Brazil: Nation Of Innovation

A groundbreaking new DO for sparkling wines, pioneering viticultural techniques, a greater willingness to experiment and improved marketing beyond its borders mean Brazilian wines are currently making waves

- JULIE SHEPPARD

White beaches, Amazon rainforests, Rio carnival, football. It’s fair to say that wine isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Brazil. But this vast country is making significant headway into the global wine scene.

The beginning of Brazil’s wine story isn’t an auspicious one. Although vines first arrived in 1532 with Portuguese explorer Martim Afonso de Sousa, early plantings failed. It wasn’t until Brazil gained independence from Portugal in 1822 – a move that coincided with a gold rush and subsequent flood of European immigration – that wine culture took root.

The most significant contribution was made by Italians, who were offered land in southern Brazil in the mid-1870s and settled around Serra Gaúcha and Bento Gonçalves – an area that’s reminiscent of Italy’s Piedmont. The south remains the epicentre of Brazil’s fine wine scene today – the legacy of those historic settlers seen in the names of large companies, such as Miolo, that dominate the industry here.

SETTING THE SCENE

While European immigrants brought