airport in Rio Grande do Sul, the most southern province of Brazil. Wow, it’s hot here. I walk through the warm wind to the car rental service to pick up my Fiat Mobi. My trip to the Vale dos Vinhedos – Valley of Vineyards – can start!
Pizzeria’s, trattoria’s and kaffee-hauses
I look out of the window of the car and see the signs flashing by: Pizzaria Sapore, Ristorante di Bartolomeu, Oma’s Kaffeehaus. It’s like I am driving through a Europe theme park. On the left I see Italian palazzo’s and agriturismo’s arise, perfectly lined with rows of cypress and olive trees. And a bit further down the road, I am driving by the skichalets of Austria, complete with wooden balconies and colourful flowers draping the windowsills. There is even a miniature Dutch neighbourhood, with cheese, clogs, windmills and canals. It turns out to be a project from an emigrated Dutch couple. A home-away-from-home, so to say.
I am dazzled, but something is off…it is so tropical and green… The banana and palm trees give away that we are not in Europa, but in Brazil. But the influence of the European immigration streams are profoundly visible in the scenery, gastronomoy, and culture.
Cookie
It is a 2-hour drive from the airport to Vale dos Vinhedos. And after numerous diving headers I realize: driving in Brazil is not for the light-hearted. I can hear my Brazilian stepmom’s words repeat in my head: ‘Rules exist on paper, but you are better of using all of your senses to not get run over by a big caminhão (truck), because I tell you: you will not win it, nor survive.’ Such wise words, and I feel her now.
‘So maybe I would have been better off with a slightly more robust car’, I say out loud in the car, without wanting to jinx it. Because it’s just me and my Fiat Mobi for the coming week. And we are going to drive all over the place…And with its 1L 4 cilinder power, he might just get up the hill in the 2nd or 3rd gear if he takes it to the limit. ‘Cookie! That’s what I’ll call you!’ I say. ‘Cookie, because you are as solid as a cookie tin on the outside, but sweet on the inside.’
After 2 hours and 5 near-heart-attacks, Cookie and I arrive safely in the beautiful vineyard-patched hills of Vale dos Vinhedos, where grapes are growing gracefully and people are enjoying a glass of wine with their Italian cappelletti soup.
Grand wines from a grand country
The next day I meet with Douglas. Douglas is the owner of a company that is specialized in Brazilian wine tourism. We are going to talk about Brazilian wine over lunch. We meet in the school of gastronomy in Flores da Cunha, where you can have a 3 course meal and accompanying Brazilian wine for a very fair price. He starts explaining: ‘Though you wouldn’t expect it, Brazil makes a lot of wine (just a little bit less than Germany and nearly twice as much as Austria). Most people don’t know this, because most of the wine – over 80% - stays in Brazil. But when you think of it, it makes sense. The south of Brazil borders Uruguay, which is famous for its bold red wines. And the wine southern wineregions of Brazil lie on the same latitude as South-Africa and Australia, where great wines are made as well.‘
He continues: ‘Did you know that the most northern and most southern vineyard of Brazil lie nearly 3.500 kilometres apart!?’ 3500 kilometres. I try to translate this distance into my own European frame. I mean, the Netherlands is smaller than the tip of my pinky, compared to most other countries. ‘I think that is the same distance as driving back and forth to Spain, but I am not sure’, I answer. Together we look on Google Maps, and we conclude that 3.500 kilometres approximates the distance between the Netherlands and Turkey…crossing the whole of Europe. Douglas takes it a step further: ‘And did you know that Europe can nearly wholly fit within the Brazilian borders?’ ‘Yes’ I reply, ‘I did know that, but I have a slight advantage with regard to Brazilian basics, because my family is partly Brazilian. I think most Europeans, since we come from small countries, are not aware of the actual size of Brazil.’
Wine & mango’s
Douglas continues explaining: ‘We also have a wine region in the far north of Brazil: vale do São Francisco. That region is so different from the rest. This is the wine region closest to the equator in the world. The only reason wine can be made there is because of the irrigation from the river that runs through the area. The wines, both red and white, are light and fruity. And the region is also the biggest exporter of table grapes to eat…and mango’s.’ So crazy, I think to myself. A wine region which produces mango’s. Those are 2 extremes that I find difficult to wrap my head around. Just like the Italian and German establishments in the surrounding landscape; something that I still find very disorienting, yet intriguing.
In the meanwhile the waiter has brought us 2 glasses of delicious white wine. A pale – nearly greenish – colour, aroma’s of green apple, citrus an peach, and very refreshing to drink. It reminds me of the crisp vinho verde wines from the north of Portugal. ‘What wine is this?’ I ask Douglas. ‘It’s so nice’. He smiles and says ‘Yes, it’s one of my favourites. It’s the ‘Green’ from Viapiana. The winery is very close to here, only 15 minutes by car.’ Excellent, I think, I will definitely drop by on the way back to the hotel. I ask Douglas: ‘So what characterizes Brazilian wine?’ He answers: ‘Fresh, fruity, but with enough acidity to remain interesting. And we make great sparkling wine too. Amazing quality, and so much variation. From fruity and light beach-bubbles to bold and yeasty party-sparkling.'
So many grapes, so many styles
A few days later Cookie and I start our day in good spirits. It’s weekend, so we expect no caminhãos sticking to our bumper, trying to make our lives miserable. We have a nice day ahead of us, with a wine tasting at Vinícola Almaúnica (a small scale producer) and a tour & tasting at Miolo (the largest producer of Brazil). We drive through the greener than green hills, patched with fruit trees, to Almaúnica, a 10 minute drive. The driveway to the estate building is beautiful, with cypress trees on both sides of the road separating the vineyards from the road.
I am offered a private tasting with the employee that has the best English skills of the day. And together – in a blend (pun intended!) of English, Spanish and Portuguese – we manage to understand each other easily. I get to taste a broad variety of wines: three sparkling wines (blanc de blanc, brut nature, and nature rose), 2 styles of chardonnay, and several single-variety and red blends including pinot noir, syrah (the benchmark wine), cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and malbec.
The wines are interesting and fun to taste, because there are so many different styles and the taste is distinct from other wine regions. To me the general feel would be that there is a lot of fruitiness and a good balance of acidity and sugar, making the wines easy to drink without getting boring. My favourite: definitely the brut nature rosé, because it has 30% of malbec grapes next to the classic chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, giving it a nearly velvety chocolaty feel. I can understand why the food pairing suggestion is feijoada, a very strong black bean & meat dish, because the wine will lift up its heaviness completely.
Brazilian wine culture
After eating the best lasagna in town at Ristorante di Bartolomeu, I continue to Miolo winery. Vinni – one of the sommeliers & educators – shows me around the vineyards and wine cellar. Miolo has approximately 1.000 hectares of vineyards in different wine regions of Brazil and produces more than 13 million bottles of wine per year. In the 70ties Miolo started producing fine grapes, in stead of the more common planted common grapes. I ask him about the difference between fine and common grapes. To me, this distinction is new.
Vinni explains: ‘Common grapes come from wineplants (vines) from the Vitis Labrusca, and include for example the grape varieties Rubia, Isabella, Concord, and Niagara. When wines are made from these grape varieties, they are often described as earthy and foxy. They are bit acidic and low in alcohol (up to 11%). Fine wines – in Portuguese ‘vinhos finos’ – are produced from fine grapes and come from the imported European Vitis Vinifera plants. You know these grapes. They are for example pinot noir, merlot, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and more. To date, only 20% of the wine production is from fine grapes, but this percentage is increasing.’
I wonder why, and Vinni continues explaining: ‘The Brazilian wines are becoming more well-known and recognized nationally and internationally. Within Brazil for instance, during the COVID-pandemic, the number of litres of wine per person per year increased by 30% from 2.1 litre per year to 2.8 litre per year, and remains higher than it was before. For comparison, the Argentinians drink 19.5 L wine per person per year and the French as much as 46 litres! We think that the Brazilians had more time to try other things during lockdowns and wanted to get a more luxury feeling at home. Also, to us, wines from chardonnay and merlot are special, because we like to experience the European styles.’ We end the tour with an excellent tasting of some of the different wine regions that Miolo represents, from all the way in the north to the far south.
Big big cake
After a full week of new experiences, it is time to continue to the next part of my winetrip: Mendoza, Argentina. I drive Cookie back to the airport in Porto Alegre. On the radio I can hear the bossanova playing, and my mind wanders. I had such a welcoming and great stay at Pousada Peculiare (they make wine too!). And it was so easy to make contact with the wineries, even despite the language difference (thank you whatsapp and google translate!). For example Familia Geisse, the benchmark of sparkling wine, where Pedro – a young winemaker from Italian descent – gave me all the ins and outs about sparkling wine in Brazil. Familia Bebber, where the winemakers make bold and brave wines to honour the traditional Brazilian gaucho culture (yes, there are still many cowboys in Brazil!). Viapiana and Luiz Argenta that both make classy and elegant wines, with an arty and boutique feel. And not to forget: the festival of lights for Christmas in the Austrian-lookalike city of Gramado. And I will have to come back too, because there are so many places that I haven’t visited yet, and wine regions yet to discover.
‘In 500 meters, turn right’, the strict British lady in Google Maps orders me. She doesn’t want me to take the wrong turn, again… 😊 I snap out of my daydream. We have arrived at the airport. I hand Cookie back over to the rental agency, making a deep bow for such a small car standing his ground in such a hilly and ruthless traffic zone. Next time, I will definitely rent a big big cake.
Want to read more about Brazilian wine?
Check out my in-depth story below in the related articles, where I also included a list of must-reads and references.
Hi Loes,
Brazilian wineries should hire you as influencer. Fr😀