April 18: Suzin Winery, Santa Augusta Winery, Kranz Winery And An Austrian Town!
If Its Wednesday Morning It Must Be Sao Joaquim
The night was frustrating since I could not get my internet to work. It would tease me by coming on and then when I was at a critical function, it would stop. I recalled the old television series "Lost In Space" when on of the characters, Dr. Smith would utter the phrase, "Oh The Pain! The Pain!"
Pain it was! I was tired and trying to keep up with my schedule. The fact that I am writing this now means that I did not succeed! I finally gave up at 3 AM and with discretion as a part of my valor, I caught some sleep.
I was up at around six thirty. We were checking out of the hotel that morning so my bags were already prepared. I went up to the top floor one last time. I was still pleasantly full from the night before so I went lightly on breakfast. Marcio the racing demon was there and Jean Pierre walked in shortly after.
Had I clued in how important he was to the wineries and Santa Catarina, I would have asked for an interview but at that time my brain was not working with all "thrusters" so I basically made small talk with him.
To this area, Jean Pierre was as important as Michel Rolland was to wineries around the globe. He helped both Suzin and Quinta Santa Maria develop some dynamite wine.
Jean Pierre and I discussed some superficial aspects of wine and then I excused myself and went down to check out. I went outside to get some fresh air.
It was nippy! I estimated the temperature to be about 5 degrees Centigrade. The streets were partially deserted with a couple of park workers cleaning the Sao Joaquim Park across from the hotel. I looked down the street and noticed a nice dog wandering around. From its shape and demeanor I knew it was being fed and was in good shape. It stuck around me as I petted its tawny brown coat then as quickly as it came got up and was on its merry way leaving a wake of dogs barking as it encroached from one doggy territory to another.
Marcio came with the van and was loading the bags in the back and Everson Suzin drove up with his four by four to lead us to his winery. We piled in and we were soon on our way with a brief stop at the Acavitis Vinhos Finos Catarinenses office where he met his wife for a brief meeting and then we were on our way to see his vineyards.
A Visit Suzin Winery
The drive was not as bumpy as previous trips but bumpy enough to turn the coffee in my stomach to a cappuccino. We arrived at Vincola Suzin where Everson was waiting to take us for a tour of his property. We first went to a spot where rows of trellised vines standing around the eight foot mark stood with their fruit waiting to be harvested. While in Bento Goncalves had already harvested their grapes in March, Santa Catarina vineyards had yet to harvest theirs.
The grapes looked good (Cabernet Sauvignon) but Everson told us that a November hail had destroyed about 45% of the fruit this year. Even the apple crop was damaged with pock marks from the hail. The remaining crop was "of excellent quality". 2012 apparently was a very good year indeed and when one considers that Suzin wines won some serious medals (Grand Gold) with their Zelindo wine at a Brussels event, one would wonder what this year would bring.
While visiting the expansive vineyards (named Rosemary) which had some of the oldest vines we ran into some Santa Catarina University students doing some studies on the Suzin vines. They were examining tests on magnesium and potassium in the soil and vines.
Everson decided to check the sugar content of some of his grapes by using a spectrograph and was ecstatic in seeing a reading of 24 Brix (one Brix is equal to one gram of sucrose per 100 grams of an aqueous solution).
"That is excellent," he said.
We spent some time touring the vines and apple trees (which showed hail damage to the fruit). Then he took us to a barn which housed what he called a "Stress" machine. This machine blew high levels of heated air at the vines which in turn became stressed and built up immunities to the various challenges that awaited them.
The trip to Suzin was very informative and one could not feel positive that the serious commitment made by Everson would pay off with wines of exceptional quality and success.
Santa Augusta Winery
As Marcio sped his way to the next stop in a city called Videira. Videira was known as the "Capital do Vinho" because of its past grape production. It was in this area that we encountered an absolutely lovely winery with an esthetic look about it. It had a garden like look to it with fruit trees, decorative plants and of course vines.
We were greeted by the winemaker, Jefferson Nunes who was also a sommelier. We were also met by two stunningly beautiful young ladies who just happened to be the Executive Directors of the winery. Both were Sommeliers. Morgana De Nardi was the spokesperson and described the wines while her cousin Taline De Nardi assisted. Taline was also a model and obviously with exquisite taste.While the wines we were going to taste were obviously attractive, the two executives certainly made looking worth while.
We were led to a spacious and well "laid out" with a serving counter and cooking facilities as well as comfortable tables. We were invited to take a slice of a special cake and then we tasted some wines beginning with a Blanc de Noir (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot Blend), Rose (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Montepulciano Blend), Chardonnay (100% Chardonnay) and Merlot (from Barrel).
Jefferson proved quite a great cook, making a Salmon and Pasta meal that was fit for Neptune himself!
We were then shown around the winery which was extremely up to date.
A Bit Of History
The parents of these two cousins founded the winery as a point of relaxation. They were industrialists who wanted more out of life and they could do it. Initially Morgana's father hired an Enologist to look after things but was not satisfied. For one thing, the vines were planted East to West which only allowed on area of the vines to get sun. Then Jefferson came on board and turned things around. First he planted the vines North to South which meant that both sides of the vines got equal amounts of sun . Jefferson then started developing the portfolio which now is showing results.
Jefferson also takes a "common sense" approach to viticulture and wine making. He tries to be as Bio-Dynamic and organic as possible. No herbicides are used and manual labor is a must.
It was hard to leave this winery and at some point I do hope to come back and see the results of Jefferson's toils. We bid our farewells and were soon on our way to Treze Tilas.
Treze Tilas
What a unique place we were about to visit. In many way it was of the same nature as Solvang, the Danish Community/City in the Santa Ynez Valley (Santa Barbara County) in California, USA but this was an Austrian City of about 6,000 in the mountains of Southern Brazil.
It was founded by Andreas Thaler in the 1933 where he settled and built a castle like home. In Austria he was the Minister of Agriculture before leaving for Brazil. He died tragically in 1939 but no amount of my research had found a cause of death.
The town itself was named after a Northern Hemisphere tree called a Tilia or Linden tree. So the English translation would be Thirteen Tilias or Thirteen Lindens.The main industries were Dairy and Tourism. Temperatures could get cold (-10 Centigrade).
Treze Tilas was quite an amazing place. All the architecture was Germanic in style. Street names were in keeping with the theme and what was of great interest to me was the outward exhibition of religious faith which seemed mainly of the Catholic denomination. Crucifixes, religious themes and relics were everywhere. It was a truly unique place as was our hotel called Hotel Tirol. Complete with a lovely swimming pool, restaurant and lovely rooms it was comfort first class.
Kranz Winery
When we visited the Kranz Winery it was a hub of activity. Workmen were busy working on the new building. There was an air of freshness with the whole construction.The smell of cut wood and that of paint and plaster was everywhere when we were given the tour. Not far from the scene was another one equally active but yet so different. Workers were busy making juice from apples,
"This is what keeps us going until our wines become known and in demand" Walter Kranz stated,"We do not have our own vineyards at present since it takes a few years for vines to become productive and then we must harvest and age them.. So I have plots of vines at other wineries and I care for them. I do not have the time at this point to start from the beginning with new vines." The grapes are vinified at Kranz Winery. He called over one of the workers and it turned out to be his wife. In addition to his wine and juice, he also makes a variety of jellies.
He also gave us a tour of his winery which was well organized and would be even better once the construction was finished and the new winery working. Walter was also working on a Agro-Touristic venture which would have animals, wine tasting, viticultural exhibits as well as points of local interest. It would be only occupy an small area around the winery but it would be of interest to locals as well as tourists.
It was Walter's idea to form a cooperative called "Santa Catarina Producers Of Fine Wines Altitude" (ACTIVIS). It was a way to cut costs and combine the buying power of the eighteen wineries in the area and help them work together rather than against each other. As President of the cooperative he has guided the group to market their wines in a collective way.
We then went back to his home/office where we tasted some of his wines. His sparkling wines were excellent as were his Chardonnay, Cabernet (2008) and Merlot (2009). The Merlot was outstanding! His winemaker was happy that we had enjoyed the wines but admitted that she was new and the wines we were tasting were made prior to her arrival. Regardless I exclaimed that they were prize winners and Walter Kranz, smiling, confirmed that they in fact had won top awards. My reputation in tact we then decided to go and eat------though the "tidbits" that Walter had put on the table had pretty well filled me up.
We went to a restaurant which was called, of course "Edelweiss" and Walter brought with him a whole slew of his sparkling and still wines. Then the proverbial cap came off and the food "poured" down to us. Pizza, Sausage, Pork, Beef and other delicious items came our way. It was impossible to consume so much food and drink. It was getting late and it was a long, long day. I wanted to spend more time with Walter, his lovely winemaker and my team but we were tired and it was time to retire. We went back to the hotel!
End of Day Nine
The night was frustrating since I could not get my internet to work. It would tease me by coming on and then when I was at a critical function, it would stop. I recalled the old television series "Lost In Space" when on of the characters, Dr. Smith would utter the phrase, "Oh The Pain! The Pain!"
Pain it was! I was tired and trying to keep up with my schedule. The fact that I am writing this now means that I did not succeed! I finally gave up at 3 AM and with discretion as a part of my valor, I caught some sleep.
I was up at around six thirty. We were checking out of the hotel that morning so my bags were already prepared. I went up to the top floor one last time. I was still pleasantly full from the night before so I went lightly on breakfast. Marcio the racing demon was there and Jean Pierre walked in shortly after.
Had I clued in how important he was to the wineries and Santa Catarina, I would have asked for an interview but at that time my brain was not working with all "thrusters" so I basically made small talk with him.
To this area, Jean Pierre was as important as Michel Rolland was to wineries around the globe. He helped both Suzin and Quinta Santa Maria develop some dynamite wine.
Jean Pierre and I discussed some superficial aspects of wine and then I excused myself and went down to check out. I went outside to get some fresh air.
It was nippy! I estimated the temperature to be about 5 degrees Centigrade. The streets were partially deserted with a couple of park workers cleaning the Sao Joaquim Park across from the hotel. I looked down the street and noticed a nice dog wandering around. From its shape and demeanor I knew it was being fed and was in good shape. It stuck around me as I petted its tawny brown coat then as quickly as it came got up and was on its merry way leaving a wake of dogs barking as it encroached from one doggy territory to another.
Marcio came with the van and was loading the bags in the back and Everson Suzin drove up with his four by four to lead us to his winery. We piled in and we were soon on our way with a brief stop at the Acavitis Vinhos Finos Catarinenses office where he met his wife for a brief meeting and then we were on our way to see his vineyards.
A Visit Suzin Winery
The drive was not as bumpy as previous trips but bumpy enough to turn the coffee in my stomach to a cappuccino. We arrived at Vincola Suzin where Everson was waiting to take us for a tour of his property. We first went to a spot where rows of trellised vines standing around the eight foot mark stood with their fruit waiting to be harvested. While in Bento Goncalves had already harvested their grapes in March, Santa Catarina vineyards had yet to harvest theirs.
The grapes looked good (Cabernet Sauvignon) but Everson told us that a November hail had destroyed about 45% of the fruit this year. Even the apple crop was damaged with pock marks from the hail. The remaining crop was "of excellent quality". 2012 apparently was a very good year indeed and when one considers that Suzin wines won some serious medals (Grand Gold) with their Zelindo wine at a Brussels event, one would wonder what this year would bring.
While visiting the expansive vineyards (named Rosemary) which had some of the oldest vines we ran into some Santa Catarina University students doing some studies on the Suzin vines. They were examining tests on magnesium and potassium in the soil and vines.
Everson decided to check the sugar content of some of his grapes by using a spectrograph and was ecstatic in seeing a reading of 24 Brix (one Brix is equal to one gram of sucrose per 100 grams of an aqueous solution).
"That is excellent," he said.
We spent some time touring the vines and apple trees (which showed hail damage to the fruit). Then he took us to a barn which housed what he called a "Stress" machine. This machine blew high levels of heated air at the vines which in turn became stressed and built up immunities to the various challenges that awaited them.
The trip to Suzin was very informative and one could not feel positive that the serious commitment made by Everson would pay off with wines of exceptional quality and success.
Santa Augusta Winery
As Marcio sped his way to the next stop in a city called Videira. Videira was known as the "Capital do Vinho" because of its past grape production. It was in this area that we encountered an absolutely lovely winery with an esthetic look about it. It had a garden like look to it with fruit trees, decorative plants and of course vines.
We were greeted by the winemaker, Jefferson Nunes who was also a sommelier. We were also met by two stunningly beautiful young ladies who just happened to be the Executive Directors of the winery. Both were Sommeliers. Morgana De Nardi was the spokesperson and described the wines while her cousin Taline De Nardi assisted. Taline was also a model and obviously with exquisite taste.While the wines we were going to taste were obviously attractive, the two executives certainly made looking worth while.
We were led to a spacious and well "laid out" with a serving counter and cooking facilities as well as comfortable tables. We were invited to take a slice of a special cake and then we tasted some wines beginning with a Blanc de Noir (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot Blend), Rose (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Montepulciano Blend), Chardonnay (100% Chardonnay) and Merlot (from Barrel).
Jefferson proved quite a great cook, making a Salmon and Pasta meal that was fit for Neptune himself!
We were then shown around the winery which was extremely up to date.
A Bit Of History
The parents of these two cousins founded the winery as a point of relaxation. They were industrialists who wanted more out of life and they could do it. Initially Morgana's father hired an Enologist to look after things but was not satisfied. For one thing, the vines were planted East to West which only allowed on area of the vines to get sun. Then Jefferson came on board and turned things around. First he planted the vines North to South which meant that both sides of the vines got equal amounts of sun . Jefferson then started developing the portfolio which now is showing results.
Jefferson also takes a "common sense" approach to viticulture and wine making. He tries to be as Bio-Dynamic and organic as possible. No herbicides are used and manual labor is a must.
It was hard to leave this winery and at some point I do hope to come back and see the results of Jefferson's toils. We bid our farewells and were soon on our way to Treze Tilas.
Treze Tilas
What a unique place we were about to visit. In many way it was of the same nature as Solvang, the Danish Community/City in the Santa Ynez Valley (Santa Barbara County) in California, USA but this was an Austrian City of about 6,000 in the mountains of Southern Brazil.
It was founded by Andreas Thaler in the 1933 where he settled and built a castle like home. In Austria he was the Minister of Agriculture before leaving for Brazil. He died tragically in 1939 but no amount of my research had found a cause of death.
The town itself was named after a Northern Hemisphere tree called a Tilia or Linden tree. So the English translation would be Thirteen Tilias or Thirteen Lindens.The main industries were Dairy and Tourism. Temperatures could get cold (-10 Centigrade).
Treze Tilas was quite an amazing place. All the architecture was Germanic in style. Street names were in keeping with the theme and what was of great interest to me was the outward exhibition of religious faith which seemed mainly of the Catholic denomination. Crucifixes, religious themes and relics were everywhere. It was a truly unique place as was our hotel called Hotel Tirol. Complete with a lovely swimming pool, restaurant and lovely rooms it was comfort first class.
Kranz Winery
When we visited the Kranz Winery it was a hub of activity. Workmen were busy working on the new building. There was an air of freshness with the whole construction.The smell of cut wood and that of paint and plaster was everywhere when we were given the tour. Not far from the scene was another one equally active but yet so different. Workers were busy making juice from apples,
"This is what keeps us going until our wines become known and in demand" Walter Kranz stated,"We do not have our own vineyards at present since it takes a few years for vines to become productive and then we must harvest and age them.. So I have plots of vines at other wineries and I care for them. I do not have the time at this point to start from the beginning with new vines." The grapes are vinified at Kranz Winery. He called over one of the workers and it turned out to be his wife. In addition to his wine and juice, he also makes a variety of jellies.
He also gave us a tour of his winery which was well organized and would be even better once the construction was finished and the new winery working. Walter was also working on a Agro-Touristic venture which would have animals, wine tasting, viticultural exhibits as well as points of local interest. It would be only occupy an small area around the winery but it would be of interest to locals as well as tourists.
It was Walter's idea to form a cooperative called "Santa Catarina Producers Of Fine Wines Altitude" (ACTIVIS). It was a way to cut costs and combine the buying power of the eighteen wineries in the area and help them work together rather than against each other. As President of the cooperative he has guided the group to market their wines in a collective way.
We then went back to his home/office where we tasted some of his wines. His sparkling wines were excellent as were his Chardonnay, Cabernet (2008) and Merlot (2009). The Merlot was outstanding! His winemaker was happy that we had enjoyed the wines but admitted that she was new and the wines we were tasting were made prior to her arrival. Regardless I exclaimed that they were prize winners and Walter Kranz, smiling, confirmed that they in fact had won top awards. My reputation in tact we then decided to go and eat------though the "tidbits" that Walter had put on the table had pretty well filled me up.
We went to a restaurant which was called, of course "Edelweiss" and Walter brought with him a whole slew of his sparkling and still wines. Then the proverbial cap came off and the food "poured" down to us. Pizza, Sausage, Pork, Beef and other delicious items came our way. It was impossible to consume so much food and drink. It was getting late and it was a long, long day. I wanted to spend more time with Walter, his lovely winemaker and my team but we were tired and it was time to retire. We went back to the hotel!
End of Day Nine
posted by Chuck Byers - Wine Consultant | 8:08 PM
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