Today was a Saturday and there wasn't much to do, the grapes left to pick needed a few more days to ripen. After only a few hours of work, Francisco took us all on a sort of field trip to check out some vineyards in Brazil. Last night we had 12 Brazilian journalists visit the Bodega for a tasting and dinner, of which Katie, myself, and Jose Luis prepared. We tasted Carrau wines of all different varietal and vintages, and listened to news of the Brazilian wine industry. For dessert, queso, membrilla, and some of the Carrau family's personal stash of port made from Tannat (my favorite).
We met up with the journalists and toured the vineyards of southern Brazil with them. Brazil has a solid industry in wine, they are the fifth largest producer in the southern hemisphere. Most of the vineyards are north of where we were in the Serra Gaucha region, where sparkling wines account for most of Brazilian wine production. The Campanha region on the southern border with Uruguay is just starting, with new vineyards popping up and a cooperative effort to increase awareness and tourism amongst them. Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Gewurtraminer are the some of the main varietals, as the climate is very similiar to their neighbors in Uruguay. The first two vineyards we visited were not of note. The final vineyard we visited was Guatambu, only three years old and releasing their first vintage 2009. They lost 3/4 of their crops for 2010 to rain. They had a wonderful tasting on the porch of their farmhouse while the sun set over the vineyards in front of us. The racy and floral Gewürztraminer was lovely. The Cabernet Sauvignon tasted like it had not ripened fully and needed more time, but I'm looking forward to tasting future releases from this Bodega. They have a great climate to work with and the vineyards are well tended to with state of the art equipment used to prevent frost and mildew, they just need Mother Nature to cooperate.
On the 4 hour journey back to the Bodega, the 7 of us crammed in the truck with Thomas in the trunk. We sang to the Cranberries Greatest Hits the whole way home, even Danny and Valeria who don't speak English knew the words. With the full moon, and the milky way, it was an memorable night.