I am the luckiest man in the world! I have two amazing children and my wife is the most beautiful and supportive spouse one could ask for; and she is Brazilian. We decide to take the kids to Brazil to visit the grandparents for the first time. It gave us a chance to escape from our daily routine and focus on family time. Her home town is surrounded by wine regions, so naturally I made sure that tasting wine was on the agenda. I took a little road trip to the wine regions of Rio Grande do Sul in the Southern Brazil bordering Uruguay and to the north, outside Porto Alegre. Her cousin’s husband, Nelson, kindly volunteered to chauffeur me through La Serra Guacha, Brazil’s most well known wine region. The following video is my road trip through one of the most beautiful Brazilian wine region, La Serra Guacha. I hope you enjoy the clip and the introduction to Brazilian wine. (more…)
Brazilian wine has not made its way into the mainstream wine market, yet. It is only a matter of time. Below is a short video of Paolo Menezes, wine maker of Rio Velho expressing his views on where the future of Brazilian wine. Make sure to turn on the captions.
The journey to bottling wine is a year long process of growing, harvesting and wine making. I had the opportunity to visit one of the largest wineries in Southern Brazil, Almaden. The winery was once owned by an American company, Natural Distillers and it was sold to Seagram, then Pernod-Ricard and today belongs to Brazil’s largest wine company, Miolo Wine Group.
The wines are not of fine wines. They are intended for early consumption and run about $3 per bottle. The Charles Shaw of Brazil. I am not going to write a review or post tasting notes about Almaden. The wines are fruity and perfect for a hot day with a scoop of ice cubes. (more…)
In 2009 Moshin Vineyards and Winery celebrated it’s 20th anniversary; 20 years as a crusader for balanced wines. The owner/winemaker is Rick Moshin who began making wine out of his garage in the 1970’s. His professional career included a 12 year stint at Gary Farrell where he solely focused on Pinot Noir. When he erected the Moshin Winery he chose to stay true to this finicky grape. In staying true, Rick uses biodynamic farming techniques in the vineyard and does not add sulfites, letting the natural acidity preserve the wines. The winery uses a gravity flow system so that very little human contact interferes in the temperamental juice’s journey in finding a resting place in barrel. Upon sitting down and tasting with Rick, he mentioned that his intention is to make Pinot taste like Pinot. This day in age other winemakers are pushing ripeness and the Pinot Noirs are loosing their inherent liveliness and acidity. At Moshin the opposite is true; pushing acidity rather than alcohol which ultimately, while in the glass, shows that it has a sense of place.
Zaca Mesa is a Pioneer in the Santa Ynez valley, it is one of the first to plant Rhone varieties. Zaca means “peaceful & restful”. It is situated 1500ft on a plateau (hence the name mesa, or table top in Spanish) and lies above the fog line and provide excellent drainage. This is Indian land. All the estate vineyards are farmed sustainably. The vineyards are easy to farm and the plateau allows for even ripening.
Ken Brown was the first to plant Syrah in Santa Barbara back in 1978. He used vines from Eberle and Chapoutier. He was one of the original Rhone Rangers at Zaca Mesa, since then many other winemakers passed through the cellar such as Bob Linquist and Lane Tanner. Today the winery is owned by John Cushman who was an original investor. What was once 1,600 acres is now downsized to 750 acres with only 200 acres devoted to vines. Today the focus at Zaca Mesa is in lower yields and quality. I was very surprised by the result of this tasting. (more…)
Zaca Mesa is a Pioneer in the Santa Ynez valley, it is one of the first to plant Rhone varieties. Zaca means “peaceful & restful”. It is situated 1500ft on a plateau (hence the name mesa, or table top in Spanish) and lies above the fog line and provide excellent drainage. This is Indian land. All the estate vineyards are farmed sustainably. The vineyards are easy to farm and the plateau allows for even ripening.
