A born and bred “porteсa” (“from the port”) as people born in Buenos Aires are called, I spent many of my childhood summers in Uruguay. It was just a 3-hour ride in a big ferry across the River Plate. The ride was a lot of fun, and then wonderful little towns and great beaches on the riverfront. And of course, Punta del Este, one of the most exclusive and sophisticated summer resorts in South America, the favorite for the Argentine elite. Today, it is the darling of the jet set world.

Uruguay is a very small country of only 43.8 million acres (roughly the size of the state of Missouri) located between Brazil, Argentina and the Atlantic Ocean with a population of 3.2 million people. Strategically positioned, Uruguay has long been an important point of entry to the region and a center for regional trade, resulting in an open, cosmopolitan society.

Their wine history goes back to the late 1600’s during the Spanish colonization, when the Catholic priests planted vines to produce wine for mass. In 1870, Don Pascual Harriague and Don Francisco Vidiella - Basque immigrants - founded its wine industry and introduced for the first time the French Tannat grape varietal. Since then, Tannat adapted very well to the soils and climates, becoming the preferred “noble” grape of Uruguay.

There are not that many people in the United States that know about its wine industry as the locals consume most of the wine production (90%). For many years, their exports were focused only on the European market. As was common in other traditional wine- producing countries like Italy, Spain and Argentina, the population in Uruguay favored wines of an “older” style: not too fruity, not much concentration and a little bit oxidized.

I was invited by INAVI (the National Institute of Viticulture) to tour Uruguay and for 5 days, we visited 12 of their top producers (there are only 280 wineries) in different parts of the country. What a tour de force it was!

We visited Los Cerros de San Juan, one of the oldest wineries in the country, still working as an integrated farm and with a small area planted with vines that are more than 120 years old. Los Cerros de San Juan is located near Colonia, a town that still has cobbled stone streets and a whole neighborhood of colonial houses. Not colonial style, the real thing dating back to the period!!!

We continued towards Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, a city that besides its international port and the commercial and banking heart of Uruguay, has beaches with a boardwalk where the locals can bike, run and sun tan.

We visited Canelones the largest wine region in Uruguay and tasted some fabulous wines at Ariano, De Lucca, Pisano, Toscanini, Carlos Pizzorno Plaza Vidiella, Juanico, Carrau, Bouza and Castillo Viejo. In Atlantida, a few miles away from the Atlantic Ocean we were hosted by two young cousins obsessed on producing unique wines with very little technology at Viсedo de los Vientos.

At all of these wineries we were received by passionate and knowledgeable families, driven to produce high quality wines and to show the world that Uruguay is the best kept secret in the wine world.

Back in the States, I was humbled by what I have seen, heard and tasted. It is my personal quest to help Uruguayan wines emerge in the United States. So look out not only for the Tannats, but also for incredible Sauvignon Blancs, Torrontes, Merlots and Pinot Noirs.

Salud!!

Pizzorno Vineyards

About Nora Favelukes

- Born in Argentina, Nora Favelukes is the President of Quantum Wines, a marketing and consulting firm based in New York. She can be reached at wiqueen@aol.com