TNWG Wine Times: Ep 56: Wines of Brazil

ANNOUNCEMENTS/EVENTS

The Wine and Cheese Network - October Edition

Wine. Cheese. Networking.

We know it is the best way of networking! Get your ticket to the best way to network in Sheffield.

The charity is agreed for 10% of the ticket sales - all heading to Active Fusion!

Tickets can be bought here: https://www.thenorthernwineguy.co.uk/event-details/sheffield-the-wine-and-cheese-network-october-edition

Wine and Tapas at The Library

Quite possibly the most underrated location in Sheffield. If you haven't been, you will be amazed that this place exists!

The Library is an incredible location for what will be an incredible evening, with tapas courses paired with wines, as we enjoy a Date Night for all. Get yourself down and buy tickets either directly via The Library or via this link:

https://www.thenorthernwineguy.co.uk/event-details/the-library-wine-and-tapas-evening

TNWG November Wine Explorer Box

The November TNWG Wine Explorer Box is OUT NOW (or rather this is a sneak preview and is officially released tomorrow). 

What do you get with the TNWG Wine Explorer Boxes?

✅ SIX hand picked wines to explore different styles, regions and colours.

✅TNWG Tasting Notes and Food Pairings (which are down to earth and not fillet steak dependent) 

✅ TNWG Education Zone - including more details on the grape varietals inside the wine as well as some Pub Trivia too.

⛔ No subscriptions

⛔ No monthly fees

In this month's box the SIX wines are:

Wine 1: Valle de Uco, Andeluna Torrontes ‘1300’ Argentina 2024

Wine 2: Muses Estate, Assyrtiko Greece 2024

Wine 3: Les Grandes Cedres Rose d’Anjou, Loire France 2024

Wine 4 : CaRugate ‘Rio Albo’ Valpolicella, Soave Italy 2024

Wine 5: Santo Isidro de Pegoes, ‘Vinhas de Pegoes’ , Peninsula de Setubal, Touriga Nacional, Portugal 2023

Wine 6: Oak Ridge Winery, ‘Maggio’, Lodi, Cali, USA Old Vines Zinfandel 2023

Hand delivered to S postcodes for FREE delivery.

All this month for £99! Orders are being taken NOW.

🎅🤶🎄❄️ CHRISTMAS ORDERS - Yes I have said it! 🎅🤶🎄❄️

There WILL be Christmas / December TNWG Wine Boxes - in fact, I will have something like 6 REDS, 6 WHITES, 6 SPARKLINGS upcoming for you lovely people. 

But if you are looking for the following, then I am officially OPENING the ORDER BOOK today, because it will get pretty busy no doubt leading up to the final days of the festive period:

• Client Gifts -> if you are looking at gifting drinks to your clients for Christmas, let me know what you need.

• Big Parties -> if it is a big family party and my selections above that will come at the end of November are not enough, or you want more, let me know.

• Special Present -> always wanted to go above and beyond and find that case of Chateau Margaux or Dom Perignon - then let me know.

If in doubt, come and ask me. What's the worse that can happen and stay tuned for my Christmas Selections coming at the end of November too.

FOCUS: Wines of Brazil

Most people in the UK are unlikely to know that Brazil has a budding wine scene, in fact it is an emerging market within the wine world. Given that their geographic neighbours, Argentina and Chile are global producers and Uruguay has found a market in the UK, it would actual stand to reason that Brazil also can produce great wines.

The irony is that the Brazilian wine industry did a lot of things wrong to start with - wine grown in the wrong locations (mostly where there was too much rainfall) and so it suffered a bit of a stuttering start. It was small sized growers who centred around the Serra Gaucha region in Rio Grande do Sul. The favoured grape varietal and still around 80% of today's production - Isobel - an American varietal that has a hardy approach to rot.

The reality is the Brazilian wine industry really picked up when it allowed imports to come into the country, which led to a comparison versus their traditional methods - and suffice to say, the imports were far superior.

Fast forward to today's emerging market, and 4 main regions within Rio Grande do Sul that exist in Brazil that wine drinkers should be aware of : Campos de Cima da Serra, Serra Gaucha, Serra do Sudeste and Campanha - that borders Uruguay. 

Why do we not see Brazilian wine in the UK?

It's a great question. Especially when you think of the UK palate and how that has evolved plus the interest from many to explore and see wines from further afield. The weather has a lot to do with it too - for example in May 2024 they had devastating floods in the Rio Grade do Sul which saw 1.5m people forcibly have to leave the region with at least 250 hectares of vineyards destroyed. 

What is also interesting, is nearly half of the production in Brazil is sparkling wine! The number of producers This may also be a hinderance to the UK market given that the UK domestic market has been advocating UK sparkling for some years now and further competition would be far from ideal. For those keen on try to find a Brazilian wine to taste, Go Brazil Wines & Spirits would be my first port of call.

Incidentally, Merlot 🍇is actually the most planted red varietal in Brazil, with Chardonnay widely grown for whites. There are a range of international varietals used - Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tannat, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc but that is also balanced with a wide range of indigenous varietals too. It is actually the 3rd largest South American winemaking country!

So maybe we may well see more in the near future. At the moment, there is still a lot of Chilean and Argentinian wines on menus but this is slowly evolving in Brazil with some domestic options more readily available - with consistency and the increasing use of technological advances, we may yet start to see Brazilian wines in the UK.

Watch this space!

That's all from The Northern Wine Guy this week, stay tuned next time for a round up of Fine Wine markets and more market general news as well as another wine area in focus!

Comment, like, share, DM me for more details or to recommend to others.

Many thanks

Andy a.k.a. The Northern Wine Guy