# Vinho de Mesa Tinto Seco Qualitá (NV)

- **Producer:** Qualitá
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Bordô, Isabel
- **Region:** Serra Gaúcha, Brazil
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 11.0%
- **Average price:** €4
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now
- **Serving temperature:** 12–15 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** grape, strawberry, raspberry, cherry

## About this wine

This everyday table wine is produced under the Qualitá private label, owned by GPA (Grupo Pão de Açúcar), one of Brazil's largest retail groups. To craft this traditional wine, GPA partnered with Vinícola Arbugeri, a historic winery based in Caxias do Sul within the Serra Gaúcha region. Sourced from high-altitude vineyards in Serra Gaúcha, this wine represents the classic, nostalgic daily-drinking style favored across South America, utilizing American hybrid grape varieties. It offers an approachable, fruit-forward profile designed for immediate enjoyment.

## Interesting facts

- Made from Bordô and Isabel, which are American hybrid grapes (Vitis labrusca) rather than European Vitis vinifera.
- Crafted by Vinícola Arbugeri, a winery in Caxias do Sul with viticultural roots dating back to the 1960s.
- A popular ingredient in Southern Brazilian home cooking, especially for making the traditional wine-based dessert Sagu de Vinho.

## Food pairing

This light-to-medium-bodied dry red table wine thrives alongside casual, everyday comfort foods. Its vibrant acidity cuts through the fat of simple charcuterie and cheese boards, while its low tannins and fresh fruit profile complement tomato-based pasta dishes and pizzas without clashing. Its rustic charm also makes it an excellent culinary ingredient for marinades and traditional wine-based desserts.

## Wine making process

The winemaking process focuses entirely on preserving fresh, primary fruit characteristics. Grapes are hand-harvested from basaltic, clay-heavy soils in the Serra Gaúcha hills. Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes undergo destemming followed by a short maceration on the skins to extract its vibrant purple-red color. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks using selected yeasts to emphasize the grapey, fresh-fruit profile. The wine is completely unaged, seeing no oak contact, and is filtered and bottled young to maintain its immediate freshness.