The microclimates of Serra Gaúcha contribute to the rich variety of grapes produced in the region. At the top, where temperatures are milder and the climate is drier, harvests are mainly focused on the production of fine wines. The varieties grown at lower altitudes, with more humidity, mainly supply the juice and table wine industry. But the rainfall regime, increasingly irregular in recent years, has impacted the vines in different ways. And the floods that hit in May this year also left their trail of destruction in the region, despite the altitude.
At the time of the catastrophe, the vineyards were in a dormant phase. All the grapes had already been harvested and sprouting would only begin in a few months, when spring arrived. But the more than a thousand millimeters of rain in just a few days cost more than crops. Landslides took entire lands down the mountain. Luciano de Mari’s family, in Bento Gonçalves, saw four hectares of land – 40% of its productive area – disappear overnight.
“Grape production here on the property began 50 years ago, with my late grandfather,” says Luciano. The Di Mari produced 280 thousand tons of grapes per harvest. They are members of Aurora Winery and their story, unfortunately, was not an exception within the group. In total, 86 producers linked to the cooperative were affected – some more, others less – by the May rains. A total of 12 hectares of land was completely lost, as the soil slid away taking all the nutrients from the area.
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“For us to be able to have full production in these grape areas again, it will take at least another five years”, says Maurício Bonafé, agricultural manager at Vinícola Aurora.
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A knot in the heads of producers
Within the cooperative universe, the impact of the floods was limited. The group has 1,100 cooperative producers in 11 municipalities in Serra Gaúcha. But the climate has been giving producers a hard time and reverberating in the numbers for some time. The cooperative usually works with 75 million kilos of grapes per harvest. Last time, however, 50 million were harvested – and the floods had not yet happened.
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But the recent crop failure was also the result of excessive rainfall in September last year, the vines’ budding period. Humidity during this period of the cycle is an open door for fungi, which reach the grapevines.
Shortly before, to give you an idea of the instability of the climate, grape production in Serra Gaúcha had been affected by a water shortage – to the point that some properties were implementing irrigation systems for the first time.
“These are adjustments that climate change is imposing,” says Rodrigo Arpini, Aurora’s marketing and sales director. “We are understanding how this works in other parts of Brazil to bring technology here.”
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Expansion beyond Serra Gaúcha
Vinícola Aurora executives explain that the cooperative seeks to make new changes to its bylaws, which could allow the group to expand beyond Serra Gaúcha. “Brazil certainly has a vast field. In addition to Serra, we have the Campanha region, on the border. Petrolina is also something that Aurora will keep an eye on”, explains Arpini.
Currently, Aurora already buys some ready-made products from these regions, as a base for juices and sparkling wines. According to the president of Aurora’s board, Renê Tonelo, the cooperative’s statutory reform should only be carried out in April of next year, when the next harvest is harvested (with no expectations of failure this time).
“We do not rule out the possibility of allowing our associate to produce in other regions outside Serra Gaúcha”, he states. The idea, in principle, is not to bring in new members. “The idea is that those here can expand [a produção] elsewhere and not the other way around.”
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*The report traveled to Bento Gonçalves at the invitation of Cooperativa Vinícola Aurora
