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.

History

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.

Around 1840, the hybrid grape Isabella was introduced in the Rio Grande region. Although it produced only simple wines, it tolerated the climate. A significant development in viticulture only occurred again from 1875 through Italy immigrants who brought their native vines. Due to the difficult climate, many grape varieties were experimented with, but only after World War I were Vinifera varieties also used. Large international multinationals initiated new initiatives from the 1970s, including Bacardi-Martini Limited, Cinzano, Heublein, Martini & Rossi, Moët et Chandon (Chandon Brazil), Domecq, and Seagram.

Regions & Cultivation Areas

In the meantime, there have been significant improvements in viticulture and technology that have led to internationally recognized sparkling, white, and red wines. Not least, the football World Cup held in Brazil in June/July 2014 contributed to this. Viticulture is mainly practiced in the temperate, equator-remote zones. The largest area, with about 70% of the vineyard area, is the state of Rio Grande do Sul in the hilly region around Bento Gonçalves and Garibaldi. These are mainly the areas Serra Gaúcha and Frontera, as well as in the south the origin-controlled area Vale dos Vinhedos (Valley of the Vineyards), which has been cultivated since 2007. The latter was cultivated from 1875 by Italian and German immigrants and was correspondingly strongly influenced.

In the south, at the border with...