 | ||
Uruguay is the fourth-largest producer of wine in South America, with a production of 67,000 tonnes and 8,023 hectares (19,830 acres) of vineyards in 2012. Its signature wines are that of red wines produced from Tannat grapes although several whites including Albariño and Cocó are beginning to receive attention internationally.
Contents
History
The modern wine industry in Uruguay dates back to 1870, and the wine industry was started by immigrants of mainly Basque and Italian origin. In 1870, Tannat was introduced to the country by Don Pascual Harriague, a Basque.
Albariño was introduced to Uruguay in 1954 by immigrants from La Coruña, in the Galician region of Spain. When the Mercosur free trade association started to take shape in the late 1980s, Uruguay took steps to increase the quality of its wines and stepped up its marketing efforts, due to fear of being out-competed by Chilean wines and Argentine wines, which had lower production costs.
Classification system
There are two levels of classification for Uruguay wines:
Wine regions
Uruguay's wine regions correspond to its administrative regions. While the country's other forms of agriculture are grouped into cardinal-intercardinal-oriented zones, which are then further divided by departments, there has never been an official grouping of wine regions into the larger zones – based on publications released by the Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca de Uruguay ("Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fish of Uruguay").
The majority of vineyards and wineries are located in the hills north of the capital Montevideo, particularly in the departments: Canelones, Montevideo, Colonia, and San José. With the disappearance of vineyards in Flores, Rio Negro, and Treinta y Tres, roughly from 1989-2007, there are currently vineyards in 15 out of 19 departments.
The Tannat grape is now known as the healthiest red wine in the world, due to their pulp, seeds and skins having high antioxidants, polyphenols, resveratrol and anthocyanins, which lowers your blood pressure and protects you against cardiovascular diseases. Tannat grape has also been known to help with cancer of the colon in new studies in Uruguay. The name Tannat comes from the word "Tannins" seeing Tannat is the grape with the highest amount of tannins in the world, hence the word Tann-ins = Tann-at. The best way to taste various versions of Tannat is with The Wine Experience.
Grape varieties
Among the vinifera grapes, Tannat is the most common (36%). Other common varieties are Merlot (10%), Chardonnay (7%), Cabernet Sauvignon (6%), Sauvignon blanc (6%), and Cabernet Franc (4%). Muscat Hamburg is still a common variety for VC-classified rosé wines.
Much of Uruguay's vineyards have previously been planted with American and hybrid grape varieties.