Anyone for Tannat?
Uruguay is crying out for attention on your wine list. Following the success of Chile and Argentina in the UK and other parts of Europe, the country now wants a slice of the European market.
But Uruguay is a very different story to Chile or Argentina. For a start, it is dwarfed by the other two. There are only about 10,000 hectares of vineyards planted in Uruguay - and even the most optimistic estimates do not see that rising above 20,000 in the foreseeable future.
By contrast, Chile now has more than 100,000 hectares and Argentina more than 250,000, making it the world's fifth-largest wine producer. Uruguay's vineyards are about the same size as New Zealand's and are substantially less than the 13,000 hectares that make up the Muscadet area in the Loire Valley. Furthermore, the Uruguayans are enthusiastic wine drinkers, quaffing 32 litres a head each year, which doesn't leave a lot to export.
Uruguay has little choice but to export individual and interesting wines. It wants to emulate New Zealand, whose wines have a high reputation and prices to match, which means Uruguayan winemakers will have to appeal to the UK on-licence trade. Fortunately, some good new wines, especially juicy reds, will help to make the promotion of Uruguayan wine easier.
Reserved for export
When travelling round Uruguay, the producers frequently discussed quality, but that's not surprising in a country whose good-quality wine sector is only five years old. Before that, almost all the wine made was bulk table wine. Today, anonymous wines supplied in bulk are still important on the home market, but higher-quality wines are largely reserved for export.
Much of Uruguay is remarkably flat and, unlike its neighbours, it has no high mountains. Grassland with copses of trees make up a large part of the country, and most of its three million inhabitants live in the south.
It is here that 80-90% of the vines are planted. Most of the vineyards lie just north of Montevideo, although there are some up on the Brazilian border, near the town of Rivera, and further west near Bella Union. There are also vines around Salto, on the River Uruguay, which forms the border with Argentina.
Because of the oceanic influences, the climate in the south is frequently compared to that of Bordeaux, and rain at harvest time can be a problem. Certainly, irrigation is not needed.
The main difference between the south and the vineyards around Salto and Bella Union is the temperature. The annual mean temperature in parts of the north can be 5ºC higher than around Montevideo. Whereas grape picking for table wines starts in mid-December at Bella Union, wine grapes will not be picked in the south until late February,
Uruguay's major grape is Tannat, which makes a robust red wine. Winemakers hope that Tannat will provide the key to unlocking export markets, even though it may seem a surprising choice. It can be of high quality, but wine made from Tannat is not normally the most charming or accessible. Nevertheless, it does have the advantage of avoiding the Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay bandwagon.
Tannat originally comes from the Pays Basque region of south-west France. It is the major variety in Madiran, whose wines are powerful, robust and have considerable tannic structure. The grapes need a number of years to soften to show their best.
Basque settlers brought Tannat to Uruguay in the second half of the 19th century. One of them, Pascual Harriague, was the first to plant vines in Uruguay, so Harriague has became the local name for the variety.
Fortunately, although dark-coloured and robust, Uruguayan Tannat is much softer and more approachable than its counterpart in south-west France. A few producers are blending Tannat with Merlot and this may become a popular style. Pure Tannat certainly goes well with beef, the country's staple diet - visitors to Uruguay need to like grilled beef in all its forms.
In the eight days that I spent in the country in December, I was impressed by the number of producers making very drinkable wines. Inevitably, with the emphasis on quality being so recent, there are some producers who are somewhat off the pace being set by the best producers. These include two of the country's largest producers, Vinedos y Bodegas Bella Union, which sells under the Calvinor label, and Dante Irutia.
With the exception of one or two good Chardonnays, Uruguay's whites are of no great interest. But the reds are definitely worth considering, especially as the 2000 vintage was the best in 20 years.
