A toast for Brazilian bubbles

Almost a decade ago we heard of the first Brazilian Geographical Indication (GI). This achievement was awarded to fine wines and sparkling wine of ‘Vale dos Vinhedos’ -- receiving a GI in the form of Indicação de Procedência (Indication of Source).

Yesterday, sparkling wine of ‘Vale dos Vinhedos’ heard from the Brazilian Instituto Nacional da Propiedade Industrial (INPI) that they will now be granted Denominação de Origem (Denomination of Origin (DO)– also known in Brazil as Appellation of Origin)) as the most valuable GI that a product may have.

The Association of Producers of Fine Wines Vale dos Vinhedos applied for this back in 2010 (posted here). A DO while more valuable it is more difficult to prove since there is the need to endorse that the region/product has special characteristics which are exclusive. This refers to the medium and environment including natural and human factors. That said, according to the Association of Producers the wine made by it “brings 130 years of history of Italian immigration in Brazil”; in 1875, Italian immigrants settled in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil. The wines that they produce are: dry red, dry white and sparkling (white and pink) wine. The variety use in the wines varies depending on the type, for instance they do use Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. ‘Vale dos Vinhedos’ are the major wineries in Brazil, ranging between 12 and 14 million bottles of wine per year.

Now INPI announces that from the date of this notification the Association has a period of 60 days to pay the fee for issuance of the certificate and thus ensure the formalization of the whole process.

If I recall correctly this is the second Brazilian product that has been granted a DO (first one was to ‘Litoral Norte Gaúcho’ for rice – posted here).