What to Do in São Joaquim and Its Wineries

São Joaquim is located in the Serra Catarinense, and according to the statistics, it’s one of the coldest towns in Brazil, where it can even snow in winter, thanks to its low temperatures combined with rain. The municipality has also been gaining attention for its several wineries, producing altitude wines.

It’s a small town with 27,000 residents, sitting on the Santa Catarina highland plateau at 1,360 meters, making it the highest town in southern Brazil.

The wines here are altitude terroir wines, produced on a smaller scale and supplying mostly southern and southeastern Brazil. All the wines have a slightly higher acidity, due to the soil and temperatures, and because of that, we found the white and rosé wines to suit our taste best.

Most of the wineries are located west of town, along the SC-114 highway. However, two of them, Pericó and Villagio de Conti, sit along the road toward Urubici, in an area known as Vila Pericó, much farther from town and requiring more time on unpaved roads.

One fun fact about the region is that there’s an orange wine made the same way as red wine, letting the white wine sit in contact with the grape skins for a few days, or even years. That said, we only found 3 wineries in the region offering this style: Leoni de Veneccia, Vinícola Bassetti, and Villagio di Conti.

Every winery in the region is currently expanding, with projects like hotels and expanded service areas.

How to Get to São Joaquim

From the capital, Florianópolis, you have two route options:

The more scenic route: take BR-101 to the Gravatal interchange, then follow BR-438 until you reach the Serra do Rio do Rastro, where the scenery is beautiful, climbing up to Bom Jardim da Serra, and continuing on to São Joaquim.

The faster route: take BR-282 to the Urubici interchange, then take SC-430, and from Urubici you’ll reach São Joaquim.

You can also come from Curitiba, following BR-116 to Lages and then BR-438 to São Joaquim, or from Porto Alegre, much farther, taking BR-101 to Criciúma, then Lauro Muller via SC-446, climbing the Serra do Rio do Rastro from Bom Jardim da Serra to São Joaquim.

When to Go to São Joaquim

The best time to visit and enjoy the town is during the cold season, so winter, between June and September — and you might even catch some snow during this time.

It’s also a great time to enjoy sunsets at the wineries, since winter is dry with little rain, giving you a better chance of actually reaching the wineries — some have unpaved roads that get really tricky in the rain.

In summer, it’s apple harvest season, running from late January through early March.

What to Do in São Joaquim

Portal de São Joaquim

Located on highway SC-114, at the entrance to town, heading toward Lages, decorated with grapes and apples, without question the town’s signature fruits.

Portal de São Joaquim

Igreja Matriz São Joaquim

Construction began in 1918, and it sits across from Praça João Ribeiro. The main church of São Joaquim was built entirely from basalt stone, first quarried from neighboring towns and hauled in by ox cart.

Igreja de São Joaquim and the town sign

Praça João Ribeiro

Praça João Ribeiro is the town’s main square, with sculptures, a small lake with a fountain, and a thermometer meant to track the low winter temperatures.

Praça João Ribeiro

Praça Cesário Amarante and Chocolate do Bosque

On the same street as Praça João Ribeiro is the town’s Tourist Information Center, with brochures not just for the wineries, but also tips on what to do in town. Across from this square is Chocolate do Bosque, a great spot to buy artisan chocolate and have a hot chocolate, along with a few local souvenirs.

Praça Cesário Amarante

Chocolate do Bosque

Souvenir da Serra

This is the only shop we found in town selling local souvenirs, great for gifting to family or friends. It carries all kinds of products, from cheese to fridge magnets and regional beer.

Souvenirs da Serra

Vinícola Pericó

Founded in 2002, Vinícola Pericó (website) was also one of the region’s pioneers, though it sits a bit farther out, toward Urubici, about an hour and a half from downtown, on an entirely unpaved road (12.8 km from pavement to the winery entrance, plus another 2.3 km once inside the property). We’d recommend a 4x4 or a vehicle with high clearance, especially during rainy season, since the road gets really slippery.

With a modern design and a terrace overlooking the vineyards, visitors can join guided tours and taste 4 wine labels under a sommelier’s guidance, for R$90.00. Sitting 1,300 meters above sea level, they specialize in French grape varieties, and also offer a wine-paired lunch by Chef Dudu, along with live music on weekends.

There’s a painting by an artist from Balneário Camboriú named Juliette, who served as the model for some of the winery’s wine labels. The name Juliette was chosen by consensus, and it’s a common name in France — now especially well-known because of BBB contestant Juliette. This is the newest line, but really tasty, and it’s part of the tasting.

It’s one of Brazil’s most modern wineries in terms of harvesting, collection, and pruning equipment. And curiously, there’s also a small llama herd on the property. We’d recommend booking ahead by phone at (49) 9 9922-4499.

Vinícola Pericó

Vinícola D’Alture

Vinícola Boutique D’Alture (website) was founded by Roberto Chávez and features some of the region’s most beautiful architecture. Beyond the guided tour, tasting, and wine-paired lunches on weekends, D’Alture is expanding with plans for luxury cabins for guests to stay at the winery, though they weren’t ready at the time of our visit.

There, we had the privilege of doing the tasting and touring the winery with the owner himself, Roberto Chavez, a genuine enthusiast who loves the place — it was an extremely pleasant visit with him.

Even though it’s not among the most well-known, it’s one of the most awarded, and without question worth adding to your itinerary. The flagship wine is Don Roberto, honoring 6 generations of the family, all named Roberto.

Vinícola D’Alture

Vinícola Leone di Venezia

Vinícola Leone di Venezia (website) has an imposing entrance, and offers both tastings and tours led by an enologist. The tasting features 5 wine varieties, booked in advance for set time slots.

In total, the winery has 15 different labels, categorized by their purity and blends, referring to the mix of grape varieties.

You can also picnic around the winery, which also offers a range of snacks to pair with the wines. For anyone wanting to try every label, tastings by the glass are also available.

Vinícola Leone di Venezia

Vinhedos Monte Agudo

Vinhedos Monte Agudo (website) follows a boutique winery concept, with fewer wines, but quality production.

A great spot for meals, whether lunch or a beautiful, regionally famous sunset. Around the winery, lavender fields add extra charm and fragrance. We booked the sunset experience online, in July, but because of rain, we swapped it for a wine-paired lunch, which was absolutely worth it.

Founded in 2004 by pediatrician Leônidas Ferraz and grain producer Alceu Müller, Vinhedos do Monte Agudo is now run by Leônidas’s children.

Vinhedos Monte Agudo

Wine-Paired Lunch

The wines served during the paired lunch were: Sinfonia Blanc de Blancs (welcome wine), Vivaz sauvignon blanc (starter), Chardonnay Unoaked, Sublime (rosé), a 2014-vintage cabernet sauvignon/merlot blend (main course), and Eko, a fortified wine (dessert).

Each course offered two choices:

Starter: duck meatball or pea-and-bacon soup — we preferred the first, since it was really flavorful.

Starters

Main course: trout filet with chickpea purée, or pork with potato purée in a sweet-and-spicy guava sauce — I loved how the pork was served, which was, without a doubt, divine!

Main courses

Desserts: dulce de leche ice cream or apple pie — both genuinely great, so it’s honestly hard to pick a favorite.

Desserts

Coffee was also included in the lunch package, which cost R$245.00 per person. Both the lunch and the sunset experience, which comes in two tiers, Ouro and Prata, can be booked through the website. The difference between them is how many wines are included, but both come with cold dishes and bread on the side.

Villaggio Bassetti

Villaggio Bassetti (website) was born from two families: Pioli and Bassetti. They started with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines in 2005, and today they grow several grape varieties.

Like at D’Alture, we were lucky enough to be hosted by the winery’s owner, Mr. Eduardo Bassetti, an extremely courteous man who led our tasting. He gave us a full lesson in wine culture, since he’s deeply knowledgeable about both his own wines and international ones.

The tasting took place at 3 PM, by appointment. The space is small but pleasant, since it’s set up using wine-aging barrels as tables. The wines are named after his wife, children, and mother, weaving a bit of family history into every bottle. And it was at Vinícola Bassetti where we tried, loved, and bought the orange wine.

Along with the tasting, you can also join Bike no Vinhedo (“Bike Through the Vineyard”), a tour run by the travel agency Na Trilha Certa. Starting with a minimum of two people, the 4,200-meter route includes, just to illustrate, a bottle of the winery’s wine and a charcuterie board for cyclists to enjoy during a break.

Villaggio Bassetti

Vinícola Vivalti

Vinícola Vivalti (website) is owned by businessman Vicente Donini, owner of Marisol (kids’ fashion), inspired by Tuscany, Italy, and recently recognized by FIESC for the Ordem do Mérito medal from the National Confederation of Industry in 2021.

Like Pericó, it’s a very modern-looking space. The wood panel display for its wines is genuinely striking. It offers a paired tasting with a charcuterie board.

Vinícola Vivalti

Villa Francioni

Villa Francioni (website) began its story in 1990, when Manoel Dilor Freitas chose the Santa Catarina highlands to produce his wines, founding Villa Francioni, the region’s first winery. Today, with the capacity to produce 300,000 bottles a year, they offer nearly twenty labels, bottled through an automated process with no human contact involved.

We took the guided tour led by a specialized guide, priced at R$60.00 per person, and tried 4 labels. The winery also has an art gallery, refreshed every 3 months, featuring Brazilian and even international artists, including works by Camille Claudel, the French artist and sculptor.

The winery became known for producing the “Madonna wine,” after, during one of her tours, she tried their rosé at Restaurante Fasano in São Paulo, where she’d asked for the best rosé in Brazil. They served this one, and she ended up buying the restaurant’s entire stock.

For anyone wanting to try every label, tastings by the glass are available, though prices run high for 30 ml, ranging from R$15.00 to R$25.00 per glass.

Villa Francioni

Villagio Conti

Villagio Conti (website) works exclusively with Italian grape varieties. It’s one of a hundred or so excellent Brazilian wineries that remain relatively unknown, despite doing beautiful winemaking work.

It’s close to Pericó, but we weren’t able to visit. Access is difficult, on an unpaved road, and because of the rain, we’d recommend a 4x4. The sommelier at Vinícola Pericó recommended Villagio Conti’s orange wine — we’ll have to save that for a future visit.

Geographic Indication

Wines produced in São Joaquim are now eligible for the Geographic Indication (GI) seal for Santa Catarina Altitude Wines. The decision falls under Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The agency granted the designation to the town, along with 28 other Santa Catarina municipalities, in June 2021.

The Geographic Indication seal is official recognition that wine produced in this region is distinct from others. Just to illustrate, we wrote about this same topic before, when we visited the cachaça distilleries in Paraty.

Where to Stay in São Joaquim

We stayed at a downtown inn called Pousada Cravo e Canela, a simple place with a great breakfast, and the owners were incredibly kind and helpful — we’d absolutely recommend staying there too!

It was just 3 minutes from downtown by car, and walkable too, but because of the rain we ran into, we chose to drive.

You can book through Booking.com or by calling (49) 9911-3665 to book directly with Kéu, who’s really lovely.

Pousada Cravo e Canela

Read more about our trip in Igrejinha and Urubici.