Posted by Paula Maia under Wine
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Casa Valduga was one of the first Brazilian wineries to make sparkling wines in the method champenoise. The Valduga family arrived in Bento Goncalves in the late 19th Century and soon begun planting the first vineyards in the valley. Today it has the biggest sparkling wine cellar in Latin America, and it is still run by the family.
I wasn’t going to visit Casa Valduga at first. I focus on wineries of small-medium production that eventually will be showcased in my wine bar. Recognizing that it would have been silly to miss out on this opportunity, we ended up spending an entire morning in their gigantic complex. There was a film, a tour, a tasting, the whole shebang, and it was worth it.
It is not by chance that Casa Valduga is a symbol of excellence in Brazil. Nor a coincidence that it is the official winery in the Planalto. Their wines are indeed excellent and their top tier sparkling have fooled even the French. Therefore, all the medals and awards worldwide. Go Brazil!
Summer in Brazil is what any normal human being dreams of. Lucky for me, I can always go home in the summer and experience household names such as Carnival, Ipanema, Caipirinha, Samba, and much more. More happens to be WINE, of course. Brazil has been making wine since the 1600′s and is now a solid producer of beautiful Sparkling wines. One of the most important wine region in Brazil is the Vale dos Vinhedos, in Bento Goncalves, located less than 200km north of Porto Alegre.
Settled around 1875 by Italian immigrants who came mostly from the Trento and the Veneto regions, the valley has a range of features that distinguishes it from all the other regions. Up in the mountains, it is surrounded by the towns of Bento Gonçalves – Brazilian Capital of Wine, Garibaldi – National Capital of Sparkling Wine and Monte Belo do Sul, known for its stunning natural landscape that changes in each season.
We spent a long weekend visiting the most prominent wineries of the valley, including Miolo, Casa Valduga and the prestigious, but small, Cave de Amadeu. On my next posts I will feature these wineries alone, while here I am posting impressions of the valley in general and other places of interest we visited in the area.
Tags: Bento Goncalves, Braz, Brazil, Caipirinha, Carnival, Casa Valduga, Cave de Amadeu, Espumante, Garibaldi, Ipanema, Miolo, Monte Belo do Sul, Port, Porto Alegre, Samba, Sparkling Wine, Trento, Vale dos Vinhedos, Veneto
