The history of Brazilian grape growing and wine making industry began in 1875, when Italian immigrants settled in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil. Heirs of a long tradition in grape growing and wine making, it soon became an activity of great economic importance in the area - by 1884, more than 8 million liters of wine had been produced in the region. |
The grape and wine production chain grew and provided impetus to the development of the area where the immigrants settled. From 1964 on, there was a significant quality leap in the industry with the establishment of multinational companies in this region in Brazil. In the seventies, the grape growing and wine making industry started expanding in the region near the border with Uruguay and in the semi-arid northeast, more specifically in the São Francisco river valley, between the states of Pernambuco and Bahia.
In the mid-eighties, small grape growers started investing in the up-grading the quality of their own wine making. To this end, among other actions, they sent their children to take enology courses. They returned able to produce quality products.
In the late nineties, there was a widening of horizons with the appearance of other regions as options for the expansion of grape growing and wine making. In 1998, the Brazilian Wine Institute (Ibravin) was created, gathering the main entities in the production chain of grape and wine, and becoming the forum for discussions related to the industry. |
