Top 10 Uruguay 2026: 30 Uruguayan wines and 10 wine experiences
By Amanda Barnes MW
Top 10 Uruguay is my concise bucket list. And, if you accept the challenge, a shopping list.
Alongside my Top 10 Wines of Uruguay, I have selected 10 Emerging wines, celebrating new directions, and 10 Value wines, all available for under £20 / US$25 retail. I have also chosen my 10 Wine Experiences, because there is no better way to understand Uruguay than by exploring it.
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Jump to: Top 10 Wines of Uruguay · Top 10 Emerging · Top 10 Value · Top 10 Wine Experiences
Price guide
$ Under £20 GBP, $25 USD
$$ £20 to £30 GBP, $25 to $40 USD
$$$ £30 to £50 GBP, $40 to $70 USD
$$$$ £50+ GBP, $70+ USD
Top 10 Wines of Uruguay 2026
Ten wines that I think will give you a deep understanding of where Uruguay is today, and where it is going. Each has something exciting to say about the country right now.
A few are great classics. A few are classics in the making. And a handful are representative of movements still taking shape.
It is perhaps no surprise to see some Tannat in the line-up — both old school and new. And I think most people who drink Uruguayan wine regularly were expecting some Albariño, but perhaps not of this level. I’m thrilled by the heights Uruguayan Albariño is reaching today, and both of these wines represent that pinnacle. But there is also space for great Riesling, beautiful Cabernet Franc and excellent red blends. Bubbles too. And, can you believe it, an orange wine.
I don’t think you will be disappointed with any of these wines. But taste them for yourself, and let me know what you find.
Bodega Bouza Vinedo Pan de Azúcar Riesling 2024
Grape(s): 100% Riesling
Region: Pan de Azúcar, Maldonado
Price: $$
Bouza has been one of my favourite producers for a very long time. The pioneering Bouza family and one of the country’s greatest winemakers, Eduardo Boido, have worked together since the project began in 1998, creating a powerhouse winery that brings together the best of the best: taste and sophistication, education and experience, and beautiful vineyards with skilled hands.
Bodega Bouza was the first to plant Albariño in Uruguay, in 2001, and the legacy they created with the variety is extraordinary. But one of my favourite chapters in the Bouza story is Riesling. Their experience with Albariño helped demonstrate just how exciting aromatic white varieties could be in Uruguay, but with Riesling they went looking for somewhere quite different: planting in Pan de Azúcar, just 7km from the sea in Maldonado.
On its steep, syenite-dominant crystalline soils, cooled by the afternoon virazón blowing in from the coast, Bouza’s Rieslings are always noteworthy. The 2024 is a richer vintage than some, but it has all the texture, petrol notes and unctuousness, underpinned by mouthwatering acidity, that I have come to expect not only from Riesling, but from Bouza. Notes of Meyer lemon, honeysuckle and grapefruit peel keep the nose lifted, while a wet stone minerality and sea smoke keep it earthy.
Bouza’s Riesling, and their Albarino, are exactly the high-acid, aromatic coastal white wines that age beautifully and remain something of a rarity in Uruguay. They are wines worth stocking up on as soon as they are released. You heard it here first.
13.5%
Imported by Jeroboams (UK), Elixir Wine Group (USA)
Bodega Cerro Chapeu Botavi Tannat T1 2021
Grape(s): Tannat 100%
Region: Rivera
Price: $$$
I admire anyone who faces a challenge and comes out better for it, and Batoví is a good example. When Cerro Chapeu began a new chapter as an independent family winery, Batoví was launched as its icon wine with the 2016 vintage, drawing on a Tannat parcel they had long identified as one of their finest.
And what I love about Batoví is that it is everything I wish some of Uruguay’s icon Tannats were more often: lighter on its feet, more fragrant, beautifully balanced and juicy. This is an icon Tannat that doesn’t get weighed down by its own potential power.
The 2021 is delicately layered, with taut red fruit, violet and cedar giving way to graphite, iron and pencil shavings. There is plenty of dense, compact fruit beneath it, with a delicious chocolate-laced, almost Black Forest gâteau character, but without the heaviness — all that seductive fruit and creaminess, yet you could finish the whole cake.
Fine tannins and fresh acidity keep everything vibrant and precise, while a savoury edge brings another layer of complexity. It is elegant, floral and juicy, but still unmistakably Tannat: serious enough to age, while already enormously pleasurable to drink.
For me, Batoví has become one of the most exciting additions to Uruguay’s register of regional icon Tannats — showing a very different face of the variety in Rivera, and proving that an icon wine doesn’t need to be monumental to make an impression.
13.8%
Imported by Milestone Wines (UK), see website for US
Cerro del Toro Cima Albariño 2025
Grape(s): Albariño 100%
Region: Piriápolis, Maldonado
Price: $$$
I get to taste a lot of beautiful wines from South America in my job. And I know most of them by now. Cima came charging out of a completely different world. I was served it blind while working on this report. No one had even told me it existed yet; it wasn’t bottled, and in the glass it felt different to anything I had tasted. Immediately recognisable as Albariño, but different. Powerful. Mineral. Striking. I was blown away.
Now, tasting it knowing what it is, who made it and where it comes from, with a little time in bottle — and with its beautiful label of Poseidon riding a bull through the waves — it tastes even better.
Cerro del Toro have made Albariño one of their flagships, and winemaker Martín Viggiano has become one of the country’s best. Cima is, quite literally, the summit of all the work behind Cerro del Toro: planting a daring vineyard just a couple of kilometres from the sea, high on the exposed slopes above Piriápolis, and constantly striving towards new heights of quality. The wine comes from Parcel 7, the highest block of the vineyard at around 125 metres, just 2km from the Atlantic.
What I love about this is how mineral, how bracing, how coastal it is. It tastes like licking an oyster shell, with a plate of white peaches somewhere nearby, their subtle perfume carried in on the sea breeze alongside the delicate blossom of the first day of spring. It spent a year on its total lees, split between French-oak foudre and concrete, without bâtonnage, and the power of that ageing still feels tightly coiled, waiting to reveal itself. Ready to lead the charge out of the ocean.
Beneath it all are ancient metamorphic rocks, particularly red slate, formed from a geological landscape hundreds of millions of years in the making. There are only 1,250 bottles of this first Cima release. I feel privileged to be right here, right now, able to enjoy one. What a game changer.
*Seeking representation *
Diego Spinoglio Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2024
Grape(s): Cabernet Franc 100%
Region: Piriápolis, Maldonado
Price: $$
Cabernet Franc is one of the rising stars of Uruguay, and I am absolutely in love with this 2024 vintage of Diego Spinoglio’s. Coming from a cool site in Piriápolis, just a couple of kilometres from the Atlantic coast on poor, stony soils, and in a cooler vintage, it leaps from the glass with all the freshness of cool-climate Cabernet Franc. Often Uruguayans themselves are fans of their warmer vintages, but I get a great kick out of the cooler ones — and this is a perfect example of why.
Loaded with black pepper and spice, it offers a wonderfully leafy, vibrant style that reflects the more Loire-like tendencies of this variety. It is graphitey and mineral, with savoury spice layers, but also bright and fresh, with a New World plushness and concentration helped along by 12 months in French oak.
The Single Vineyard range is also stunning value, hovering at around £20 / $25 USD retail, which makes it even more worth snapping up. It is a shame it isn’t more widely available: the range includes really well-thought-out expressions of Merlot and Chardonnay too, but this 2024 Cabernet Franc is blinding — and thoroughly deserving of its place in the Top 10.
13.8% abv
*Seeking representation *
Familia Deicas Extreme Vineyards Roca Madre Corte Único 2023
Grape(s): 40% Merlot, 30% Petit Verdot, 20% Tannat, 10% Viognier
Region: Cerro del Guazuvirá, Lavalleja
Price: $$$
Fernando Deicas changed the rules of Uruguayan wine. And his son Santiago Deicas continues to break them. Few families in Uruguay have gone as far in their mission to interpret the country’s distinctive terroirs through unique, unrepeatable wines. Roca Madre is their love letter to Cerro del Guazuvirá, one of the very few vineyards in Lavalleja.
A vineyard on steep slopes of sharp granite rock, amid native forest and often targeted by roaming guazuvirá deer and wild boar, this wine makes no financial sense whatsoever. If someone did the maths, it would cost well over $300 USD a bottle. But thankfully, no-one is doing the maths. The grapes are picked by friends in exchange for an asado, and the vineyard belongs to a wealthy real estate project. It couldn’t exist otherwise. And thank goodness it does. This is one of Uruguay’s most distinctive and best Merlot blends.
The 2023 is wonderfully juicy and expressive, loaded with cassis and dense forest fruit, with savoury layers of wild herbs and smoked graphite beneath. Its almost liqueur-like concentration is kept vibrant by fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity, with cacao nibs and a bloody, iron-rich edge. The small proportion of Viognier co-fermented with the reds, gives a floral lift — a little Rhône-like flicker in an otherwise unmistakably Uruguayan blend. Wild, juicy and expressive, with a long, schist-y, saline finish.
For me, Roca Madre captures exactly why Familia Deicas’ Extreme Vineyards project matters: taking risks to put new regions on the map and new wines on Uruguay’s radar.
12.5% abv
Imported by Enotria (UK), Cork Alliance (USA)
Familia Deicas Cru D’Exception Albariño 2024
Grape(s): 100% Albariño
Region: Valle de los Manantiales, Garzón, Maldonado
Price: $$$$
It is hard to explain how much I love the Cru d’Exception Albariño. A wine that combines all the pleasure of Albariño with the finesse and seriousness of fine Burgundy.
It is a wine into which I know Santiago Deicas and his team have poured years of investigation, lost sleep and tireless experimentation. That work has rightly earned them a place among the best producers of Albariño not only in Uruguay, but anywhere. I say that without hyperbole. This is an astonishing wine.
It tastes so coastal that it seems almost saturated with oyster shell, sea smoke and seaweed, and yet it is perfumed and delicate, with notes of lavender, Earl Grey tea and Meyer lemon. Fermented and aged in French oak for 15 months, with extended lees ageing, it picks up subtle layers of spice and creaminess without losing an ounce of its bracing, mineral character. Quivering with vibrant acidity and pulsating with saline, chalky tension, it has an extraordinary combination of power and finesse — the soft give and the firm traction of silk.
Hard to beat.
13% abv
Imported by Enotria (UK), Cork Alliance (USA)
Bodega Garzón Balasto 2022
Grape(s): 45% Tannat, 35% Petit Verdot, 20% Cabernet Franc
Region: Garzón, Maldonado
Price: $$$$
I remember my first time tasting Balasto. It was at its launch at Vinexpo in Bordeaux, at a beautiful château with fires blazing à la Francis Mallmann in the gardens. It was a stately affair: white tablecloths, silver service and many wine writers I greatly admired around the table. I was excited but a little nervous about the wine. New South American ‘icons’ can be quite heavy-handed at first. But Balasto never was. It has never been over-oaked, overripe or boring.
Balasto is as it says on the label. Named after Garzón’s weathered granite soils, it has a distinctly stony tension, with that nervy, almost bloody character I find so compelling in the wines from here. It was then, and remains, one of Uruguay’s greats. Garzón makes many great wines, but Balasto is the epitome of the estate. Not because it is the biggest (the bottle may be, but the wine certainly isn’t), but because it is the most complex.
The 2022 is wonderfully lifted and layered, with savoury red and black fruit, earth, graphite, meatiness and touches of chocolate and cigar. There is lovely tension and brightness on the palate, with fine tannins and enough flesh to make it immediately delicious. It feels complex without trying too hard and finishes with impressive length and remarkable drinkability. In many ways, Balasto is the anti-New World icon: the fruit sits in the background, while the complexity comes in layers of stone and earth.
14% abv
Imported by Liberty Wines (UK), Winebow (USA); distributed internationally through La Place de Bordeaux
Pisano Arretxea Gran Reserva 2020
Grape(s): 97% Tannat, 3% Petit Verdot
Region: Progreso, Canelones
Price: $$$
I’m going to admit it. The Pisano family has a special place in my heart. There are few families so kind, so full of energy and love, and so comfortable in their own skin. I love their new-wave wines — an oaked Albariño and a sparkling Tannat to die for! — but I also love their old-school wines. When I tasted this blind, completely blind, it took me straight back to their cellar. And this is a wine I had only tasted once before. Such is the memory trigger of great wine.
This is Old School. In the coolest sense. The warm, dry pandemic vintage gives it a little more generosity than perhaps usual for Pisano, but underneath there is still wonderful tension and acidity. Named for their mother’s Basque surname, Arretxea, this is a wine built to last longer than anyone’s memory. A Tannat of layers: cedar, the fine leather interior of a classic car, and polished cigar box. Hints of perfume, violets and rose water, and then, only then, a kiss of dried black fruit.
A wine that carries a moustache. Elegance and power. Much like the Pisano brothers. Uruguay at its most Uruguayan.
14% abv
Imported by Boutinot (UK);
Viña Edén Méthode Champenoise Brut Nature 2024
Grape(s): 85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir
Region: Pueblo Edén, Maldonado
Price: $$$
Uruguay has a long history of sparkling wine. Much of it has been forgettable fizz thrown around at street parties. Viña Edén, however, makes unforgettable sparkling wines. Sparkling has become something of a trademark of the estate, high in the hills of Maldonado, with winemaker Marcelo Breganti leading the charge in complex styles of traditional-method sparkling wine. These are serious, gastronomic wines that show just how far Uruguayan fizz can go.
This Brut Nature is my favourite. Made predominantly from Chardonnay with Pinot Noir, using only the free-run cuvée juice, it has a bracing coastal character and bony minerality so often apparent in Maldonado. Light touches of lemon peel, white peach and almond biscuit whisper from the glass, followed by what initially feels like a creamy texture as the fine bubbles burst across the palate. Then comes a deliciously salty tang, carrying the wine through a refreshing, precise and lingering finish. Brilliant bubbles, and an absolute delight at the table.
12.5%
Seeking representation
Viña Progreso Underground Skin Contact Viognier 2025
Grape(s): 100% Viognier
Region: Progreso, Canelones
Price: $$
Gabriel Pisano has long been one of the leading new-generation winemakers in Uruguay, not only producing beautiful wines with his family at Pisano but also pushing boundaries under his own brand, Viña Progreso. It might seem unconventional to pick an orange wine for my Top 10 of Uruguay. But orange wine is no emerging category here — it is already a classic in my mind. And I don’t think anyone is making a better orange wine in Uruguay today than Gabriel Pisano. This is, in fact, one of my favourite skin-contact wines in South America.
Viognier is rarely the variety that excites me most, but Gabriel has a special love for it, drawing out its more savoury side in this wine, which spends time on its skins before ageing in acacia barrels. Notes of chamomile, mote con huesillo — dried peach and sweet, nutty wheat— and lavender honey are exuberant and aromatically sweet, but kept in perfect balance by earthy notes of sage and warm terracotta, a gentle grip of powdery tannin and vibrant acidity.
This is an orange wine that will satisfy bona fide orange-wine lovers as much as those just beginning their foray into the category. And with relatively low alcohol, it is remarkably easy to drink. This is what excites me about Uruguayan orange wine: freshness, balance and the quiet sophistication and confidence that Uruguay’s new generation of winemakers increasingly exemplifies.
11.5%
Ucopia (UK), Vera Wine & Spirits (USA)
Top 10 Emerging
Top 10 Emerging Uruguayan Wines 2026
This is probably the most fun selection to put together, as it involves so many surprising discoveries. Uruguay is a wine country full of experimentation and personality.
The ‘Emerging’ category is where I want to share ten wines that represent change in the industry — new varieties, new regions and new interpretations of familiar places and grapes. The selection also applauds some traditional wineries making a bold change of direction, as well as new producers starting out.
The list includes the growing range of niche varieties, including Mencía and Manseng Noir, as well as the revival and reinvention of historic grapes such as Petit Manseng and Folle Noir. Some of these wines also offer incredible value.
The list covers the breadth of the country — from Rocha in the far east, to Rivera in the far north, Colonia in the far west, Durazno right at the centre, and the southern coast of Canelones and Maldonado.
I think this is a thrilling snapshot of what is emerging in Uruguay today — and a reason not to take your eyes off it.
Becasina Riesling 2023
Grape(s): 100% Riesling
Region: La Pedrera, Rocha
Price: $$
Becasina ticks two Emerging boxes at once: Riesling, one of Uruguay’s most promising lesser-planted varieties, and Rocha, a wine region still waiting to be properly discovered. Just 10km from the Atlantic, Becasina has been steadily refining its wines here, and this 2023 shows both the progress of the project and the promise of this far eastern coast.
Beautifully delicate, with jasmine, lemon peel and a fine sherbet-like perfume, it opens into a broader, softer palate with a touch of petrol, olive brine and vibrant acidity. There is perhaps just a kiss of sweetness, but the finish remains fresh and beautifully balanced.
With only 387 bottles produced, this is the sort of emerging wine you should probably buy before everyone else discovers it.
12.5%
Seeking international representation
Bodega Valdi Mencía 2025
Grape(s): 100% Mencía
Region: El Carmen, Durazno
Price: $
Bodega Valdi is a traditional family winery, now in its fifth generation, but a quiet renaissance is underway, with winemaker Gonzalo Pastorino developing new wines for the portfolio. This lively Mencía is a debut vintage, tasted before it was even bottled, and joins a small but growing wave of Mencía in Uruguay. Coming from El Carmen in Durazno, it also puts another spotlight on this still little-known central wine region.
Lifted, floral and juicy, it bursts with red fruit and cassis, alongside sour cherry, dried rosemary and cranberry, with a slightly sauvage edge. Made with some whole bunch and a light touch, it is light-bodied and expressive, with supple tannins and fresh acidity making it effortlessly drinkable. It is also extraordinary value at just £12 ($16 USD) retail. A really inviting debut for an emerging variety from a historic family — bravo.
12.5% abv
Seeking
Bohemian by Fiore Marea Blanco 2025
Grape(s): 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Albarino
Region: Maldonado
Price: $
Fiorella Faggiani is one of the more experimental of Uruguay’s new generation of independent, low-intervention winemakers, and this coastal white blend hits the nail on the head for me — especially in its second, 2025 vintage. Made from Sauvignon Blanc vines over 25 years old and younger Albariño from Maldonado, it is a playful addition to Uruguay’s growing wave of white, and increasingly Albariño-based, blends.
A punchy nose of gooseberry, cider apple and crushed snow pea mingles with sea spray, nettle and lemon verbena. It is refreshingly tangy but also creamy, rounded out by the cloudy lees still suspended in the bottle. Unfiltered and harvested early, this is a racy coastal white, with oyster-shell and umami salinity. It simply begs to be opened by the seaside with grilled anchovies or sardines.
12.5% abv
Seeking representation
@bohemianbyfiore
Cavani Premium Petit Manseng 2024
Grape(s): 100% Petit Manseng
Region: Canelones
Price: $$$
Petit Manseng has long been something of a Carrau family speciality in Uruguay, so it makes sense that Marcos Carrau chose it for a new wine project with Edinson Cavani, one of Uruguay’s greatest footballers and an international sporting icon. Far from being a celebrity vanity label, the wines are impressively serious — and this is about as luxurious as Petit Manseng gets.
Fermented in 300-litre French oak barrels and aged on its lees for 15 months with regular bâtonnage, the 2024 is richly textured and full-bodied, with luscious notes of apricot, honey, passionfruit curd and roasted nuts. Yet for all that volume and generosity, Petit Manseng’s formidable acidity keeps it fresh, precise and remarkably balanced.
A rare variety, a historic family and an unlikely new ambassador for Uruguayan wine: Cavani’s Petit Manseng is, excuse the pun, a perfect score.
14% abv
La Celeste Imports (USA), Seeking UK
Bodega Cerro Chapeu Folklore Manseng Noir 2025
Grape(s): 100% Manseng Noir
Region: Cerro Chapeu, Rivera
Price: $$
Francisco Carrau imported Manseng Noir to Uruguay not only to start a new chapter in Uruguayan wine, but to also revive a nearly forgotten variety from southwest France that is closely related to Tannat. Once overlooked for its high acidity and naturally low alcohol, those are precisely the qualities that make it so interesting today.
Planted at 250 metres in the deep, red sandy soils of Cerro Chapeu in Rivera on the border of Brazil — a region Francisco’s father, Quico Carrau, pioneered for wine in 1973 — the 2025 is crunchy, vibrant and wonderfully taut. Initially a little reductive and austere, it opens into black cherry, cigar leaf, dark chocolate and a slightly bloody, savoury edge, with mouthwatering acidity, light grip and impressive freshness.
Francisco Carrau is one of the great mentors of Uruguayan wine, but wines like this show why he also remains one of its most quietly radical forces.
12%
Imported by Milestone Wines (UK), see website for others
Martin Viggiano La Martineta Albariño 2022
Grape(s): 100% Albariño
Region: Las Violetas, Canelones
Price: $$
Martin Viggiano, head winemaker at Cerro del Toro, has made it his mission to take Uruguayan Albariño to the next level. Having spent four vintages in Galicia making wine there (the benefit of opposite hemispheres allowing him to harvest Albariño twice a year!), he has studied the grape more than most. Since 2017, he has also been making his own wines, including this smashing Albariño.
With some age in bottle now, the 2022 La Martineta shows beautiful evolution, developing a slightly oily, almost waxy texture, while retaining the flinty, reductive character that immediately draws you in. It is deeply savoury, with gunsmoke and salt flakes, but a backing track of ripe peach. This, however, isn’t a wine about aroma. It is a wine about texture — and a very serious one at that. Almost two years on the lees gives it impressive breadth and depth, while a mineral, saline and racy spine gives you chills right to the end. An outstanding debut vintage of La Martineta that sets the bar high for Martin’s own wines.
12% abv
Seeking
@casaviggiano
Nakkal Moun Tinto 2025
Grape(s): 60% Mencia, 40% Manseng Noir
Region: Carmen, Durazno
Price: $$
Nakkal has been ahead of the curve for years. One of Uruguay’s first dedicated low-intervention projects, winemaker friends Nicolás Monforte and Santiago Degásperi make wines that are often low in alcohol and high in flavour. This new concrete-aged range continues that spirit, and Moun brings together two of Uruguay’s most intriguing new arrivals: Mencía and Manseng Noir, grown in Durazno in the centre of the country.
Bright purple, floral and exuberantly juicy, with boysenberry, cranberry, rosemary and dark chocolate, it has a slightly sauvage edge. Racy acidity and chalky, lightly grippy tannins give it an almost austere backbone, but the fruit remains wonderfully crunchy and vibrant.
With Nakkal behind it, this is exactly the sort of emerging wine I want to drink: experimental without being difficult, and simply gorgeous. I don’t know who wouldn’t want another glass.
12.5% abv
Imported by Condor Wines (UK), USA???
Pettenuzzo & Giacobbe Primeros Racimos Sauvignon Blanc 2024
Grape(s): 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Pueblo Eden, Maldonado
Price: $$
Sauvignon Blanc is one of Uruguay’s most-planted white varieties, but I must confess, it is rarely one of my favourites. Winemaker friends Fernando Pettenuzzo and Álvaro Giacobbe are helping change that with this confident, rather different interpretation from Pueblo Edén. Barrel-fermented before spending nine months on its lees in tank, it is a far cry from the more obvious, fruit-driven Sauvignon Blancs.
There is delicious flintiness and oyster-shell salinity, with roasted pineapple and papaya alongside rosemary and fennel. Lees ageing gives the palate creaminess and breadth, while a smoky, fumé character adds another layer. The mind runs wild with pairing ideas, from sea urchin to roast pork.
Made in tiny quantities, this is a playful new direction for Uruguayan Sauvignon Blanc — and one of the most interesting examples I’ve tasted.
12% abv
Seeking representation
@fincagiacobbe
Sierra Oriental Sangiovese Gran Reserva 2025
Grape(s): 100% Sangiovese
Region: Paraje José Ignacio, Maldonado
Price: $
Tucked into the hills of Maldonado, around 50 kilometres inland from the coast, Sierra Oriental is a hidden oasis: a little dream of Tuscany in Uruguay, with olive groves, poplar-lined paths and Sangiovese. The variety is nothing new here, brought with Uruguay’s Italian immigrants generations ago, but Maldonado offers it a new stage. This Gran Reserva brings together that historic Italian heritage with the modern push into new and more challenging terroirs.
The wine is textbook Sangiovese: mouthwatering acidity, roses and tar, with drying, powdery tannins that feel fine-boned rather than heavy. Surrounded by Maldonado’s rugged rolling hills, it begs the question why those Italian immigrants didn’t venture a little further from Canelones. If they knew they could make Sangiovese like this, they might never have bothered with Tannat.
13% abv
Imported by Milestone Wines (UK)
Últimas Parras Folle Noir 2024
Grape(s): 100% Folle Noir
Region: Colonia
Price: $
Folle Noir may be almost forgotten today, but it was one of the founding grapes of modern Uruguayan viticulture, introduced by Francisco Vidiella alongside the rise of Tannat in the 19th century. Today its survival is championed by just a handful of winemakers: Estela de Frutos, who began her revival in 2016, and Juan Pablo Fitipaldo and Gonzalo Pastorino, who joined the mini-revolution with Últimas Parras. The name — ‘last vines’ — is painfully literal.
And heartbreaking, really, because it makes such a beautiful wine. This comes from a vineyard originally planted in 1917 in Colonia, with barely 0.3 hectares remaining of 40-year-old vines. At just 11% abv, it is delicate, light-bodied and fine-boned, with powdery tannins, vibrant acidity and gorgeous notes of Campari orange, bergamot, roses and maraschino cherry. Joyful, juicy and wonderfully fresh, it is a compelling argument for keeping these glorious old vines in the ground.
11% abv
Seeking representation
@ultimas_parras
Top 10 Value Wines in Uruguay 2026
Value is not easy to achieve in Uruguay. With a humid climate, relatively high production costs and only a fraction of the vineyard scale of neighbouring Argentina and Chile, it simply cannot compete in the same way on volume and price.
But that isn’t to say you can’t find great value in Uruguay. You can. And producers are increasingly offering exciting wines at that price point.
Every wine in this selection retails for under £20 / US$25, but there is a surprising amount of diversity within it. My selection combines wines readily available in export markets with brilliant-value bottles found in Uruguay. There are incredibly creative wines and unorthodox blends in this selection, as well as some classics. Some almost touch that £20 / US$25 threshold, while others cost less than half.
I am also excited to see excellent value coming from across the country — not only from the powerhouse of Canelones, but also from Colonia, Rivera and Maldonado. The breadth of varieties, regions and styles in this list shows that affordable Uruguayan wine need not mean predictable Uruguayan wine.
Bodegas Cerros de Oro Cristalino Marselan 2025
Grape(s): 100% Marselan
Region: Rivera
Price: $
Near the old gold mines of Rivera, on Uruguay’s northeastern border with Brazil, this family vineyard was first planted in 1946 before eventually being abandoned and later revived by founder’s grandson Héctor López.
Marselan is growing in importance in Uruguay, and this is a great example of how much personality it can deliver at an everyday price. Expressive, aromatic and wonderfully easy-drinking, it is packed with black cherry, bramble and plum, alongside eucalyptus, liquorice and mint. A hint of chocolate from oak adds another layer, while soft tannins and a generous, juicy finish reflect the warmth of this northerly region. Friendly, characterful and excellent value.
14.3% abv
seeking
@bodegacerrosdeoro
Bodega Colorado Chico Vinos Creativos Albariño 2024
Grape(s): 100% Albariño
Region: El Colorado, Canelones OR LAS VIOLETAS?
Price: $
Colorado Chico has become something of a hub for Uruguay’s new generation, with Nicolás Monforte’s historic family winery now home to several small, experimental projects under one roof. Vinos Creativos does what it says on the label, although this Albariño is one of the more classic wines in the line-up — and at around £8 / US$11 at the winery shop, it is remarkably good value.
Lively and citrus-driven, with lime leaf, grapefruit skin, a touch of reduction and a slightly nutty, almond-milk note, it is racy and saline on the palate, with refreshing acidity and plenty of zip. An excellent-value introduction to the leaner, saltier side of Uruguayan Albariño, with more than a nod to Portuguese Alvarinho.
12%
Seeking importer
Bodega Marichal Pinot Noir Blanc de Noir / Chardonnay Rosé 2025
Grape(s): 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay
Region: Canelones
Price: $
This was the first still wine I ever saw bottled as ‘blanc de noir’, beyond the realms of Champagne, and it has been an emblematic Marichal wine since its first vintage in 2007. One of Juan Andrés Marichal’s early innovations with his flagship Pinot Noir, it blends blanc de noir with Chardonnay to make a beautiful partridge-eye pink.
The 2025 is one of my favourite vintages yet: broad and creamy, but still wonderfully fresh, with peach and raspberry fruit, almond biscotti, baking spice and a delicious saline edge. A touch of oak brings extra texture without weighing it down. This is a remarkably complex rosé for the price, particularly for anyone who likes their pink wines with some real body and character.
12.5% abv
Vinos Latinos (UK), seeking representation in the USA
Bodega Santa Rosa Jerez Anticuario NV
Grape(s): Fortified wine: Ugni Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Semillon
Region: Montevideo
Price: $
There’s something impossible not to love about Santa Rosa. A winery etched into the memory of generations of Uruguayans, it was once a household name, particularly for its sparkling wines. But times changed, hard years followed and Santa Rosa came perilously close to disappearing.
Then, in 2021, Juan José Passadore, great-nephew of founder Juan Bautista Passadore, stepped in to rescue the family legacy. And I am particularly grateful that, in doing so, he preserved one of its most extraordinary traditions: Uruguay’s almost-lost fortified and rancio wines, made according to a family formula they trace back to 1820.
There’s nothing quite like walking through the estate and seeing more than 3,500 damajuanas filled with fortified wine baking beneath the Uruguayan sun. They remain there for two years before another two years in large French and American oak casks. The label still reads ‘Jerez Anticuario’, a delicious relic in itself.
The result is a rich, sweet and nutty wine, with notes of toasted almonds, marzipan and caramel, and enough warmth to remind you this is fortified. Juan José likes his with a plate of jamón or cheese before a meal. I will happily raise a glass to that. A wine of remarkable heritage, patience and effort — and an absolute bargain at this price.
16.2% abv
La Celeste (USA)
Bodega Zubizarreta Colección Familiar Arinarnoa 2023
Grape(s): 100% Arinarnoa
Region: Carmelo, Colonia
Price: $
Colonia is home to some excellent-value wines, and Zubizarreta’s Colección Familiar reflects the family’s steady move from the bulk production on which the winery was built towards more premium bottlings. This Arinarnoa is one of the standouts.
A crossing of Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon, Arinarnoa has found a natural home in Uruguay, particularly in the warmer west and river bank vineyards around Carmelo. Full-bodied and generous, this has ripe black cherry and blueberry fruit, with cloves and sweet spice adding complexity. A little oak smoke and gentle grip frame the fruit without weighing it down, leaving a smooth, approachable finish. A cracking-value red that would sit very happily beside a family asado.
13.5% abv
Seeking
Familia Deicas Atlántico Sur Albariño 2025
Grape(s): 100% Albariño
Region: Juanicó, Canelones / Garzón, Maldonado
Price: $
The Deicas family produce some of Uruguay’s finest high-end wines, but also some of its best value. Their Atlántico Sur range is rightly one of the country’s most popular export lines, delivering varietal character while reflecting Uruguay’s South Atlantic identity through blends of different regions.
At the top end of the value range, the concentration here is remarkable. The Albariño is one of my favourites, a variety Santiago Deicas is fast becoming an expert in. It oozes juicy peach, lime zest and dried sage, with a slight spritz highlighting its mouthwatering salinity and vibrant acidity. Canelones brings volume and generosity, while Maldonado gives mineral tension and focus. A wonderfully complete Albariño for the price.
13%
Imported by Enotria & Coe (UK); Cork Alliance (USA)
Finca Las Violetas Blend Blanco 2024
Grape(s): Chardonnay, Sauvignon Gris, Albariño
Region: Maldonado, Canelones, San Jose
Price: $
White blends are one of the great untapped sources of value in South America, and particularly in Uruguay, where coastal varieties can complement each other beautifully. This unusual combination of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Gris and Albariño does exactly that.
Chardonnay gives the wine backbone and freshness, Sauvignon Gris brings much of the aromatic lift, with elderflower, lychee and citrus blossom, while Albariño adds peachy fruit and a saline edge. The result is a delicate, fragrant, lightly textured and nicely balanced wine with plenty of easy-drinking charm for the price. Sourced from vineyards in Maldonado and Canelones, it is also a neat snapshot of Uruguay’s increasingly confident approach to blending white varieties
13%
Seeking representation
Los Cerros de San Juan Familie Lahusen Riesling 2024
Grape(s): 100% Riesling
Region: Colonia
Price: $
Los Cerros de San Juan is often one of my favourite Riesling producers in Uruguay, and this 2024 offers particularly good value at under £20. It is a broader, more generous expression than some vintages, but still has the freshness and aromatic lift that make their Riesling so appealing.
There is a lovely waxy texture, with lemon peel, citrus blossom and ripe orchard fruit, while vibrant acidity keeps the palate lively and refreshing. It is not the raciest vintage they have made, but it has plenty of charm, texture and drinkability for the price. A very attractive introduction to Uruguayan Riesling from the country’s oldest winery, founded by the Lahusen family in 1854.
12.2%
Seeking
Pablo Fallabrino Estival 2025
Grape(s): 60% Aromatic Traminer, 30% Chardonnay, 10% Moscatel Bianco
Region: Atlantida, Canelones
Price: $
Pablo Fallabrino has never been afraid of making wines with personality, and Estival delivers an extraordinary amount of it for the price. This exuberant white blend is heady and intensely aromatic, with ginger, Turkish delight, honey, toffee apple and ripe pear, alongside a slightly earthy, mineral edge.
There is real richness on the palate, with an unctuous, almost oily texture and a touch of fruit sweetness that suits its voluptuous style, but refreshing acidity keeps it from becoming heavy. Waxy, phenolic and impressively persistent, this is a playful, original and completely unapologetic white — and a reminder that great value does not have to mean playing it safe.
13.5% abv
Vinos Latinos (UK), Brazos (USA)
@bodegapablofallabrino
Viña Progreso Underground Cabernet Franc 2024
Grape(s): 100% Cabernet Franc
Region: Canelones
Price: $
Gabriel Pisano’s Viña Progreso range runs the gamut from rich Tannats to cloudy Albariño pét-nat, but the wines are always full of personality and often represent excellent value. This Cabernet Franc is almost impossibly good value, sitting right at the £20 / $25 threshold while delivering a remarkably sophisticated wine for the price.
From Progreso, Canelones, and the cooler 2024 vintage, it has beautiful delicacy and brightness, with fragrant red fruit, floral lift and fine, powdery tannins. Fresh and mouthwateringly juicy, there is a lot of joy here. It effortlessly captures what makes Cabernet Franc so appealing: nimble, expressive and always inviting you back for another sip.
13.5%
Ucopia (UK), Vera Wine & Spirits (USA)
Top 10 Wine Experiences in Uruguay
There is no better way to explore Uruguay’s wines than by travelling through its wine regions and meeting the people and places behind them. From intimate family wineries and vineyard lodges to immersive city experiences and destination restaurants, these are ten of my favourite ways to experience Uruguayan wine today — chosen for their wine, hospitality, originality and sense of place. Some I return to year after year. Others surprised me from the very first visit and earned their place on the strength of that impression alone.
Bodega Oceánica José Ignacio
Region: Maldonado
Website: https://ojoseignacio.com/
Since Marcelo Conserva and Natalia Welker planted their vineyard and olive grove just inland from the beachside village of José Ignacio, the project has continued to evolve, adding increasingly imaginative experiences along the way.
Visitors can taste both olive oil and wine, and explore the handsome contemporary winery, surrounded by vineyards, olive trees, art and sculpture. Since 2020, they have also been experimenting with Ultramar, a project ageing wines undersea in wine cages that sit on the floor of the Atlantic and offering visitors the fascinating opportunity to taste them alongside their counterparts from the cellar.
The wines are excellent, both above and below the sea, and since the opening of Mostrador, Fernando Trocca’s seasonal restaurant at the winery, in 2023, Bodega Oceánica José Ignacio has become an even more attractive place to while away an afternoon over excellent food and wine.
Bouza Las Espinas
Region: Maldonado
Website: https://bodegabouza.com/
Bodega Bouza has long set the benchmark for wine tourism and gastronomy in Uruguay at its flagship winery and estate in Montevideo. The opening of its restaurant in Maldonado on the Las Espinas estate, however, has raised the bar again.
First came the vineyard, planted from 2016, then the restaurant, and now the new winery has opened its doors to visitors. A visit to all three offers an insight into why Bouza remains at the forefront of Uruguay’s wine scene, while a meal at the restaurant is bound to be one of your most memorable meals of the year.
From its hilltop position, the restaurant offers sweeping 360-degree views over the vineyards, the Atlantic coastline and Punta del Este glittering in the distance, which are hard to beat. But with the family’s own pasture-raised Angus beef and Hampshire Down lamb on the menu, alongside exquisite dishes showcasing some of Uruguay’s finest ingredients, it can also be hard to tear your eyes from the plate.
Bracco Bosca
Region: Canelones
Website: https://www.braccobosca.com/
Fabiana Bracco is one of the most magnetic personalities in Uruguayan wine. Bringing infectious energy to everything she does, a visit to her boutique family winery in Atlántida is invariably a memorable one.
A charmingly intimate family bodega overlooks the vineyards and gently rolling countryside of eastern Canelones. But Fabiana’s personal taste is what makes it stand out: colourful murals, eye-catching interior design, and memorable wine tastings accompanied by artisan cheeses and homemade bites.
Even better is spending the night at the family’s Viña Viva Wine Lodge, where you can watch the stars come out from the warming comfort of a wood-fired hot tub, and wake up to the sun rising over the vines with a breakfast hamper delivered straight to your door. There’s no better place to recharge your batteries.
Casa Grande
Region: Canelones
Website: https://www.vinoscasagrande.com/
‘Vinos humanos’, human wines, is the tagline for this small family winery in Rincón de Carrasco, Canelones, and that sense of family and human connection is exactly what makes a visit here so special.
A visit to Casa Grande is a visit to the family home, where fourth-generation vigneron Florencia De Maio makes the wines, her father Washington tends the vineyard and her mother Francesca brings her own talents in cooking and art.
The garage winery is adorned with colourful artwork and personal details throughout, making it the perfect place to linger over a homemade lunch with their delightful range of boutique wines, including niche Italian varieties such as Catarratto and Nebbiolo.
City Winery by Pizzorno
Region: Montevideo
Website: https://citywineryuy.com/en/
The Pizzorno family have been hosting visitors at their Canelones winery, restaurant and hotel for many years, but their latest offering to the wine world is a fascinating and original concept in the heart of Montevideo.
Fourth-generation siblings María Clara and Francisco Pizzorno have been instrumental in developing the family’s wine tourism, and City Winery is their most ambitious departure yet. An intimate 360-degree room immerses visitors in the history of Uruguayan wine, told in part through the story of the Pizzorno family, while another vibrant audiovisual experience explores the wider culture of Uruguay through music and dance.
Wine tastings, including the opportunity to explore wines from different regions and producers around Uruguay, and meals in the atmospheric underground cellar and restaurant complete this impressive experience.
Bodega Garzón
Region: Maldonado
Website: https://bodegagarzon.com/
One of the first wineries to put Maldonado firmly on the international wine-tourism map, Bodega Garzón has remained one of the highlights of the wine route since opening its spectacular winery in 2016, and an essential stop for most visitors to the region.
The approach alone is breathtaking, with the winery and vineyards unfolding across an immense landscape of rolling hills, native woodland and palm trees, alive with local flora and wildlife. Visitors are invited to explore the estate in its rugged natural state on hikes through the native forests, get their hands dirty in cooking classes, or challenge their sensory skills by creating their own wine blend.
Whatever else you do at Garzón, leave time for lunch at the restaurant, with Francis Mallmann as culinary director, where fire-cooked cuisine and seasonal ingredients are paired with Garzón’s impressive portfolio of contemporary wines.
Narbona Wine Lodge
Region: Colonia
Website: https://www.narbona.com.uy/
Narbona truly exemplifies the charm and delight of spending time in Carmelo near the banks of the River Plate. Set on a historic 50-hectare estate, its beautiful old stone cellar dates back to 1909. The property was restored from 1990, with vineyards planted from 1998 and a new winery added in 2010. Today it is one of the leading wine estates of the region, as well as home to an intimate five-suite luxury wine lodge and additional accommodation nearby.
With its own dairy, a visit to Narbona almost certainly involves overindulgence in homemade yoghurts, cheeses and dulce de leche, as well as wine tastings in the beautiful historic stone cellar.
A highlight of the calendar is their Fiesta de la Vendimia, a harvest festival where music, performance, open-fire cooking and wine combine for one of the most memorable evenings in Colonia.
NUR at Luz Culinary Wine Lodge
Region: Maldonado
Website: https://luz.com.uy/
LUZ is an incredibly special place. Hidden among the pine forests, LUZ is a culinary wine lodge where filtered sunlight bathes the luxurious rooms and ocean breezes rustle through the trees as they sweep over the hills of José Ignacio. It is perhaps one of the most idyllic and peaceful stays in the region.
If this were my Top 10 hotels of Uruguay, LUZ would be in it. But it also makes my Top 10 wine experiences, most notably for NUR’s exquisite Forest experience. Held on selected evenings, the Forest dinner feels like a secret banquet in the woods. A long communal dining table is set in a clearing between the tall pine trees, gently lit by candlelight.
The kitchen and wine team pair a menu rooted in Uruguay’s ingredients and cooking traditions with a thoughtful selection of wines from across the country. It is an intimate, tender moment to savour the delicious diversity of Uruguayan wine and cuisine in an unforgettable setting.
Sacromonte
Region: Maldonado
Website: https://sacromonte.com/
If you want an evening getting up close and personal with a capybara, you cannot miss staying at Sacromonte. Set across a 100-hectare estate in the Sierra de Carapé, this is one of Uruguay’s most dramatically situated vineyards, with just five hectares of vines planted in small parcels amid an otherwise largely untouched landscape of native forest, grassland, streams and hills.
As well as producing its boutique collection of wines, there are four contemporary glass and timber refuges nestled into the landscape. With panoramic views from the bedroom, deck and private hot tub, each comes with its own little electric buggy to whisk you up to the restaurant perched high on the hillside.
Best of all, though, is the incredible wealth of native flora and fauna. Guazubirá deer, armadillos, foxes and a remarkably diversity of birds all compete for your attention, but the stars of the show are the capybaras, which chatter away as you fall asleep and make you giggle as they sunbathe and play around the natural ponds during the day.
Spinoglio Hotel de Viña
Region: Montevideo
Website: https://bodegaspinoglio.com/
Have you ever imagined sleeping in a wine tank? Well, Spinoglio can help that rather unusual fantasy come true!
At Diego Spinoglio’s family winery in Cuchilla Pereyra, his wife, architect Alejandra Bruzzone, has let her imagination run wild, transforming four enormous former 150,000-litre wine tanks into some of the most unusual wine accommodation on the continent. The historic winery dates to 1898 and was acquired by the Spinoglio family in 1961; today Diego represents the fourth generation of his family in Uruguayan wine. Both the wines and architecture reflect a thoughtful balance between tradition and contemporary reinvention.
Guests can enjoy dinner at the winery restaurant before nestling into sleep between the vineyards and olive trees, perhaps dreaming of swimming in a sea of Tannat.
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