When thinking about a holiday in Brazil, the country’s temperate and culturally Europeanised Southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul doesn’t usually come to mind immediately. It did not come to ours very easily either, but a combination of pandemic-bound car travel and recommendations from friends eventually brought us there. We are glad it did, for this state holds quite a few things that are unique for Brazil.

For starters, there’s wine. Even though Brazil’s overall production mostly consists of low-grade table wine, the area of settlement of Italian immigrants in the northern part of Rio Grande do Sul has long had a reputation of producing wines that can match any from neighbouring Uruguay or Argentina. The area of production has since expanded to encompass most of the state, but the original wine-growing area of Vale dos Vinhedos near the city of Bento Gonçalves remains packed with wineries and makes for a great wine tourism destination. There is everything: elaborate wine tasting, Tuscan-like landscapes, Italo-kitsch-style restaurants and even a few guesthouses where enormous wine barrels have been converted into comfortable rooms. A special recommendation goes to the Guri restaurant, a gastronomic delight we discovered by accident while driving around the area during a particularly intense summer downpour.

Then, there’s nature. Brazil of course has no shortage, but the remote and wonderful twin national parks of Aparados da Serra and Serra Geral, near Rio Grande do Sul’s coast but a world away in spirit, so speak to the imagination that we actually visited twice: the national parks enclose Brazil’s most spectacular canyon, known as Itaimbezinho. During our first visit we were treated to the spectacular sight of araucaria trees (an ancient species native to Southern Brazil) poking their long arms through the fog. As said fog also made it impossible to see the canyon at all, we braved the unpaved roads leading to the parks a second time on a sunny day and were treated to the canyon in its full glory, including several waterfalls precipitously dropping directly over its edge.

Lastly, the Brazilian imagination of Europe materialises itself in the town of Gramado, a.k.a. All-Year Christmas. We visited during actual Christmas time, when they take the vaguely German/Swiss-styled decorations up another notch throughout the town’s streets and around its various artificial lakes. Of course, there is also Brazilian-style fondue (meat, cheese and chocolate all in one - see our Campos do Jordão post for more).

Gramado is not only Christmas, though: the private Ecoparque Sperry in the neighbouring town of Canela is a great place to experience what one of your writers likes to call ‘organised nature’. A series of forests, hills, ravines and waterfalls is made easily accessible along well-paved and signposted paths.

In short, Rio Grande do Sul might not be your immediate image of Brazil, but it is for sure worth a visit if you’re looking for something a bit different. We certainly did. Where would you go for an unusual wine trip?