Uruguay. I can’t ever really say it without thinking of Homer Simpson. If you know what I’m talking about you’ll be chuckling too at this point. Hopefully after this weekend all I’ll be thinking about is the wonderful wine from there.
Tannat is Uruguay’s main red grape. It does really well there, because roughly we’re not too far off the same area as Chile and Argentina. The big problem for them though is it’s a bit more humid and the soil is pretty fertile. Now as much as that doesn’t sound like a problem, think about how dilute grapes can get if too many of them grow in a small space.
Luckily better vineyard management in managing the humidity (bigger gaps in the vines, letting breezes come through) and the yield of grapes (better harvesting) has helped a lot. Now you can expect wines very similar to those of Madiran in France. You get heavy-duty reds, capable of both early drinking and some ageing.
I’ve never had Uruguayan wine before, so as much as I’m not sure how different to the French one it’ll be, I’m still going to pick one up and have a go.
Cheers
Other posts in NWTW Week 10:
#NWTW Week 10: Tannat from SW France, Argentina, Uruguay – Part One (includes voting poll)
#NWTW Week 10: Tannat from SW France, Argentina, Uruguay – Part Two
