South America
July 24th, 2008 Posted in South AmericaSouth America is a huge wine producer. It has about 450,000 hectares under vine, which is more than the United States, Australia, and New Zealand combined! Crazy huh? You probably had no idea. It’s interesting to note that most of South America is a climate totally unable to support grape growing, yet it’s still able to be second only to Europe in total wine production. There are only 4 main countries producing quality wine today– Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.
The history of winemaking in South America goes back 500 years, to the time of the Conquistadores. Missionaries brought vine cuttings with them and the church was often involved in making wine, which was an integral part of sacremental ceremonies. The colonists from Spain also began to produce wine, as Spanish wine rarely made it over the seas without spoiling. When Phylloxera reared it’s ugly head and nearly destroyed all of European wine production, South American vines somehow remained untouched. During that period, South American wine production went through the roof, as it became the only source of wine available in the whole world. To this day many winemakers in South America do not have to deal with the expense of vine-grafting phylloxera has made a neccessity everywhere else in the world.
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