Taming the Tannat: Uruguayan Wine Gets a Makeover

Is tannat about to take a back seat in the world of Uruguayan wine?

This year we rated 113 wines from Uruguay and were impressed with their diversity and the interest they’re generating – but not all the buzz is coming from tannats. In fact, the grape variety that supposedly made Uruguay famous is running into competition from outstanding varietals like albariño and marselan, although its status as Uruguay’s representative wine seems secure. It's very encouraging to see that about 80 percent of the wines we rated for this report received ratings of 90 points or more. What we would like to see, however, are some wines breaking the 95-point level and above.

The grape, which was brought to Uruguay in the 19th century by Basque settlers from southwest France to add color and structure to the otherwise weak wines being produced at the time, faces a problem of its own: taming it has been a tricky proposition, and it is one of the reasons Uruguay’s wine industry has lagged its neighbors.

Another challenge is dealing with high seed content. “Merlot is like one or two [seeds]; tannat is always four – like super reproductive,” said Christian Wylie, managing director at Bodega Garzon, in the village of Garzon in the southeastern part of the country. “You have to be very, very careful that those seeds are lignified, otherwise you're going to extract green tannins and the wine is going to cling to your gums. It's going to be called a beast; it's going to have to lay down for 10 years.”

Despite not being entirely approachable, the grape has become Uruguay’s most-beloved red variety through a combination of tradition and the heavy consumption of red meat. “Because of its high tannins, [it’s] a really good pairing with red meats and with lamb and with roasted meats: they usually have a higher fat content,” said Agustin Bouza, who makes wines with Boido.

Many of the reds in Uruguay have been, and still tend to be, heavy, over-extracted and over-oaked. This is a result of both climate and terroir where wines are made, along with the traditional style. Canelones, the historical winemaking area, is warmer and has heavy clay soils, resulting in drainage problems. “The other thing is they don't necessarily strive for freshness … they really look for alcohol,” said Wylie. “I think it's just a question of where the style is or where the industry is; I think it's a good five or 10 years behind what's trending.”

Producers like Garzon, Bouza and Bodega Oceanica are leading the way in introducing fresher tannats with greater drinkability, diverging from the local style of heavy, over-extracted wines. Fresher styles require harvesting before any over-ripeness or dehydration of grapes, as well as lighter extraction. “We try to keep extraction to the shortest possible,” Wylie said. “We favor cold-soak macerations, so with dry ice, we start extracting aromas, we start extracting colors and of course tannins, but without alcohol.”

A new era of tannat is approaching: no more waiting decades for the hard mouthful of tannins to soften. But we were more impressed by the accompanying experimentation in a broad range of other varietals and blends: from a full-bodied tannat, merlot and zinfandel blend, to a Uruguayan take on the classic syrah/viognier blend with tannat instead, and even including a fun, unfiltered rosé made from barbera, gewurztraminer and chardonnay.

VARIETAL SUCCESS

The recent production of fresher styles of tannat at the top end has been accompanied by experimentation in a broad range of other varietals. Producers are also experimenting with blends: from full-bodied blends like tannat, merlot and zinfandel to a Uruguayan take on the classic syrah/viognier blend with tannat instead, and even including a fun, unfiltered rosé made from barbera, gewurztraminer and chardonnay.

Albariño stood out in our tastings. The white varietal was only introduced to Uruguay, and in fact to South America, just 20 years ago, when Bodega Bouza sourced vines from Spain to plant in 2001. “When we first were interested in the variety, it wasn't because we knew that the climate and everything could be proper for the variety,” said Bouza. “Our grandfather… came from Galicia to Uruguay in the 1950s, so when the winery started, he wanted us to plant albariño.” They soon found that “it was a variety that could adapt well to our climate.”

With the biggest plantings in the Americas or even outside Galicia, albariño is still a trial at Garzon, but it’s their most successful varietal. “It’s super gastronomic: if you like sauvignon blanc, it does have that edge and acidity; if you like chardonnay, it does have the volume; and if you want something better with seafood, or Korean food, or spice, it’s just fantastic,” said Wylie. “So I think that it’s here to stay.”

Hans Vinding-Diers, the winemaker at Bodega Noemia in Patagonia and a consultant winemaker at Bodega Oceanica, agreed. “The albariño is great. It just happens. It's almost like a native to that place.”

Uruguay’s climate is comparable to that of the native region of albariño – in the Iberian Peninsula (Rias Baixas in Spain and Vinho Verde in northwestern Portugal). The marriage of grape and terroir is apparent in the wines, the best of which have tropical and citrus fruit aromas, saline undertones, a textured palate and underlying bright acidity. We found Bouza’s 2020 albariño to be the real deal, with tangy acidity and a salty, intense palate.

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Great Wines of the World Hong Kong 2020: Bodega Garzon's chief winemaker, German Bruzzone, introduces the Tannat Garzon Single Vineyard 2018 and Albariño Garzon Reserva 2019.

White wine is gradually on the rise in the country. A quarter of Bodega Bouza’s production is now white – a significant milestone in a red-dominated wine culture. “We specialize in whites,” Bouza said. “In the local market, some of our whites are more expensive than our reds. It was very difficult for people to think of buying a white wine that is more expensive than some reds.”

Boido believes that while tannat will continue to be the representative variety of Uruguay, varieties such as sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and now albariño are also doing well.

Producers are still testing the waters with a range of other varieties. We tasted a few flabby, dull wines from semillon, torrontes, marsanne and viognier, as well as cooked expressions of sauvignon blanc. We were impressed by the one riesling out of 113 wines tasted: Bouza’s Pan de Azucar riesling is still a trial in the cooler eastern region but already shows promise, with characteristic dried lime and mineral notes as well as sea salt.

A range of red varieties aside from tannat are also reaching the market, from Bordeaux varietals of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot, to southern French varieties, which seem to have found a niche in Uruguay. There are also increasing amounts of marselan (which is becoming popular in China), and small amounts of caladoc and arinarnoa. Syrah and pinot noir, too.

“We think cab franc is going to be the ultimate quality parameter,” Wylie said. His Bodega Garzón Cabernet Franc Maldonado Petit Clos Block #560 2018 shows excellent structure, texture and typicity, with characteristic aromas of raspberries, violets and herbs. The other varietal that has taken to Uruguayan soil is marselan.

“Marselan is amazing,” Wylie said. A cross between cabernet sauvignon and grenache, it was introduced as a blending component for tannat. “It is designed for our weather: earlier ripening than cab, with the endurance for humidity of grenache, and the spice … as it was designed in Montpellier in the 60s,” Wylie said.

Pinot noir has been on the rise, representing a full tenth of our tastings (including two pinot noir rosés). It is being tested across Uruguay, with a range in quality: from Canelones in central Uruguay to Colonia in the west, Rivera in the north and, notably, in the newer eastern Maldonado region. We were most impressed by Bodega Oceánica José Ignacio Pinot Noir Maldonado 2020: perfumed, with silky tannins and fresh layers of fruit. With only two vintages, the grape clearly shows potential in the cooler eastern region.

Vinding-Diers, who has also consulted at the Uruguayan winery Pisano, admitted that he almost decided to forget pinot noir. “It’s too capricious, it’s a nightmare,” he said. “But every time it keeps on surprising us as it evolves, which a great pinot does. So something is there.”

A NEW ERA

Until now, the world has taken little notice of Uruguayan wine. Very little is exported (up to 10%) and the wine-making scene is largely focused on the domestic market. In contrast to its neighbors Argentina and Chile, it has few internationally recognised successes; top producers such as Garzon and Bouza present in the international wine scene are newcomers, born in the 21st century.

Uruguayan adventure: Highlights of James' visit to Bodega Garzon in 2020.

There is room for growth and this is what has been seen recently, with a rise in the number of producers focusing on quality winemaking, international exposure and searching for better terroir. The latter has been the most striking trend. Uruguay’s traditional winegrowing region is found in the center-south, in the region of Canelones around the capital of Montevideo. The industry is now moving eastward into Maldonado, toward the Atlantic Ocean. New wineries are being established there, including Bodega Garzon and Bodega Oceanica in Jose Ignacio.

Wylie, of Bodega Garzon, compared this to the recent search for cooler areas in Mendoza, Argentina, where most of the vineyards 30 or 40 years ago were east of the city of Mendoza, toward La Pampa, away from the Andes.

“Today, most of the vineyards are up on the hills, looking to cooler climates, to Uco, etc.,” Wylie said. “This is what’s happening in Uruguay… taking the vineyards to where there’s better drainage, there’s more minerality, there’s better temperature. Not yields – there’s much lower yields – but it’s higher quality.”

The difference in terroir can be seen in Bouza’s newer vineyards in Maldonado. “In the more traditional parts of Uruguay, like Las Violetas or Melilla, where the winery is, the soils accumulate lots of water in the soil when it rains,” Bouza explained. In their Pan de Azucar and Las Espinas vineyards further east, two to three kilometers from the ocean, the soil is rockier, less fertile and usually two degrees Celsius cooler than Melilla. Cooler varietals like pinot noir and riesling show promise here, and we were impressed with their 2018 Pan de Azucar tannat, which showed more freshness compared with their single-parcel tannat from Las Violetas.

Likewise, Bodega Oceanica, six kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean and one kilometer from Jose Ignacio Lake, is “very much influenced by the maritime climate,” said Marcelo Conservo, a co-owner of the winery. Santiago Degasperi, the oenologist at Bodega Oceanica, agreed that the terroir and climate in Maldonado play a large part in producing fresher wines. “Maldonado has more drainable soils,” Degasperi said. “The acidity that we get in the grapes is really interesting, and the freshness is also something that is surprising us every year.”

These new winemakers are also investing in better equipment and technology. Hand in hand with better quality has been an increase in exports by top producers. “In the past, most of the wine was table wine. It was mainly for the local market,” Bouza said. “[From] the year 2000 onward, the consumption of table wine kept declining year after year and the production and consumption of high-quality wine started to increase.”

Bouza now exports 60% of its production, and Garzon ships out 73%, mainly to the United States but also to neighboring Brazil. “In four or five years, we’re now in more than 50 markets,” with a developing presence in Asia and Nordic countries, Wylie said.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The improvements in quality have been concentrated in a small group of new producers. While 76% of the wines we tasted were 90 points and above (86 out of 113 wines), this is unlikely to represent the average quality of Uruguayan wines. The industry is developing from a relatively low-quality base of table wines, many of which come in tetrapak form with little regulation. There are no equivalents of PDO appellations; the only seal of quality is the VCP (Vino de Calidad Preferente) given by INAVI (Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura), which guarantees that the wine is made with V. vinifera and is in a 750ml bottle format.

The lack of appellation restrictions means that new winemakers can experiment with varietals and different types of vinification. This makes it difficult to define standard styles, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Bouza gave an example: “You may try five different tannats from the same vintage, from five different wineries, and they are all going to be quite different because of the philosophy and the type of wine each winery likes to produce.”

But one thing Uruguayan winemakers agree on across the board is that the 2020 vintage was excellent. “It was like the vintage every winemaker wants: the spring was perfect, it rained every 15 days, the temperature was good,” Bouza said.

2021 proved to be a more complicated vintage, although the weather improved in March and the reds are showing promise. But the general unpredictability of the Atlantic climate is a big challenge.

“Where we are is very extreme viticulture,” Wylie said. “Basically, there’s really no normal year.”

This means that vintage variation can be extreme. Quality-minded producers keep yields low and even green-harvest entire parcels if they fail to ripen, which is what Bodega Bouza did with its riesling this year.

“We prefer to lose the production of one year than to make a wine that we are not proud of,” Bouza said. But out of about 200 producers registered with INAVI, Wylie believes that only a dozen would be willing to sufficiently invest in technology, marketing and sales and “go out there and conquer the world.”

It is an exciting time for Uruguay. It is in the midst of not only a new winemaking era, but also a gastronomic revolution, with a rise in slow food and the production of high-quality, artisanal products such as local cheeses and olive oils.

“We think that Uruguayan wine has improved a lot, and it comes with this gastronomic evolution that we are seeing,” said Vinding-Diers. “And we see it a lot in the summer season in the restaurants in Punta del Este and Jose Ignacio. Both the locals and internationals that habitually come each year in Uruguay … now are giving a chance to Uruguayan wines.”

We may finally be seeing the blossoming of Uruguay’s wine scene, with the successes of new wineries, investment in quality and technology, greater international awareness, as well as greater exploration of the country’s eastern region.

“We have a lot of work to do because I think we are still young for a wine industry,” Degasperi said, adding that “it’s nice to see the winemaking is better every year. Better [even] than five years ago.”

– Claire Nesbitt, Associate Editor

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