Viva Brazil y Uruguay

During the late 15th century to the mid 18th century, the Treaty of Tordesillas, between Spain and Portugal, divided South America. Portugal was given possession of Monte Pascoal, now known as Brazil. It was customary for early settlers to attempt to emulate the life and luxuries of their homeland and for the Portuguese, wine was a staple, which was readily accessible from either Portugal or the Azores.

Martin Afonso de Souza himself brought the first grape seedlings to the tropics. In 1532, he planted the first grapevines in Capitania de São Vicente (southeastern Brazil). The Vitis vinifera varieties of grape indigenous to Portugal and Spain were suitable for wine production. However, these attempts were fruitless due to the climate and soil in the southeast and northeast where they were first introduced. Brás Cubas, founder of the city of Santos, also tried to grow his own vines, but he was not successful either. New momentum was gained in 1626 with the arrival of the Jesuit priests at Missões region,and the German immigrants,who brought European varieties and achieved good results in Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Rio Grande do Sul.

As a matter of fact, the variety of North American grapes, especially Vitis labrusca species, forms the core of the Brazilian viticulture. Isabel grapes, used for making wine, and White Niagara and Rose Niagara, used for table grapes, achieved the greatest success.Also of note is the fact is that over 180,000 acres are under vine today and almost 85 per cent are planted with hybrid varieties that thrive in the southern costal climate of Brazil.

The Spanish settled Uruguay, which is south of Brazil, in 1516; however, since Uruguay had no great deposits of silver or gold, it remained a buffer zone between the Spanish and Portuguese and was only settled by Spain to prevent Brazil expanding its southern boundaries.

The dream to produce wine,however,was kept alive. In 1840, the merchant Thomas Master brought American vines,Vitis labrusca and Vitis bourquina varieties (Concord and Isabel, today the most planted in the RS), and started growing them on Ilha dos Marinheiros, in Rio Grande.

By 1828, Uruguay was a free and independent nation and in 1870 Basque settlers introduced the Tannet grape we now associate with Uruguay. This varietal is still grown in Madiran, located in southwest France, and in Puglia, Italy. In Uruguay the grape creates a wine that is lighter and less tanninic than its European cousin. Recently, the Californian wine company, Bonny Doon Vineyards, started to grow this varietal to blend with its Cabernet Franc and other wineries blend it with Syrah or Sangiovese.

Next week, the tango.

I associate this time of year with fresh salads prepared with local greens and vegetables.What better way to quench the thirst than a refreshing wine?

I tried the newly released Harwood Estate’s 2009 Pinot Gris ($18) with the classic Niçoise salad and loved the combination. It is bright with notes of white flowers and a key lime pie on the nose and flavours of freshly cut pink grapefruit and lime balance the lingering finish. This wine was created by the Harwood team and finished by their new winemaker, Lauren Horlock.