Salton Intenso Pinot Noir

About Salton Intenso Pinot Noir

Salton Intenso Pinot Noir shows fresh red fruit aromas, such as cherry and raspberry, and notes of strawberries in syrup and spices. Light body with delicate tannins and balanced acidity.

About Salton Winery

As is the case with many Brazilian wineries, Salton was established by emigrants from Northern Italy who came to the Serra Gaucha wine region. In this case, it was the year 1878, when Antonio Domenico Salton, came to Brazil to seek his fortune. Like many emigrants, he planted grapes and made home wine, but established Salton Winery much earlier than others – in 1910, with the support of his seven sons.

Today Salton produces 25 million liters of wine and makes 60 to 70 different labels. They purchase 70% of their grapes from local grape growers but also own 50 hectares of their own vines in Serra Gaucha and another 115 hectares further south in the Campanha region. They employ 500 workers and export their wine to 24 different countries.

The winery headquarters is just outside of town and is a very large impressive white stucco building with mosaics inside and out. In the front is a small demonstration vineyard. The winery offers daily tours and tastings for visitors.

About Campanha

Campanha is Brazil’s most southerly wine-producing region, located along the country’s border with Uruguay. While not quite as well known as the neighboring region of Serra Gaúcha, Campanha – sometimes known as Fronteira – is beginning to attract attention for the quality of the wine produced.

Soft, fruit-driven reds and rustic, full-bodied whites are made in Campanha from grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat and Chardonnay. As a relatively new wine area, viticulture was established in the region in the 1970s. Production has grown significantly since as winegrowers have looked to more forgiving landscapes in Rio Grande do Sul rather than the mountain slopes of Serra Gaúcho. In 2020, the Indication of Origin of Campanha Gaúcha was granted, covering a grand total of 44,365 square kilometers (17,130 sq mi). It accounts for approximately 30 percent Brazil’s wine production, second to Serra Gaúcha.

The viticultural zone of Campanha lies some 290 kilometers (180 mi) southwest of the city of Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. Beginning roughly from the city of Bagé, Campanha covers a thin strip of land that stretches along the Uruguayan border for around 338 kilometers (210 mi) to the border with Argentina in the west. In practice, most viticulture is found around the communes of Santana do Livramento in the center of the region and Pinheiro Machado at the eastern end.

The terrain of Campanha consists of low, rolling hills and flatlands known as pampas in this part of the world. The area has a relatively temperate climate given its low latitude of 30°S, which it shares with the northern Sahara Desert. However, altitudes between 200 to 300 meters (650 to 1,000 feet) above sea level result in long, sunny days which are followed by cooler evenings, particularly in the higher elevations. This diurnal temperature variation, while not as pronounced as in the famously high-altitude vineyards of Argentina’s Mendoza region, is enough to extend the ripening period, which leads to a balance of flavor and acidity in the grapes. Campanha has a drier climate than Serra Gaúcha, although its average of around 850 millimeters (33.5 in) of rain a year is still relatively high by viticultural standards.

Campanha’s sandy soils are made up of granite and limestone and have a lack of fertility that is not often associated with the South American Pampas. As a result, they are well suited to viticulture, as the stressed vines are forced to forgo leafy foliage growth to focus their energy into the production of high-quality grapes. The free-draining nature of these soils is vital in ensuring that the vines are not swamped with water during periods of rainfall, but enough water is stored in the lower reaches of the ground that irrigation is not necessary throughout the growing season.