Wine in Brazil’s Sertão! Route has boat tasting and northeastern wineries

Fresh water in abundance and vineyards laden with grapes. This is not the first image that comes to mind when considering tourism in the Sertão; a project has changed this route of visits to the Northeast.

The Vapor do Vinho offers a trip on the waters of the São Francisco River, including lunch with regional culinary delights washed down with good local wines.

Every weekend and holiday for over 11 years, the movement of tour buses is intense in front of the hotels in Petrolina (PE) and Juazeiro (BA), the main cities in the São Francisco Valley.

Two or three buses leave daily, heading for Casa Nova (BA) and Sobradinho (BA) wineries.

In just one day, crossing the state borders several times without even noticing is possible.

Leaving the hotels, after a short stretch of road, the brown of the Caatinga, the only genuinely Brazilian biome, is contrasted by the green of the plantations made possible by irrigation technology.

Besides the riverside stories that are told along the way, the landscape is already an attraction.

After an average 40-minute drive, the first stop is at the grapevines of Fazenda Terra Nova, in the municipality of Casa Nova (BA), where it is possible to pick grapes straight from the tree and taste the fruit that made the region one of the highlights in national production, for being the only one capable of producing two harvests a year.

After the resumption of the project, after the pause due to the pandemic, the organizers’ expectation is for the high season, which has already started and will continue until the end of the year.

The movement increases a lot during holiday periods. Our tour is regular all year round, regardless of the number of people, and you can bring your family and have fun.

GLASS IN HAND

After tasting the fruit, the invitation is to visit the Miolo Group winery.

An oenologist welcomes the group, who, upon arrival, are given a glass to taste the beverages produced there.

The spontaneous class presents the industrialization process of wines and sparkling wines, from selecting the fruit to testing the products.