Campos de Cima

Perhaps an unusual location for quality South American wines, the extreme southwest of Brazil is predominantly cowboy country: endless rolling plains mainly inhabited by beef cattle, sheep  and punctuated with numerous natural lakes. Indeed, until the mid 19^th century, these badlands, which now straddle modern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, were essentially ungoverned. Even nowadays the region can only be accessed by a handful of main roads, and it feels very different from anywhere else we have experienced in Brazil.

It was a great surprise and pleasure then, in 2013, to meet Hortencia and José Ayub, owners of winery Campos de Cima and indeed wine-making pioneers in a region known as ‘Campanha Gaúcha’. Theirs is a very small family operation which was inaugurated only in 2002, and represents the vision Hortencia and José had of creating fine wines in their homeland, and on their own property.

The result is a 16 hectare vineyard on a gently sloping, north-facing hillside outside the town of Itaqui, lying at an altitude of 50-100m. This remote but beautiful spot – and all the surrounding land – has been in family hands for 150 years. A ranch-style farmhouse sits alongside the vineyard and is used for family gatherings, entertaining or simply enjoying the peace and quiet.

A purpose-built winery, entirely powered by solar panels, was later constructed on the edge of Itaqui, a small town and border crossing point between Brazil and Argentina (the border here is a river, confusingly called the ‘Rio Uruguai’! ).

Having imported both French and Italian rootstocks, in the early days the family turned to EMBRAPA, the Brazilian agricultural research agency, to help them with the practicalities of making wine. This approach paid off and the company was soon winning medals locally. With an increasing focus on quality over quantity, they then turned to French winemaker, Michel Fabre, and in 2014 he was given sole responsibility for the vintage. Fabre, as well as being a vineyard owner in his native Minervois, in southwest France, also had extensive wine-making experience in the north of Brazil and Argentina.

Under Fabre’s supervision the winery produced some excellent red, white and sparkling wines, the highlight of which (for Go Brazil) was a Malbec/Shiraz/Tannat blend, branded Assinatura (‘signature’). These wines were launched in the UK back in 2015 and, although Fabre is no longer at the helm, we have increased our purchases in recent years, not least because of the quality and distinctive character of the wines. Indeed, it is no coincidence that Campanha Gaúcha, the area bordering both Argentina and Uruguay, was awarded IP (Indicação de Procedência) status for its wines in 2021, in recognition of this different terroir.

Currently, in 2024, we have been having great success with the winery’s Três Bocas label: available as both a red and white blend, each is produced from three grape varieties and is unoaked. Later this year or early 2025 we plan to re-launch several Trad Method sparklers, after a hiatus of several years.

Please see the full Campos de Cima range below.