The geography of vine and wine industry in Brazil: Territory, culture and heritage / Géographie de la vigne et du vin Brésilien : territoire, culture et patrimoine

University of Caxias do Sul, Master of Biotechology and Manegeman of Vine and Wine Industry, Rua Francisco Getulio Vargas, 1130, CEP 95070-560, Caxias do Sul, Brazil

^a e-mail: ifalcade@ucs.br

Abstract

The Portuguese started in the sixteenth century, but the colonial system did encourage neither their growth nor the establishment of territories. The organization of regions where the grape and wine formed the economic dynamic is related to the nineteenth century colonization projects, especially Italians from 1875. These regions including the Serra Gaúcha of Rio Grande do Sul and other small areas. In the twentieth century, most of these regions have had important territorial transformations, however, viticulture elements remain in culture and regional identity. In recent years, the growing of vines expanded to other regions and also in other States. The cultivation of the vine and winemaking built a brand, both for the actors and for the regional society, whose viticultural landscape distinguishes and identifies regions, and the cultural expression of the grape and wine is present in numerous material and intangible elements. The material and the intangible cultural complex of the wine-growing regions are a diverse and dynamic heritage, more concentrated in Rio Grande do Sul, which contributes to the enhancement and preservation of cultural heritage and territorial wine in this State. The wine culture valued in the actions of patrimonialization depends on the importance that give them the actors involved.