It all started on an ordinary night, during a long dinner, while my parents José Carlos and Angela began to wonder about the possibility of making their own wine. At first sight the idea seemed unreachable, just a dream. But still, we knew this was a dream we wanted to pursue. And so, with lots of sketches made on a napkin, the name Amariano was born -- a combination of 'A' for my mother's first name 'Angela', plus my father's family surname 'Mariano'.

Some time later, during a physiotherapy session – life works in mysterious ways – my dad got to know Emerson de Almeida, who told him about his recent purchase: a vineyard in a venture called The Vines of Mendoza. Pretty excited, and with a different feeling growing inside him, my father decided to learn more details about it. It was settled: my parents would come to Mendoza searching for something more palpable -   until that moment it all seemed a piece of heaven that couldn’t actually be a reality.

Arriving at Uco Valley they were welcomed with enormous hospitality – all the Brazilian paradigms and prejudices about our “Argentinian eternal rivals” were torn apart. Sipping a glass of sparkling wine, seated at the original cabins on the edge of a small pond, and surrounded by a spectacular view of the Andes Mountains, The Vines of Mendoza was presented to them. Right away, they were invited to savor a typical Argentinian asado, literally amidst the vineyards, with the wines they have already made. They left overwhelmed, with a lifetime decision to make.    

Back in Brazil, after going through a horrible earthquake in Santiago, having many conversations with the family, and really thinking about the future, they decided to give wings to their dream. On July 2010 the vineyard acquisition was sealed, and the Malbec and Syrah varietals were the ones chosen. We knew from the beginning that our vines would take about 3 years to start growing fine grapes to winemaking, leading us to make a huge decision for Amariano: buy grapes from another owner and start to yield wines at that time, initially (2011 and 2012) a Super Premium Malbec.    

By the next harvest, my parents took the family to Mendoza and the vineyard in the Uco Valley to get to know the place and participate of our first wine season. Since that moment, the business had become a family affair, a group dream, comprised of little pieces of every one of us. The family takes part in every step of our winemaking, from the planting, to the harvest and grapes manual selection, to the blend and bottling. We created the brand, the label, we chose the wine style, it’s winemaking process, it’s character. We get our hands dirty, have backaches and taste countless critical and analytical sips. Our mouths are luscious due to the huge amount of grapes “we steal from the vines”, the palate becomes astute, and the soul, grateful for personally taking care of us.     

Mendoza is now a part of us, a place that feels like home, with loved ones and friends who treat us like they’ve known us for years. We’re surrounded by highly competent professionals that know exactly what they’re doing. They believe just like us that is possible to make our dream come true. A team made of incredible people, who we have the privilege to call friends.

So far we’ve made four vintages, and the first, Amariano Malbec 2011, was presented to the Brazilian market in late April 2014. Our wine has 18 months of oak barrels, 18 months staged on the bottles and a lot of hope, love and care. It’s still a little bit early to say what the market thinks about our wine, but one thing I can tell for sure and with a lot of pride: you can't put a price on the thrill of seeing someone's face after they try our wines for the first time.