I meet people like Ruy Vogt outside of Caxias Do Sul deep in Brazil's wine country and he's out on the road that Laurent Donchegay and I have just passed searching for him and his vineyard and cellars. He's smiling, he cannot pass many a minute without smiling : it's his signature " look " and its fits and suits him so well. He flagged us down as he and his wife Fernanda had probably been waiting for our arrival for quite awhile here in Brazil's winter in late June 2012, Tuesday the 26th, 2012 I believe? His waving and smiling at us was very comforting as we had been driving through a very forested and wild area with little signs of human habitation and it felt good to finally be arriving at our next destination!
It was another fun adventure about to start and I was just getting really warmed-up as it was a beautiful day here outside of Caxias Do Sul and it was our first winery visit of the day. It had taken us awhile to get here and I am sure that we took the round-about and long way to arrive : the scenic route if you will. That's okay - it gave us a better sense of the surrounding region and that's never a bad thing.
We met both Ruy and his wife Fernanda pretty quickly and Laurent was able to speak to them fluently in Portuguese while I listened, snapped away taking many pictures, talked to Laurent in French and spoke to Ruy and Fernanda with my broken Spanish and French, English and much gesturing and sign language - and smiling, too.
Ruy started to pour the wine and together with their warmth and hospitality and much smiling I began to relax and enjoy myself quite a bit and start to feel a real kinsman ship between us. I loved that, we seemed to be becoming quick soul mates and that is always something that is special and often catches me off-guard as it did here on this Tuesday around noon in the CASA FERNANDO ZATTERA home and cellar and winery all-in-one!
As you can see I like taking pictures through both my wine glass and the wine bottles at hand. I have many more pictures than just these few and I am sure with time I will add many more. They all deserve to be here but for the meantime enjoy these. It's now Wednesday, at 9:33AM here at my home in northern Virginia ( 45 minutes' drive from Washington D.C. - we have survived Hurricane Sandy in our region ) October 31st, 2012 on Halloween ( Boo! ) and I want to post this now so that it is available for all to enjoy. Laurent and I have recently chosen to import to the United States 4 of the Zattera family wines ( the two reds : 1) Bordo and 2) Cabernet Sauvignon and the two whites : 1) Niagara and the 2) Moscato Giallo - and we hope that they will be here by the end of this year 2012. We have their label approval already and that feels great so we are almost there and can put in our order soon if Laurent has not already placed it? Stay-tuned for much more about Ruy and Fernanda and Fabiana ( the winemaker and sister to Fernanda ), and their excellent wines. We liked everything that we tasted and are thrilled to be able to offer to the United States drinking public some fun things like Bordo red and Niagara white that are already very popular in Brazil and virtually unknown here in the United States! Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn
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