Guia Cultural da Costa Verde

Paraty • Paraty

CACHAÇA ENGENHO D’OURO

Distillery, manioc meal mill and other must-see attractions

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Sítio Engenho D’Ouro is a property consisting of a manioc meal mill, a distillery and snack bar and restaurant, located by the side of the Paraty-Cunha road adjacent to the church of Nossa Senhora da Penha, an easily accessible spot. Norival da Silva Carneiro is in charge of the distillery and makes a point of seeing to everybody personally, if required in three languages: English, French and Spanish.

It all began when the owner returned to Brazil after several years overseas and built a small distillery with a mill wheel for his father, who produced cachaça as a hobby. The business prospered and in 2000 the Engenho D’Ouro cachaça was launched, currently bearer of the Inmetro (Geographic Indication) seal and several quality awards.

Current production is 12,000 liters annually, but the process is still manual, with its own plantation, manual harvesting without the use of burning, the old-fashioned water wheel, fermentation vats, pot stills plus the oak and jequitibá storage casks. Cachaça produced in the traditional Gold version is aged in oak casks, Pure Silver is aged in stainless steel barrels and Silver is stored in jequitibá casks, besides the classical Bluish, Caramel and Gabriela, flavored with cloves and cinnamon.

In addition to cachaça, Engenho D’Ouro produces delicious liqueurs and home-made sweets, stuffed biscuits, caramelized milk, peanut brittle, coconut sweets, snaps and brown sugar. Twelve different kinds of fruit preserves are also made, such as figs, papaya or pumpkin and coconut, navel oranges and papaya with pineapple.

The water wheel is a special attraction! This old-fashioned equipment with its wheel works perfectly and takes us back in time to admire practices from the past.

The eating facilities include the Engenho D’Ouro restaurant by the property’s entrance that specializes in chicken stew, besides having other home cooking options. Advance orders such as chicken stew may be made by large groups. The kitchen is supervised by Norival’s sister Maria de Lurdes with her husband and children. It caters to the public from 11:30 am to 5 pm and closes on Tuesdays and on the last Sunday of each month.

For visitors who require a sandwich or a snack only, the snack bar run by Marlene, another sister together with a friend, features extra-large and delicious pastries stuffed with meat, cheese, shrimps or palm hearts, besides sweet flavors such as banana, caramelized milk and guava.

The tour may be concluded by crossing the street and following the Trilha do Ouro path to two much sought after tourist spots: Poço do Tarzan and Cachoeira do Tobogan. Having enjoyed this complete cultural and eating spree, remember to look up to the great rock mountain and to thank Nossa Senhora da Penha for the fantastic and unforgettable day.

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