History of our exclusive cachaças
At Latina, cachaça is our passion. That's why we've made it our mission to bring the best of Brazilian terroirs to Europe.
MENINA CARIOCA
The production of our exclusive cachaças
The União Carvalheira Cachaça, which bears the name of the Carvalheira family, has been produced since 1979 at the União Carvalheira farm, located between Mendes, Vassouras, and Barra do Piraí in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Nélio Carvalheira, known as Nelinho, is a lover of life who began producing cachaça for his own enjoyment, then gradually for his circle of friends, and finally — given the enthusiasm for his cachaça — started selling it to the general public. Nelinho, who works with his son Nelsinho, is confident in the quality of his cachaça and has, to this day, chosen not to participate in competitions that would only serve to confirm the exceptional quality of his artisanal production.
CACHAÇA – WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
The production process of União Carvalheira Cachaça is entirely manual. The cachaça is made with carefully selected ingredients and lovingly aged in French oak barrels. Sugarcane bagasse is used as fuel for the still. The fazenda produces 60,000 liters of cachaça per year.
The distillery has eight French oak barrels for storing and aging the cachaça.
União Carvalheira also offers cachaças flavored with banana, coffee, and cinnamon, which are very popular in Brazil. The fazenda also produces delicious candies and liqueurs — with a special focus on a delightful milk liqueur, a French family recipe from Luiza Vachod, wife of Nelinho.
União Carvalheira – A Whole Story
The drawing of a train on the União Carvalheira labels is no coincidence. Nelinho is a true train enthusiast and has a deep love for everything related to the railways — which played a key role in the early history of cachaça. On his own farm, he built a miniature railway complete with a tunnel and a bridge, where visitors can tour the fazenda aboard a beautiful Maria Fumaça (steam train), 60 cm gauge, model 4.0, equipped with a 2-cylinder diesel engine.
Nelinho is also known in the Paraíba Valley as the Batman of Vassouras. The reason for this nickname? His favorite mode of transportation: a 1971 Citroën that he transformed into a Batmobile!
“I built the car over 40 years ago for a carnival parade competition in the city — and I won first place,” he explains.
The “poisoned” car was inspired by the model that appeared in the first Batman TV series, created by DC Comics and broadcast between 1966 and 1968. With the emblem of the fictional city of Gotham City, Nelinho’s Batmobile has already made appearances in Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Porto Alegre, and Rio de Janeiro.
“When I drove my car along the Ipanema waterfront in Rio, it was truly a thrill,” says our friend Nelinho.
Genesis of Menina Carioca
Given the superior quality of União Carvalheira cachaça and our strong friendship, Latina Spirits wanted to exclusively develop and present its own brand: Menina Carioca.
It reflects our love and passion for the city of Rio de Janeiro, the Marvelous City, and for Brazil as a whole.
Inspired by the Brazilian "bombshell" Carmen Miranda, “The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat” — one of Brazil’s greatest icons from the 1930s, known for wearing exotic fruit-adorned headpieces — a unique label was created to decorate our premium cachaças, which we warmly invite you to discover.
Exceptional Brands
DOM BRE
The Alambique Guarani distillery is located in the town of Guarani, in the state of Minas Gerais, widely considered the heartland of cachaça.
DOM BRE, with its family crest, reflects the values and traditions of Minas Gerais that have been passed down through generations. It offers artisanal, premium, and extra-premium cachaças.
COSTA RICA, a large farm in the municipality of Guarani, draws its image from a majestic rock formation of twin peaks known as the “Stone Clock.”
The Alambique Guarani distillery is committed to producing cachaça of the highest quality in a sustainable way, while preserving the centuries-old traditions of Minas Gerais.
CACHAÇA DE QUINTA
Cachaça da Quinta is produced at Fazenda da Quinta, located in the municipality of Carmo, in the mountainous region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in a valley near the Paraíba do Sul River, at an altitude of 220 meters.
The property benefits from ideal soil, climate, and microclimate conditions for cultivating sugarcane, fermenting, and crafting its products.
In addition to a terroir particularly well-suited for cachaça production, Cachaça da Quinta is made according to strict quality standards, ensuring an exceptional product.
In 1923, Fazenda da Quinta was acquired by Francisco Lourenço Alves, a Portuguese immigrant, who introduced a series of innovations to the production process of the already existing Cachaça da Quinta.
His son and successor, José Ramos Alves, continued to improve the beverage’s production, preserving the original technique and the specific fermentation process — steadily winning over more cachaça enthusiasts.
At the beginning of the 21st century, he passed the estate along with all the details of the traditional production process to his daughter, Katia Alves Espírito Santo, who carried out an extensive renovation of the fazenda and the brand’s visual identity, bringing them in line with the highest international standards.
La Cachaça da Quinta
Cachaça da Quinta offers both white cachaças and those aged in European oak (mainly French) and amburana, a 100% Brazilian tree. The Fazenda holds the Organic Product Certificate issued in Brazil by the National Institute of Technology.
Cachaça da Quinta celebrates its success, savoring the moment with the awareness that continuous work is the foundation that grants its status and superior results, aiming to fulfill the Fazenda’s mission and vision: to produce excellence for the senses through the rigor of tradition, know-how, and artistry, striving to establish itself in the market as the highest-standard cachaça brand, favored by customers and specialists alike.
The production of Cachaça da Quinta follows strictly established and controlled criteria, namely:
- Organic sugarcane planting, implementing the best techniques for sowing, care, and harvesting.
- Organic fermentation using carefully selected cane yeasts, all cultivated on the property.
- Slow distillation in a copper still until obtaining the perfect “heart,” meaning the correct fraction of cachaça with high sensory and physico-chemical standards.
- Aging for two years in wooden barrels—amburana or oak (carvalho in Portuguese)—and for ten to twelve months in stainless steel tanks, resting in a century-old fazenda with thick walls, high ceilings, and terracotta floors, ideal conditions for maturation.
- Compliance with good manufacturing practices at every stage of production.
DOM TAPPARO
Engenho Dom Tápparo
In 1978, passionate about cachaça, José Tápparo, son of an Italian immigrant, decided to distill cachaça for his own tasting with friends.
The first distillation, producing only 5,000 liters of cachaça, was done in a quilombo—a small cabin—called Céleste.
His cachaça was such a success that José Tápparo went on to launch the business by creating Engenho Dom Tápparo.
The entry of the second generation into the fazenda marked the launch of many premium cachaças, alcoholic cocktails, and liqueurs.
Today, the third generation of the family runs the farm.
The fazenda cultivates its own sugarcane planted on 70 hectares of land.
About 80% of production is aged in barrels for periods ranging from six months to 15 years, using native woods such as amburana, jequitibá, and amendoim, as well as imported woods like American oak and European oak. The oldest cachaça sold by Engenho Dom Tápparo is the Cachaça Cabaré, aged 15 years in European oak barrels.
“I was born in the middle of all this; I am passionate because cachaça is a Brazilian cultural heritage. I am in love with cachaça. Cachaça should be appreciated just like fine wines and whisky,” explains Giovanni, one of José’s grandsons.
Engenho Dom Tápparo has won numerous medals in competitions both in Brazil and internationally.
In 2022, Dom Tápparo notably received the distinction of Best Cachaça in the World at the Global Spirits Masters in the United Kingdom.
All Global Spirits Masters competitions are judged blind by some of the best palates in the industry, including top distributors, educators, and trade professionals.
The Global Spirits Masters is the only blind tasting competition that exclusively uses independent judges, free from any affiliation with specific brands. Expert tasters are selected based on their expertise in each category. Each spirit is scored on appearance, aroma, palate, and overall balance.
Cachaça sommelier Maurício Maia confirms that this international competition is traditional, still little known among Brazilian producers, and an important contest in the spirits world.
