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!
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
