Finca Ambrosia was established in 2002 in Gualtallary in the Uco Valley, Mendoza, with an estate of 65 hectares of vineyards cultivated in small parcels. Finca Ambrosia wines are all made from their estate at 1250 m.a.s.l. with soils based on limestone over quaternary gravels.
Piccolo Banfi winery is in Colonia, just on the border of San José, and specialises in Tannat, Petit Verdot and Pinot Noir from their estate vineyards in Altos de Cufre.
The Banfi family arrived from southern Switzerland, near Italy, to Argentina at the beginning of the 20th century and invested in a winery in Mendoza in 2000. In 2004, the Banfi family decided to invest on the other side of the River Plate too, and purchased an estate in Colonia in Uruguay near the border with San José region.
The estate is in Altos de Cufre, an emerging wine region in western Uruguay, which has gently sloping hills and a mild climate which is moderated by the river and maritime influence.
With eight hectares of vines planted, the vineyard has a combination of Tannat, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Merlot varieties planted which go towards the winery’s monovarietal wines and blends.
The vineyards were all planted in 2006 and are overseen by the same winemaking and viticulture team as in Mendoza.
Piccolo Banfi has a handful of wines produced in Uruguay: Estigma is a blend of Tannat, Petit Verdot and Merlot which spends several months ageing in oak barrel, making a fruit-forward and spicy red wine; Estigma Gran Reserva Blend is a more concentrated blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot that spends a year in French oak barrels for a more complex and structured expression. There is also a single varietal Petit Verdot and Pinot Noir within the Estigma Gran Reserva line, and an Estigma Rosé made from Tannat.
The winemaking in both wineries (in Uruguay and Argentina) is overseen by Michel Rolland and Gabriela Celeste as consulting winemakers, and Gustavo Ozamis and Mauricio Rodriguez working as the Head Winemakers on a daily basis. Marcelo Casazza is also a consultant.
You can organise a visit to the winery for a tasting with previous booking, which includes a walk through the vineyards.
Montes Toscanini was born in 1979 under the leadership of the third generation of the Toscanini family, which has a long history of winemaking in Uruguay. The family’s wine history in Uruguay actually begins at the end of the 19th century when the Toscanini family emigrated from Italy and settled in Canelones, making their first wine there in 1908.
Some seven decades later, Margot Toscanini de Montes and her brother bought a winery in Las Piedras and restarted the family tradition of making wine there, giving birth to Montes Toscanini winery in 1979.
Today the family winery is run by the fourth generation of the family, Cecilia, Juan and Leonardo, and in 1995 they converted the wine production to focus on premium and fine wines.
Patrick and Gabriela started the boutique project with a single vineyard of Tannat, Merlot and Pinot Noir which was planted in 2009 and yielded its first wines in 2015. The 57-hectare estate (six of which are planted with vineyards) also has an olive tree grove, native forests and space for horseriding.
With a focus on premium, limited-production wines, their estate wines have already been garnered with acknowledgements from international magazines, already exported to the UK.
Both Patrick and Gabriela are the first generation of vignerons in their families and started the project with the ambition of making single varietals and blends expressing this unique riverside terroir.
Located 14 kilometres from the cobblestone city of Colonia del Sacramento, the vineyards have a significant climatic influence from the River Plate which keeps temperatures mild and stable throughout the year.
The vineyard is planted in three main sectors, the first was planted with Tannat and Merlot. The second sector has been planted with Pinot Noir and Viognier, and the third and final sector is planted with Cabernet Franc vines. The soils are predominantly sandy-lime with some clay.
In total, the winery has 57 hectares across the estate, only six of which are planted with vines, the rest of the estate is planted with olive trees and left with native forests for horseriding and tourism.
The first release of Hacienda del Sacramento wines was in 2015 with a Tannat, Merlot and Pinot Noir and today the portfolio has expanded to include red blends, a white Viognier and a Pinot Noir Rosé.
The portfolio includes two lines:
Hacienda del Sacramento Single Vineyard is line with wines made from select lots from the single vineyard, and the grapes are hand-harvest and carefully vinified with a potential for ageing. Within the range, some highlights include the Tannat-Merlot blend and Pinot Noir Rosé, as well as the single varietal wines.
Hacienda de la Colonia Estate Wine is the second line coming from several plots from the vineyard and the focus is on fruit-forward and easy drinking wines. Harvest is both manual and mechanical.
Patrick is the owner and winemaker of Hacienda del Sacramento and studied viticulture and winemaking at universities in Bordeaux and Montpellier, bringing experience from the other side of the Atlantic with him.
Patrick and his wife Gabriela are currently both studying at the Wines & Spirits Education Trust in London in order to also offer WSET classes at the winery in Colonia ready for 2022.
Daniel Cis is the consultant winemaker and is well-versed in making wines in Colonia, as a leading winemaker in the region of Carmelo in particular.
“So much of every wine is defined in the vineyard, by the grapes that arrive to the winery, and through the work in the vineyard,” says Daniel Cis.
“There’s aren’t any miracles in the winery – it is important that we understand the vineyard first, and find the quality and characteristics in the grapes themselves.”