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Read our Uruguay wine articles & features on the wine regions of Uruguay, including Montevideo, Canelones, Maldonado, Carmelo and Rivera. The ultimate Uruguay Wine Guide.

Best wine bars in Montevideo, where to drink wine in Uruguay, Madiran wine bar
Uruguay FeaturesFoodie UruguayUruguay Wine GuideTravel & CultureFoodie

Best wine bars in Montevideo Uruguay

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

What are the best wine bars in Montevideo? Just a few years ago there were no dedicated wine bars in Uruguay’s capital city, but in the last couple of years, a host of top wine bars and restaurants with great Uruguayan wine lists have emerged. Here’s a rundown of where to drink wine and the best wine bars to visit in Montevideo.

 

Best wine bars in Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo Wine Experience: A wine bar with a side of education
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South America Wine Guide, harvests in Uruguay. Uruguay vintage guide.
Uruguay FeaturesUruguay Wine GuideWine

Vintage Guide Uruguay

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Guide to vintages & harvests in Uruguay’s wine regions

Uruguay has some of the more variable vintages in South America. With the main wine regions along the coastline, the maritime climate can range from drought years to heavy downpours and even the occasional cyclone! That being said, Uruguay’s winemakers and viticulturists are extremely well-experienced at the great variation of climate during the harvest and are well-versed in changing their vineyard management based on the changing weather forecast.

“It’s the climate that makes making wine in Uruguay really exciting,” says Bouza winemaker Eduardo Boido. “Each vintage is different and we are always on our toes!”

The major factor impacting the different vintages is rain. Take a comparison between 2018 and 2019 in Canelones, for example: in January 2018 it only rained 35mm, whereas in January 2019 it rained 175mm!

Average temperatures are also important to the character of the harvest, however, temperature ranges are less extreme than experienced in the continental climates of Argentina and Chile.  “Unlike many desert terroirs in the New World of viticulture, the climate in Uruguay is similar to the Old World,” explains Bodega Garzon‘s head viticulturist Eduardo Felix. “Every year is different because of the rainfall.”

 

Quick reference guide to wine harvests in Uruguay

2022: A rather ‘classic’ vintage, cool and wet. Best for coastal whites, and fresher light, reds.
2021: A classic vintage for Uruguay with relatively cool, balanced season and a slightly bigger crop.
2020: A very good year with a dry, warm vintage with an excellent balance in whites and reds.
2019: Cooler, wetter vintage best for fresher, lighter-bodied wines especially coastal whites.
2018: Touted as the vintage of the decade. Dry, warm and sunny, ideal for full ripeness, pure fruit expression and steady maturation for balanced, concentrated wines. 
2017: Got off to a wet start but the season ended well making fresh, concentrated wines. Best for late-ripening varieties, like Tannat.
2016: An excellent year with a warm, dry summer producing wines of concentration and bright fruit expression.
2015: Early summer rains meant whites were lighter-bodied and fresh, but drier weather later allowed full maturity in late ripening varieties. Concentrated Tannat.
2014: Very challenging vintage with heavy downpour of summer rain in February. Greener, leaner wines.
2013: Hail damaged some of the crop in Canelones, but it was an otherwise normal vintage.
2012: Warm and relatively normal vintage with slightly higher rainfall.
2011: Excellent year with dry summer and winemakers could harvest when they wanted. Some riper reds reflect the warmer conditions.
2010: Normal year with a little bit more rain than usual.
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Daniel Pisano on the history of Uruguayan wine families
Uruguay FeaturesUruguay Wine GuideWine

A family history in Uruguayan wine: Daniel Pisano interview

by Clorrie Yeomans
written by Clorrie Yeomans

One of the most charming aspects of exploring Uruguayan wine is that most producers are wine families with a multi-generational history. Each winery has its own identity and style, defined by the different family tastes and often by their European ancestry. One of the most prominent wine families in the traditional Canelones region of Uruguay is the Pisano family. Today Pisano winery is run by three brothers – Daniel, Eduardo and Gustavo Pisano – who each take care of different aspects of the business (sales, viticulture and winemaking respectively).

In this video interview made in collaboration with Uruguay.Wine, Daniel Pisano discusses his experience and perspective of the family business and what makes Uruguayan wine unique.

Daniel Pisano interview: Pisano wines & Uruguayan wine legends

“My grandfather, Cesare Pietro Secundino Pisano, was the first to come to Uruguay in 1914. He started to plant his vineyard and later to make wine. I was born here and I have always been surrounded by wines of quality. But more important than quality, making wines with personality!

“Our wines are: Pisano first, then Uruguayan, then South American, then New World! It is a pleasure to be able to work as part of a family and share this experience with one another.

“Our vineyards are on the 35th parallel south; where we have good light intensity. Where we reach good maturity of tannins and alcohol; whilst maintaining good natural acidity. For me, that’s what makes the Uruguayan identity.

“You don’t have to correct the wines, the wines are natural. Every wine from every family is different. We can offer different, unique and personal wines, which come from the mind of the Pisano family and from our terroir. There are wine lovers who want to taste that kind of experience, don’t they? Uruguayan wine is an experience.

“We feel like wine chefs. We don’t manufacture. We don’t have a recipe. Our wines are like us, robust! We like to offer wines that we are proud of but we are not worried about perfection.

“Most importantly, we are searching for the feeling that wine lovers get from the wine. The feeling of arriving somewhere and seeing your bottle there. That’s part of the reward, and you enjoy that achievement. I’m not looking for any other life than this one.”

Read more about Pisano winery in our Uruguayan winery guide

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Albariño in Uruguay and other alternative grape varieties to know from Uruguay
Uruguay FeaturesUruguay Wine GuideWine

Beyond Tannat: Three up and coming grape varieties to know from Uruguay

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Tannat is undoubtedly King in Uruguay, conquering over a quarter of vineyard plantations. However, there’s much more to Uruguay than just Tannat with a manifold of different grape varieties worth hunting down for their unique expressions in the different wine regions of Uruguay.

With influences from ancestors in Italy, Spain and France, there are many different grape varieties to explore in Uruguay’s wine regions. Whether that’s tasting Arneis and Sangiovese, or Marsanne and Malbec, there are varieties from all over the world finding their home in Uruguay today.

Here are three up-and-coming grape varieties, beyond Tannat, in Uruguay that you need to know about right now.

Marselan – An unexpected champion red wine in Uruguay

You might know that Uruguay is the world’s largest Tannat producer, but did you know that it is the world’s second largest Marselan producer? Although it is behind France in terms of Marselan production, Uruguay has over 140 hectares of this modern variety planted and it is offering some really delicious wines.

A cross between Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon, Marselan is well suited to the humid conditions of Uruguay (with its naturally high resistance to mildew and botrytis) and can produce quality wines year on year. You can expect a medium bodied wine with finer tannins, rich colour and deep notes of cherry and blackberries from a Marselan wine.

You’ll find Marselan planted in some of the most traditional regions of Canelones but also in the new coastal regions in the north. Marselan is often blended but also found as a single variety.

Top Uruguayan Marselan wines to try include wines by Traversa, Garzón and Familia Deicas.

 

Albariño – At the crest of Uruguay’s new white wave 

If there’s one white variety in Uruguay that’s really receiving some well-deserved buzz, its Albariño. This Galician grape variety seems like a no-brainer for the humid, Atlantic climate of Uruguay’s coast (which shares many similarities to Galicia). However, it wasn’t until the early 2000s when Bodega Bouza produced their first vintages of Albariño that the light bulb moment occurred – Albariño is ideal for Uruguay.

The thick skins of Albariño prepare it well for the more humid weather, and it produces aromatic, fresh and characterful wines. Uruguay’s Albariño wines can be enjoyed young but recent vintages are seeing some of the more complex styles that can be aged for a few years.

Bouza was the pioneer of Uruguayan Albariño and now has two different regional Albariño wines – from Canelones and Pan de Azucar in Maldonado. Another key Albariño player is Bodega Garzón in Maldonado, producing more Albariño than anyone else. And other wineries making Albariño wines today include Bodega Oceanica Jose Ignacio and Juanico. Although the quantity might never give Galician Albariño a run for its money, the quality is already reaching a par.

 

Cabernet Franc – Uruguay’s most promising Cab

If you ask many of Uruguay’s new generation of winemakers, they’ll tell you that Cabernet Franc is one of their favourite grape varieties in Uruguay. Why? On a practical note, it ripens a month earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon which makes it a little easier on the logistics and less dependent on the end of the season weather forecast. But on a stylistic note, Uruguayan Cabernet Franc can produce deliciously perfumed, spicy and juicy red wines.

Cabernet Franc is having a moment in Argentina too and is indeed becoming a global favourite, and Uruguay is no exception. “Over the last year, I’ve really started to like and drink a lot of Cabernet Franc,” Gabriel Pisano, who is making a fantastic Cabernet Franc for his own Viña Progreso label, explains his fascination. “I love its peppery quality and how versatile it is, and Uruguay can make particularly good Cabernet Franc.”

Top Uruguayan Cabernet Franc wines include Viña Progreso, Bracco Bosca, Alto de la Ballena, Familia Bresesti, Familia Deicas.

 

Read more on South America’s different wine varieties. 

Read about Uruguay’s wine regions.

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