Brazil Fazenda Rio Verde Natural

 Owner: Ipanema Agricola

Farm: Fazenda Rio Verde

Varietal: 100% Yellow Bourbon

Processing: Natural

Altitude: 905 to 1,360 meters above sea level

Region: Mantiqueira de Minas, Minas Gerais

Country: Brazil

Average Farm Size: 1,566 hectares

Notes : Dark Chocolate, Vanilla, Almond.


Rio Verde is one of the smaller farms nestled in the wider estate. Founded in 1887, it is the oldest of the company's farms. Located in the heart of the Mantiqueira de Minas Mountains, this 1,566 hectare farm is a true natural sanctuary, where coffees are grown at elevations of up to 1,300 meters above sea level, surrounded by virgin forests, waterfalls, springs and hiking trails. In fact, the farm is home to 52 catalogued springs, all of which are protected. Only 626 hectares of the farm are given over to coffee production, with a full 773 hectares being devoted to conservation. To this end, Ipanema has created the Environment Monitoring Centre (EMC), which has been installed in an old henhouse on the farm. The Centre monitors farm management practices relating to water use, soil fertility and erosion, vegetation and climate.

The farm was already established before the newly married Antonio Fachardo Junqueira and Gabriella Augusta inherited the farm as a dowry. However, it was the couple who first established coffee here in 1887. In 1920, their grandson, Antenor, took over management of the farm and began implementing incredibly innovative processes for the time, separating lots by quality and color and constructing brick patios to improve the drying process.

During the period between World War I and the Economic Crisis of 1929, the farm went through great difficulties and to deal with them, Antenor made great efforts to become self-sufficient in the production of flour, cachaça, sweets and jams, beef, chicken, pork, wool, and various herbs and vegetables. In 1964, Antenor’s son-in-law, Luiz Cyrillo Fernandes assumed control of the farm and continued innovations and sustainability efforts, building new infrastructure for wet and dry processing and milling of the coffees. He also invested in an intense soil fertilisation program. 81 separate chicken sheds were filled with 136,000 hens solely with the aim of generating 800 tonnes of organic fertilizer a year. This program ran from 1964 through to 1992.