The excess heat and the lack of rainfall in the Southern Region of Brazil harmed several crops, but in the case of the grape they brought some benefits that positively interfered with the flavor of the fruit.

In Rio Grande do Sul, the next harvest promises to produce wines of the same quality as our neighbors Uruguay, Chile and Argentina.

The Garibaldi wine cooperative, one of the most traditional in Rio Grande do Sul, received 26.2 million kilos of grapes from 430 associated families.

Of this volume, 66% is destined for the production of grape juice and table wines, 30% for sparkling wines and fine white wines and 4% for fine red wines.

Unlike other crops, the drought that reached the entire state in general was beneficial for the maturation of the fruit, reflecting on the quality of the grape.

"The vine is a plant that does not have so many water needs. Even with the drought, she was able to produce in a normal way.  As we had few rains last summer in the harvest period of the last harvest, the harvest can be done in a more quiet and harvesting way at the point where the grapes were in the ideal maturation. And with a drier condition we can have phenolic maturation and sugar maturation where the wine reaches a higher alcohol level, it resembles wines from Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, but with our identity, the ripe fruit that has added so much to our wines," says Ricardo Morari, chief winemaker at Garibaldi winery.

"The volume, however, was 15% lower compared to last year, but was above the regular average of the last five years which is 22 million kilos. The industry is still trying to recover from the effects of the pandemic over the past two years. Sales, especially sparkling wines, plummeted in compensation, wine consumption increased during this period," he adds.

"The fall of the sparkling she was very due to the cancellation of events right. fairs, weddings, graduations. The wine became a companion of the people who were in isolation, if it had more time, if it stayed longer at home, prepared its own meals with the gastronomy right. imagine that this has boosted growth," he explains.

Today the volume of sales of wines and sparkling wines is already similar to the pre-pandemic period, which gives the grape producer a positive outlook in relation to the next harvest, but to be a supplier of raw material for this sector it is necessary to invest in the quality of the fruit that goes through some care:

In addition to all this, the producer still needs to do a good management of the business, employ technology and calculate the production per hectare to have profitability.

"It has great possibilities yes of income, including we have seen many young people returning to the property of parents because they are seeing the potential that properties have and increasingly encouraging the varieties that the cooperative needs for it to be a useful raw material for us. and in this way we continue to touch the business making the cooperative profitable, both for the cooperative in yes and for the associate who delivers here its production and ends up having also the participation in the results", concludes Morari.

Source: Canal Rural