Tasting committee made up of industry professionals will carry out a sensory evaluation of wine samples

November 29, 2024 is a new milestone in the history of tropical winemaking. It is on this date that the technical tastings of the wines begin, aiming to obtain the Vale do São Francisco Geographical Indication of Origin (IP) seal. The first session will be held from 2pm to 5pm at the Senac Petrolina (PE) Enology Laboratory, where a tasting committee made up of sector professionals will carry out a rigorous sensory evaluation of wine samples.

“We are one step closer to making this certification available to wine consumers”, comments the deputy director of the IP Vale do São Francisco Regulatory Council, winemaker Rodrigo Fabian. “Indication of origin is a win-win for everyone: for producers, who guarantee that the wine has origins and quality control; and for the consumer, who will be sure that the wine has gone through a tasting committee, has been approved and is of quality. As a result, the sector, society and the consumer benefit”, he adds.

The entire approval process at IP Vale do São Francisco is managed by the Regulatory Council. It is a body constituted in accordance with the statutes of the São Francisco Valley Wine Institute (Vinhovasf), a private, non-profit association that brings together wineries in the defined region.

This committee includes four members from the associated wineries, two representatives from technical-scientific institutions with knowledge in viticulture and oenology, and another representative from publicity bodies linked to the national wine sector. They are: Miguel Almeida (Vinícola Terranova), Rodrigo Fabian (Tropical Vitivinícola), Ricardo Henriques (Vinícola Rio Sol), Mateus Pogeere (Zanrolenzi Bebidas), Ana Paula Barros (IFSertãoPE – Instituto Federal do Sertão Pernambucano), Patrícia Coelho (Embrapa Semiárido ) and Paula Theotonio (Jornal Correio).

Wine tasting, however, is only one of the evaluation stages. The samples are also analyzed for compliance with the viticultural and oenological standards established in the IP Technical Specifications Booklet, and also undergo physical-chemical laboratory analyses.

This data is archived on a proprietary digital platform, developed to optimize the process from sample registration, strictly following the Control Plan in the Technical Specifications Booklet. “This document is basically the backbone of IP, and following these guidelines from end to end is fundamental”, comments the executive secretary of IP Vale do São Francisco, winemaker Euclides Neto.

When a wine is approved in all stages, it receives a Certificate of Conformity from the Regulatory Council, which qualifies the wine to obtain the seal.

Geographical indications (GIs) are industrial property tools that identify the origin of a product or service, giving it value, reputation and its own identity. In the world of wine there are several recognized ones, such as Champagne and Vinhos Verdes.

In Brazil there are two types of GIs, which need to be registered with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The Indication of Origin (IP) is more comprehensive and applies to demarcated regions that have become recognized for the production or extraction of a certain product/service. The Denomination of Origin (DO), in turn, designates a product/service whose qualities or characteristics are due exclusively or essentially to the geographic environment, including natural and human factors.

Protocoled in 2020 by Vinhovasf with INPI and approved in November 2022, IP Vale do São Francisco is the result of two decades of work organizing the sector. The studies to classify the demarcated region involved Vinhovasf itself, Embrapa Semiárido, Embrapa Uva e Vinho, Universidade de Caxias do Sul and Instituto Federal do Sertão Pernambucano (IFSertãoPE).

“This time was necessary because our region is truly unique and needed to be characterized, without a shadow of a doubt, not only in the elaboration of the wines, but also in demonstrating why and how they are different”, assesses the president of Vinhovasf, José Gualberto de Freitas Almeida, who followed the creation of IP since the early 2000s.

IP Vale do São Francisco is the first to encompass fine and sparkling wines made in tropical areas of the world. In these regions, more than one vine vegetative cycle may occur per year, unlike wines made in temperate areas. In the Valley, this is possible thanks to irrigation and the semi-arid tropical climate, with high temperatures that enable the production of grapes and wines from January to December, with up to two and a half harvests per vine. In addition, there are possibilities for staggered harvests throughout the year in different vineyard plots.

This geographical indication is the first in Brazil outside the South region and to integrate municipalities from two states: Lagoa Grande, Petrolina and Santa Maria da Boa Vista, in Pernambuco; and Casa Nova and Curaçá, in Bahia.

Currently, nine wine companies are associated with Vinhovasf and can submit their wines for evaluation by the Council: Vinícola Bianchetti Tedesco, Vinícola Quintas de São Braz, Vitivinícola Santa Maria (Rio Sol), Vinícola Terroir do São Francisco (Garziera), Vinícola Tropical (Fazenda Milano), Vale do São Francisco Winery (Botticelli) and Zanlorenzi Winery in Pernambuco; and Vinícola Terranova (Miolo Wine Group) and Vinícola VSB (Vinum Sancti Benedictus) in Bahia.

The region’s wines have very varied characteristics, including differences in harvests within a single year. They range from light whites with floral aromas to barricades with nuances of tropical and stone fruits, through various rosés, light and young reds and up to full-bodied ones, suitable for aging, with aromas of ripe red or black fruits. Sparkling wines, in turn, are mostly young, dry, demi-sec (semi-dry) or muscat.