Exceptional Brazil: Wineries Region

Don’t be surprised… we produce good wines in Brazil!!

Another rich heritage left from the European immigrants was the wine production. Of course the climate and soil conditions are different from Europe, but with some persistence and creativity, Brazil became the fifth largest wine producer of the southern hemisphere. China is the main destination of Brazilian wines, but it is also exported to the USA and Europe on a large scale (and good quality). I didn’t have the time to confirm this information, but I read somewhere that one of the wineries created conditions to grow grapes in the north of the country, in Bahia state, which is very hot and arid compared to the south. From that grapes, they launched a very special and unique wine (or a kind of ‘spumante’).
Here are some statistics about the global wine’s trade:

Anyway… talking about wine is great, but drinking it is much better!!

The purpose of the article is to show the beauty of the wineries region. We call it here as “Vale dos Vinhedos” (Vineyard Valleys, in English) and it is 130 km far from Porto Alegre. The grapes are grown basically in 3 cities: Bento Gonçalves, Garibaldi and Monte Belo do Sul. Besides the great wines, the gastronomy is great and there are some nice tours to know more about the historical and cultural development over the years. This area is close to a large city called Caxias do Sul, which is home of some of the biggest industries of Brazil in the automotive and agricultural fields, like Marcopolo, Randon and Agrale. People can find here everything a big city offers: malls, nightlife, great hotels, good restaurants… however if we visit the inner city areas, we can find families which live in a way that sustains the traditions from the Italian immigrants, producing their own cheese and wines… that old ‘nonnos and nonnas’ cooking their own pasta and the typical ‘polenta’… that’s the part that I particularly love the most. There are some tours that include visiting those areas, get in touch with those local families and learn more about them. As a plus, the landscapes are a gift that comes with the package.