Page 48 - Grapevine July-August 2015

International News
Wines of the New World:
Venezuela By Neal Johnston
V enezuela is one of thirty five sover-
eign states that makes up the Americas,
or countries of the new world. The
name Venezuela means ‘Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela’. This is a country with an extremely
high level of biodiversity and a wide variety of
individual and free ranging natural habitats which
includes the Andes Mountains to the west and the
Amazon Basin rainforest to the south, via the exten-
sive llanos plains. The Caribbean coast lies in the
centre, while the Orinoco River Deltain is located to
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the east. Wine production in Venezuela is quite a bit
scarcer than it is in some other parts of the world.
To the layperson the closeness in proximity to the
equator with an arid and hot climate would ordi-
narily suggest a type of landmass that could prove
quite difficult for growing and cultivating grapes.
Surprisingly the altitude is in fact good with a daily
fluctuation in temperatures of greater than thirty
degrees with adequate soil drainage.
Commercial wine production in Venezuela stayed