Santa Catarina is a state in the far South of Brazil. Quality wine production is still in its early stages, but is likely to develop rapidly as the industry develops country wide. To date, Santa Catarina's production is a mix of red, white and Sparkling wines.
It Lies immediately North of the country's southernmost state (and most prolific wine region), Rio Grande do Sul.
Located between the latitudes of 26°S and 29°S, Santa Catarina is far from the most obvious of locations for winegrowing. It lies entirely outside the 'wine belt' (the band of latitudes in which effective viniculture is traditionally thought possible). In the southern hemisphere, the wine belt encircles the globe between 30°S and 45°S.
It is on the high-lying plateau, the Planalto Catarinense, that almost all of Santa Catarina's vineyards are located.
The main wine-producing zones are in the central-southern portion of the state, around the towns of Sao Joaquim, Campos Novos and Cacador.
Altitude plays a key role in the Terroir here, particularly in keeping temperatures down. The plateau ranges between 915m and 1400m (3000ft and 4600ft). Basalt soils feature strongly in some parts of the planalto and are credited with bringing complexity to the wines.
Having joined The Wine Society’s team in 1973 as promotions manager, Payne became the head buyer in 1985. He stepped down from this position in 2012, when Tim Sykes took over, but has remained on the buying team ever since. As part of his responsibilities, Payne has bought in every region throughout the years but, in recent years, focused mainly on Italy and Bordeaux. He was also instrumental in introducing wines from Eastern Europe and Greece to the portfolio. The Wine Society described Payne’s ...
Some Cornas estates, like Domaine Clape, feel as ancient and unchanging as the granite hills themselves. Others, like Domaine Alain Voge, go through periods of flux. When this is due to vineyards being ripped out, bought or sold, then the whole profile of an estate can be altered. That’s not the case at Voge. Instead, it’s due to the coming and going of people and the unavoidable change that entails. I visited Lionel Fraisse, the current managing director at Domaine Alain Voge, to taste a select ...
The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) invites you to enjoy this video in which Jean-Pierre Renard, Expert Instructor at the Ecole des Vins de Bourgogne, explains the topographical and geological characteristics of the Rully appellation. Here the vineyard is planted on different hills which have very different gelogicial characteristics. It partly explains the great diversity in the expression of the Rully wines. This video is taken from the “Rendez-vous avec les vins de Bourgogne” program (February 20 ...