Brazil is the third most important wine producing country in Latin America, trailing Argentina and Chile, with 83,000ha of vineyards and about 1,100 small-holding wineries  of which only 8,000 ha were vitis vinifera.  Vineyard production is still focused on table grapes and a mere 11 per cent of all wine made in Brazil is classed as “vinho fino”.

Just over 40 per cent is still red, around 35 per cent is still white, and a significant 20+ per cent is sparkling. Brazil's best-known wines are indeed its sparkling whites, many of which are made in a style similar to Italian spumante, but there are concerted efforts to improve the quality across all other styles and colours.

Portuguese settlers were the first to import vines  in Brazil, in São Paulo state in the early 1530s. Spanish Jesuits followed suit with the introduction of vines in Rio Grande do Sul in 1626, but without much success, while settlers from Madeira and the Azores brought vine cuttings in the mid-18th century, yet progress was halted by the adverse local climate conditions of high temperatures and humidity.

Viticulture finally took hold after the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 1870s in the hilly Serra Gaúcha region in the north east of Rio Grande do Sul. The bulk of the grapes were from hardy American varieties Isabella, Concord, Catawba, Norton, Clinton, Delaware, Martha and York, subsequently augmented by Tannat and Italian varieties such as Barbera, Bonarda, Moscato, and Trebbiano.

The advent of quality wine-making in the 1970s was the result  of  investment by international corporations including Moët & Chandon, Bacardi, Seagram which promoted the spread of international varieties such as Chardonnay, Welschriesling (Riesling Italico), Sémillon, Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Currently Merlot dominates the reds, but Malbec and Tannat plantings are on the increase. The biggest potential lies with its diverse Portuguese and Italian varieties such as Moscato (for Charmat- method fruit-driven sparkling wines).

Brazil territory is spanning  a wide band of latitudes (5°N to 34°S ) but  falls mostly outside of  the 30°S and 45°S range  of quality viniculture,  which in turn explains why  vineyards are concentrated in three main areas: Serra Gaúcha, Campanha and São Francisco Valley.
The hilly Serra Gaúcha region lies in the extreme south of the country in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Roughly  80 per cent of all vines are American varieties or hybrids, dominated by  Isabella, for the production of  grape juice and table grapes or sparkling wines - this is the heart of Moët-Hennessy do Brasil operations.

The much smaller Campanha, aka Fronteira, wine region on the border with Uruguay and Argentina has been at the forefront of international varieties and its warm climate suits well Cabernet sauvignon, Tannat, Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo and, to a lesser extent, Merlot and Pinot Noir for reds; and Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer for whites.

São Francisco Valley (at 9° south of the equator in the state of Bahia) in the arid north of the country is a new wine region with prolific harvests of  grapes such as Alicante Bouschet, Syrah, Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional and Cabernet Sauvignon can survive, as do Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Malvasia and Moscato, the latter for a Charmat-method sparkler.