THE VITICULTURE IN THE PLATEAU OF SANTA CATARINA (BRAZIL) UNDER THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY PERSPECTIVE Author: Gil Karlos Ferri, gilferri@hotmail.com Eunice Sueli Nodari, eunice.nodari@ufsc.br Rubens Onofre Nodari, rubens.nodari@ufsc.br Introduction This research investigates the viticulture path in Santa Catarina’s plateau under the Global Environmental History perspective. In the last decades, the growth of grapes and wine production and intake has been giving special importance to the viticulture sector in Brazil. The research intends to comprehend the historical processes of interaction among human groups, geographic spaces and wine species in Santa Catarina’s plateau.
Sources and Methodology Our theoretical and methodological reference is the Global Environmental History and the Spatial History. Among the utilized sources, stands out the official documentation, technical reports, newspapers, photos, maps and interviews. Through the sources’ analysis look for understand the interactions and interconections among the viticulture, the landscapes alteration and the fitogenetics improvement researches developed at EPAGRI and UFSC with the cooperation of Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige (Italy) and the Institute for Grapevine Breeding Geilweilerhof (Germany).
Map - Vineyards of Plateau of Santa Catarina. Source: EPAGRI, 2019.
Conclusion If we take into account the climate changes that are currently happening, the temperate climate vineyards are at risk, because its cultivation and productions rely on periods of cold in winter months. The technology is not always enough when it comes to nature, besides the fact that wine is a cultural product that demands human intervention on the whole process. Spatial transformation can lead to deprive the bucolic landscape associated to wineries, what could cause the loss of this symbolic representation. Since it is a really recent terroir in wine’s world, Santa Catarina’s plateau needs to recognize its land usage and occupation past, to understand the currently and future importance of its natural resources and to glimpse sustainability in these places.
Figure - Vineyards of Pericó Valley. Photo: Pericó Winery, 2009.
References PORRO, Duillio; STEFANINI, Marco. Tecnologias para o desenvolvimento da vitivinicultura de Santa Catarina. Trento: Provincia Autonoma, 2016. NODARI, Eunice Sueli; FRANK, Zephyr. Vinhos de Altitude no Estado de Santa Catarina: a firmação de uma identidade. Tempo e Argumento, Florianópolis, v. 11, n. 26, p. 183 - 200, jan./abr. 2019. This research is a part of the Project From Ground to Table: an environmental history of vitiviniculture in Americas, coordinated by Dr. Eunice Sueli Nodari (UFSC) in partnership with CESTA/Stanford University. Grant from CNPq.