Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/7240
62 / the tasting panel / march 2010 BRaZiL The Hotel & Spa do Vinho Caudalie overlooks the Miolo vineyards. PHOTO COURTESY OF HOTEL & SPA DO VINHO CAUDALIE Bento Gonçalves, a southern city of 105,000 people, is the Napa of Brazil. It lies at the center of the Vale dos Vinhedos (Wine Valley), a sub-zone of the Serra Gaúcha wine region. Wine production here began in the 1870s with the arrival of German and Italian immigrants, whose infl uence is still very apparent in the food and language of the area. Today, there are 31 wine-producing businesses in the Vale, most of them producing less than 50,000 liters per year. Is it so surprising that Brazil produces wine? After all, the country is shaped like a bunch of grapes. Money, mostly private, is being pumped into the Brazil- ian wine industry like newly-fermented wine into a barrique. What riches it will produce is a story to follow for the next several decades. Located at parallel 29°, Serra Gaúcha has an average winter temperature of 12°C (54° Fahrenheit). In the summer, temperatures average 22°C (72° Fahren- heit). The humidity caused by high rainfall means that spraying is essential. The lush landscape implies very fertile soils, of which the prevailing type is argillaceous, with plenty of clay. This suits Merlot well and also tempers the acidity promoted by the region's high altitude—Bento Gonçalves is at 690 me- ters (2260 feet) above sea level. Mechanical harvesting is diffi cult here because of the undulating landscape. Traditional pergola vines are still widespread, but for the production of fi ne wine (as opposed to bulk wine) trellising is essential. Vinifera rather than hybrid vines are now universal for fi ne wines. Here are three of the leading wine producers in Serra Gaúcha, all of whom export their wines to the U.S. Waxing brazilian by Stuart George