Etymology
The Mogiana coffee region, which runs along the São Paulo side of a stretch of the São Paulo/Minas border, is named after the Companhia Mogiana Estrada de Ferro train line that ran through this area.
One of the old Mogiana freight cars is now a sandwich shop in Poços de Caldas. (Photo by Joel Shuler)
Geography
As you can see by the map below, what distinguishes Mogiana from Sul de Minas is mainly the political border dividing Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. Differences between microclimates within the regions are far greater than general regional differences. A Vale da Grama coffee, such as Fazenda Recreio, displays higher acidity and more fruit than a coffee from Franca. Both are Mogiana coffees.
Map of Brazilian Coffee Regions (Source BSCA)
Sub-Regions
The Mogiana Region is further divided into two “sub regions:” Alta Mogiana and Média Mogiana. Perhaps I have just missed it in conversation, but I rarely hear anyone refer to the Média Mogiana region. This could be that in coffee, as generally the higher the better, “Alta” would be better than “Media.” This is a misnomer, though, as “Alta” refers to an area whose latitude is further north, not a region of higher altitude. In fact, some of the highest altitudes in the region are actually found in Média Mogiana, in the Vale do Grama. This map shows us the suubregions of Alta Mogiana (blue) and Média Mogiana (green). Furthermore, the origin on this “Alta” refers to the fact that this was further from the train line origin of Campinas, not necessarily the latitude (ie in English it would mean “further down the tracks.”)
São Paulo Coffee Regions (Source I.A.C - Ciiagro)
History of the Companhia Mogiana Estrada de Ferro
Founded in 1882, Companhia Mogiana Estrada de Ferro, was founded largely to accompany the expansion of coffee plantations into the northeast corner of the state of São Paulo. Headquartered in Campinas, the lines eventually ran to Araguari, Minas Gerais. Hit hard by the Depression, the company never fully recovered. In 1952 the state of São Paulo took over operations and in 1971 the line was absorbed by FEPASA, the state-run railroad company. With the privatization of state-owned enterprises in the late 90’s in Brazil (started by Collor and continued by Cardoso), FEPASA was bought by FERROBAN.
Here is a great site on the history of the Companhia Mogiana Estrada de Ferro (and in English): http://www.tsfr.org/~efbrazil/cmef.html
Here is the wikipedia link, although the article is only available in Portuguese: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companhia_Mogiana_de_Estradas_de_Ferro
The Companhia Mogiana de Estradas de Ferro was a created Brazilian railroad company in 1872 with headquarters in the São Paulo city of Campinas. Its construction is enrolled in the history of the expansion of the culture of the coffee in direction to the interior of then the Province of São Paulo, consisting, initially, for a simple prolongation of the existing railroad then, until Mogi-Mirim and of a branch for Support, with a pursuing until the edges of the Great river. The proposal original, however, to extend its tracks until Goiás, to the north, never occurred.
Companhia Mogyana de Estradas de Ferro (Song = “Trenzinho do Caipira” by Villa-Lobos)
