One of the things you have got to love about the wine business is the opportunity to travel and introduce our premium quality South African wines to the wider world. I recently enjoyed a whistle-stop tour around Brazil that included lots of wine tastings and gourmet meals in Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Port Allegro and Sao Paolo. Avondale has been exporting our premium quality wines to Brazil for the past six years, and it is fantastic that Avondale has a really nice footprint in the growing wine market of a BRIC country. The enjoyment of wine in Brazil is new – it has been steadily developing over the past 15 years, and many of the enthusiasts that I met on this trip had only been drinking wine in the last 5 years. It was great to visit Curitiba, highly regarded as one of the world’s most sustainable cities. Curitiba is so well-maintained and conducive to healthy living. The city’s exceptionally high ratio of green space per capita is evident even during a flying visit. Another highlight of my Brazilian travels was the discovery of palm heart, also known as heart of palm – a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees. It was served mostly in delicious salads with a green, spicy finish. I couldn’t help but think how well these palm heart salads would pair with Avondale’s Cyclus!
Whirlwind Wine Tour of Brazil
