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best Uruguayan Tannat wines to try for Tannat day, celebrate uruguayan tannat with these great wines
Uruguay FeaturesUruguay Wine GuideWine

Uruguayan Tannat wines for Tannat Day: Celebrating 14th April

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

I’ve long been a fan of Uruguayan Tannat, and the annual Tannat Day on 14th April is a great excuse to raise a glass. Tannat is Uruguay’s champion grape variety, accounting for about a quarter of all the vineyard plantings at over 1,600 hectares, and Uruguay has more Tannat planted than any other wine country in the world.

Uruguay began celebrating Tannat Day on 14th April in order to mark the date that its first true Tannat champion, Pascual Harriague, passed away in 1894. Harriague started planting Tannat in Uruguay back in the 1870s and gained some international praise for the wines after taking them to wine shows in Europe. His wines were so well known in Uruguay, that the variety Tannat was actually called Harriague for many years (and some producers still call Tannat Harriague!)

On a recent trip in Uruguay, I discovered lots of new delicious Tannat wines while visiting wineries and winemakers. So here are some new Tannat wines to celebrate Tannat Day with – salud!

 

New Tannat wines to celebrate Tannat Day 

Nakkal, Suelto Tannat 2021

Coming from the small natural wine project of Nakkal, this is a vibrant and fresh Tannat. Nicolás Monforte, Santiago Degasperi and Bruno Bresesti only started their Nakkal label a couple of years ago but they’ve really carved out their own style, and Suelto is the epitome of that: juicy, fresh and with lots of energy. A Tannat to drink chilled at lunch.

Pablo Fallabrino, Anarkia 2020

Pablo Fallabrino was the first winemaker in Uruguay to really start pushing for no added sulphite Tannat wines in 2016. I think 2020 is his best vintage yet of this no-added-sulphite Tannat, Anarkia. It has notes of black fruits and pepper with a really lively finish. Pulsating, vibrant stuff.

De Lucca, Tano Tannat Natural 2020

It took Agustina some time to convince her father, known as Tano, to make a ‘natural Tannat’ with no added sulphites or oak, but he took to it like a duck to water. This is a great wine and debut for the new label: fresh black fruit with a spicy spine of tannin and juicy finish. A new face for De Lucca‘s wine portfolio.

Catamayor, Single Barrel No 8

Coming from the excellent 2018 vintage, this is a single barrel selection from Catamayor’s Tannat coming from the schist soils of San José. This is a great wine: lovely bright fruit expression with fine tannins. Lots of vibrancy here but also with the added structure of some oak ageing. This is good now but will also cellar well.

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Guide to central & northern wine regions in Uruguay
Travel UruguayUruguay FeaturesUruguay Wine Guide

A guide to the wine regions of Central & Northern Uruguay

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Uruguay has much more to offer than just Canelones and Maldonado… there are also a host of wine regions in central and northern Uruguay. Get to know these off-the-radar regions in our guide to Rivera, Salto, Durazno & beyond.

Guide to Central & Northern Uruguay’s Wine Region
Sub-regions in Central & Northern Uruguay
Notable Producers
Best Wines to try
Map of Uruguay’s wine regions

 

Guide to Central & Northern Uruguay’s wine region

Although nowhere near as well-known as Canelones, many consider the northern region of Salto to be the birthplace of Uruguayan Tannat. After all, it was here, in this north-western province that shares rivers, waterways and expansive pampas with Argentina, that Tannat is believed to have first been planted by Pascual Harraigue.

Salto boomed in the early 20th century and had 124 vineyards during its heyday so the 60-odd hectares you find in Salto today are a mere shadow of the region’s former vineyard area. Nevertheless, these northern and central wine regions of Uruguay together account for almost 5% of Uruguay’s production and offer a very different dimension to the otherwise very coastal wine scene.

These wine regions have much warmer average temperatures than the coastal regions further south and, although this can present challenges for making fresh white wines, it brings benefits when it comes to ripening and rounding the tannins of the red wines. Northern and central Uruguay can be capable of producing attractively supple red wines with full body and a softer, more feminine structure, and are especially renowned for good quality in late-ripening varieties like Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon.

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Night harvesting at VIK winery in Cachapoal with Cristian Vallejo
Chile FeaturesVideosColchagua Videos

Night harvest at VIK with winemaker Cristian Vallejo

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Ever seen a winery harvesting grapes in the middle of the night? In this interview, winemaker Cristian Vallejo talks about why VIK winery in Cachapoal has decided to harvest at night.

 

 

To read more about VIK and other wineries in Chile, visit our Chile winery guide

 

Interview with Cristian Vallejo on the reasons why they’ve decided to harvest at midnight

Cristian, why are we in a vineyard at midnight?

Our holistic philosophy makes us think about nature, and about being sustainable. When you harvest at midnight in Chile, the temperature is around 8-10 degrees Celsius, so grapes arrive in the winery at that temperature. This means that they’ll be taken to the tanks at that temperature and won’t have to undergo a cold maceration. Also, when the grapes are cold they are much better in quality.

So the reasons behind harvesting at midnight are related to quality and to being sustainable and respectful of nature, which is very important for the family and for our work philosophy.

What time do you harvest in the evening? We started at 11 pm, how long will they be harvesting through?

People arrive at the field at 11 pm and will be harvesting until 6 am. The grapes arrive at the winery between 1 am and 9 am and we crush them until 11 am, which means that when the grapes are taken to the tanks they are still at 8-10 degrees Celsius.

Read more about VIK

 

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almaule wines from Maule made from Pais grapes from old vines
Chile FeaturesWineMaule

Almaule – giving soul to País wines from Maule

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

A new association of producers is trying to put Maule’s País wines back on the map through a joint initiative to make juicy, fresh red wines. Almaule, standing for alma (soul) and Maule, was founded by six wineries to make approachable País wines under the same collective label, and help bring it back as the local beverage of choice.

Bouchon Family Wines, Erasmo, Gillmore, Cooperativa Loncomilla, Garage Wine Co and Las Veletas are the six founding wineries of the Almaule movement. Although each winery makes their Almaule wine in their own style, each wine has to follow a certain set of requirements:

  • Grapes all come old bush vines (30+ years)
  • The wine is at least 90% País
  • The wine is focused on being fresh, light, dry and clean
  • The wine has a maximum 12.5% ABV and is dry (less than 5 g/l RS)

The wines also have to be affordable (less than US$15) so that they can be enjoyed by everyone as an everyday wine.

The brand ‘Almaule’ also has to be dominant on the label with the individual producer cited below. This is similar to the requirements for Vigno.

Find out more about Almaule on their website: http://almaule.cl/

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