Entries tagged with “Champagne”.
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Sat 14 Nov 2009
Posted by Paula Maia under Wine
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Don Candido is also a member of the Valduga family who set off on his own to open what is now a boutique winery. Favoring quality and tradition, Don Candido produces small quantities of outstanding wines from noble grapes. These have won several international medals and awards. One can still meet with Don Candido in their dining room and chat over a grappa.
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In 1972 Don Giovanni was the first to age his wine in small barrique. A blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Gamay, the wine was very concentrated and quite tannic, with an alcoholic volume considered high for the time of about 12%. Since then, Don Giovanni has been producing powerful wines of great complexity and ageing potential. The winery guesthouse is one of those places you wish you would never leave. Not until you see the tab.
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Miolo was the one winery I had no desire whatsoever to visit. Pretty much a Coca-cola of wines, Miolo group is the biggest wine producer in Brazil. Joining other big wine groups such as Osborne, Miolo aggressively entered the international market in 2006. Today their sparkling wines can be found in Costco as well as in any ordinary liquor store. But then again, how could I be there and not pop in? What was meant to be just a quick check, turned out to be a really nice tasting of their premium wines. With big names come big prices. Expect to pay Champagne price for their sparklings and Chablis 1er Cru price for their Chardonnay.
Tags: barrique, Cabernet Franc, Chablis 1er Cru, Champagne, Chardonnay, Coca-cola, Costco, Don Candido, Don Giovanni, Gamay, Merlot, Miolo, tannic
Thu 12 Nov 2009
Posted by Paula Maia under Wine
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It was a priority to visit Bento Goncalves’ wineries since I was going to be around there to see what the buzz was all about. How is it possible that the sparkling wines of the Vale dos Vinhedos were being compared to Champagne? Of course they are made in the Traditional Method and with the same Champagne varieties, but what about the soil? The climate? The quality? I was puzzled.
Elected the best sparkling wine of Brazil, Decanter magazine featured Mario Geisse; owner of Vinicola Geisse, as the man behind this Champagne-like espumante that won numerous international awards. Small production and high quality is the motto at Vinicola Geisse, where we met with one of their knowledgeable staff- a student of the nearby Viticulture & Enology University.
Their elegant wines can only be found in boutique stores and restaurants throughout the world, and of course, here in my cellar, where a few bottles made its way safe and sound. I must agree, Vale dos Vinhedos is definitely making sparkling wines comparable in quality and style to some Champagne houses and Cave Geisse is the proof that Brazil can produce excellent fizzy juice. Saude!
Sun 23 Aug 2009
Posted by Paula Maia under Wine
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Last year I took my first wine trip. Technically it was my second or third, but, at that time I had no idea I was actually in a wine country.
I’ll explain. It was in the 70′s and my family used to spent weekends in the mountains north of my hometown Porto Alegre, Brazil. Believe it or not, they grow grapes there and they are big in sparkling wines.
Back then they didn’t produce so much sparkling wines, but mainly rustic, every day table red wine. So my family went straight to the source to get wine jugs and grape juice, and those were officially my very first visits to a winery.
However, I like the idea that my first adult trip to a wine country was also with my family, but to no less than CHAMPAGNE! No other wine evokes celebration, joy and happiness like Champagne, and to go there, touch those vines, smell that soil and sip the final product was simply rapture.
Driving through the Champagne Route we couldn’t help but stop by and taste the wines from smaller houses that cater only to their strong local market. With such a limited production and high demand, they don’t even bother to export.
Then we toured Pommery Estate and their 18 kilometers (11 miles) long roman-time cave, where 20 million bottles of the bubbly stuff lies at 30 meters (100 feet) below ground at a constant temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahreinheit).
It was heaven!
