Top Serra Gaucha Food Tours

Most Vale dos Vinhedos tours include lunch, but usually in a restaurant located between winery stops—served separately from the wines. This four-course meal at a family-run winery in Faria Lemos does things differently—each course is a family recipe paired to a specific wine (made on-site), with family members present at the meal to discuss what's in your glass and how the winery operates.

Vale dos Vinhedos's biggest names handle heavy bus-tour traffic, while smaller family operations—many tracing back to 19th-century Italian immigrants—offer a different kind of visit, often with the winemaker showing you the cellar themselves. Head out from Bento Gonçalves with a driver-guide who knows the producers personally, and customizes the route and stops to suit your preferences.

Vale dos Vinhedos's grape harvest runs for a short window each Brazilian summer, with the wineries opening their fields to visitors who want to participate rather than just taste. From Bento Gonçalves, go straight to the harvest itself—picking grapes and pressing them by foot, while listening to Italian songs traditional to the immigrant communities that founded the vineyards.