For most people Brazil is a tropical country famous for its coffee, the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro, sandy beaches and the Amazon River. But, how many people associate the country with wines and know that Brazil is South America's third-largest wine producer, after Argentina and Chile?

The first documented vineyards were planted in the Jesuit missions and date from the mid 17th Century. In the 19th Century, Italian settlers arrived from Veneto and planted vineyards mostly located in the Sierra Gaucha around the town of Bento Gonçalves. Nowadays, it is known as the Brazilian wine capital.

Brazil's production is almost entirely absorbed by the domestic market. As most of the locals cannot afford wine, the wealthier classes are the main consumers.

Vineyards have been part of the Brazilian scenery ever since colonial times. In Pernambuco, just south of the Equator, productivity is amazingly high, with two crops being harvested every year.

Travelling North towards the warmest regions the following states produce wines: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Parana, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia and Pernambuco. At the moment, they are mostly planted with American grapes like Isabella, Concord and Niagara, all used for table grapes, grape juice or wines reserved for domestic consumption. The latter are characterised with the typical vitis labrusca musky smell. These more productive and disease-resistant vines, originating from North America, represent 80 per cent of the total output of Brazilian vineyards.

The main problem in the vineyards is shortage of Vitis Vinifera grapes (like Cabernet and Chardonnay), which are susceptible to fungal diseases in Brazil's hot and humid climate. As vines of American origin are seldom affected by mould, crossings of European and American vines are widely planted in Brazil.

The main vine-growing region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, represents 90 per cent of the country's production having more than 700 wineries out of the 800 or so in the whole of Brazil. The best wines come from the "Vale dos Vinhedos" (the Vineyard Valley) west of Bento Gonçalves.

Boutique wineries like Don Laurindo, with its 15 hectares of vines, sells all its production locally. On my recent visit there, I was particularly impressed by the Tannat Reserva 2005 redolent of spicy fruit.

On a larger scale, Miolo, one of the most dynamic growers in Brazil is at the forefront of wine production and produces world class wines. The story of the Miolo family in Brazil began in 1897 when Guisseppe Miolo exchanged his savings for a piece of land known as Lote 43. Today, their premium wine called Lote 43 is an outstanding Cabernet-Merlot blend. Miolo has its headquarters in the state of Rio Grande do Sul but owns wineries in several other regions. Here, you have the best of both worlds: traditional Italian home cooking in the restaurant "Osteria Mamma Miolo", next to a state of the art winery which would not be out of place in Napa Valley.

The Miolo family is now participating in an ambitious new project: South America's first Wine Spa launched in October 2007. This five star hotel offers visitors beauty treatments using products exclusively from the vine.

By Lilyane Weston

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