Wine from Brazil’s savannah makes a splash

New crop: Brazilian winemaker Ronaldo Triacca shows his vineyard at Villa Triacca winery in Paranoa, a rural area located 100 kms from the centre of Brasilia. — AFP

Brasília: The tropical savannah around Brazil’s ultra-modernist capital is not exactly known as wine country, but French enologist Jean-Michel Barcelo gushes as he plucks a ruby-red grape and pops it in his mouth.

“This terroir has real potential,” said the 52-year-old wine consultant, who is in the high plateau of central Brazil making his annual visit to Villa Triacca, a vineyard located a 50-minute drive from the sweeping white buildings of the seat of power in Brasilia.