Top 100 wines of Uruguay - Page 8

Discovering the wine region of Uruguay

Uruguay is the fourth largest wine producing country in Chile/south-region">South America. Wine Grapes have been grown here for more than 250 years, although commercial viticulture only began in the second half of the 19th century, about two centuries after Chile and Argentina. In recent decades, Uruguayan wine has quietly and steadily emerged on the world wine market, not as dramatically as that of its larger neighbors, but with a promising Balance and confidence. No summary of Uruguayan wine is complete without mentioning Tannat, the robust, Tannic red wine that has played a key role in the country's rise to prominence.

Just as Chile has its Carmenere and Argentina its Malbec, Tannat has become Uruguay's "iconic" grape. The first Tannat vines to arrive here were shipped across the Atlantic by 19th century settlers from the Basque Country (the autonomous communities between southern France and Northern Spain). Don Pascual Harriague is the man generally credited with spreading Tannat throughout Uruguay; for a Long time the name Harriague was used as a synonym for the grape. The family lineage of these original Tannat vines has remained largely intact, a genetic snapshot of the rustic wine of southern France at that time.

Modern Tannat clones imported from today's French vineyards have proven to be quite distinct, offering more Powerful (if structurally simpler) wines with higher Alcohol and lower Acidity. It is ironic that this New World style emerges from an Old World wine country and that one of the world's "newest" wine countries produces such Old World wines. Tannat in all its forms has proved well adapted to the South American climate - clearly better, in fact, than that of the heart of southwestern France, whose Madiran vineyards could be considered the grape's spiritual home. As viticulture and winemaking techniques continue to advance in Uruguay, the ability to capitalize on this synergy will only increase, likely confirming Uruguay's status as a reliable source of world-class red wine.