The presidential republic of Brazil (portug. Brasil) in South America with the capital Brasília covers 8,515.770 km². This is almost half of the subcontinent. It also includes some offshore islands in the Atlantic such as Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Rocks (lighthouses), the former penal colony Fernando de Noronha, as well as Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders (except for Chile and Ecuador) all South American states. These are French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay.
The colonization of the vast country began in the mid-16th century by the Portugal, who already planted the first vines in the São Paulo region in 1532. In 1626, the Jesuits arrived and cultivated Spanish vines in Grande do Sul. However, after the destruction of the Jesuit missions, viticulture was abandoned again. The oenologist Auguste de St. Hilaire had already urgently recommended in 1800 to plant European grape varieties in the south at the border with Uruguay, but this was ignored for almost 200 years.
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Thorsten Rahn
Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden