For some foreigners considering Brazilian agriculture, something like soybeans or coffee might come to mind, rather than wine. For those more familiar with Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul might be the only place you think of when you think of Brazilian viticulture. But it may come as a surprise to some that despite having several neighboring countries famous for their wine (namely Chile and Argentina, but Uruguay as well), Brazil has a significant number of wine producers in six different states.<\/p>\n
Vinhedos<\/strong>, or vineyards, occupy around 78,000 hectares in Brazil, which amounts to over 300 square miles. There are approximately 16,000 wine producers in Brazil, the majority of whom are located in the country’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul. But there are also vineyards in Paran\u00e1, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a>, and even Pernambuco<\/a> in the northeast region.<\/p>\n Though early settlers tried to establish vineyards in Brazil as early as 1551, wine production in earnest began in the 1730s.\u00a0 In the 1860s, Portuguese immigrants began vineyards in Santa Catarina, and beginning in the 1870s, Italian immigrants began commercializing wine production in Brazil.<\/p>\n