Wineries in Brazil Adopt Winter Harvest and Win Prizes

The story begins 13 years ago when a farmer suffered a heart attack, and the doctor recommended the daily consumption of a glass of wine. Three years later, Eduardo Junqueira Nogueira Junior's family started producing their own wine in Boa Esperanca, in the south of Minas Gerais, where no one had ever planted grapes. In the coffee city, changes in the harvest caused the local wine to reach a degree of sophistication that won awards. The case is not unique. Other wineries in Sao Paulo also adopted the double pruning of the vineyards, transferring the summer harvest, as traditionally occurs, to the winter. At that time, the grape maturation period occurs on sunny days, with cool nights and relatively dry soil, a scenario pointed out by researchers as fundamental for the perfect ripening of the grapes and the quality of the wines. Another advantage is that it reduces the risk of rotting caused by fungi. For businessman Luis Roberto Lorenzato, from Marchesi di Ivrea (Ituverava, SP), the region's heat is not an obstacle. "Italy has cities where the temperature reaches 50oC, like Bologna. The people from the south of the world created a stigma that required cold, for fear of the grape moving to other regions. But the grape likes heat too. Where there is coffee well, there are good fine wines, "he said.