Uruguayan wine
Encyclopedia
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
is the fourth-largest producer of wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, with a production of 109,001 tonnes in 2008. There are over 8500 hectares (21,003.9 acre) of vineyards in Uruguay.
The signature wines of Uruguay are red wines produced from Tannat
Tannat
Tannat is a red wine grape, historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay, where it is considered the "national grape". It is also grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Peru, and in Italy's Puglia region where it is used as a...
grapes.
History
The modern wine industry in Uruguay dates back to 1870, and the wine industry was started by immigrants of mainly BasqueBasque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
and Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
origin. In 1870, Tannat was introduced to the country by Don Pascual Harriague, a Basque.
When the Mercosur
Mercosur
Mercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
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 wine
Chilean wine
Chilean wine is wine made in the South American country of Chile. The region has a long viticultural history for a New World wine region dating to the 16th century when the Spanish conquistadors brought Vitis vinifera vines with them as they colonized the region. In the mid-19th century, French...
s and Argentine wine
Argentine wine
The Argentine wine industry is the fifth largest producer of wine in the world. Argentine wine, as with some aspects of Argentine cuisine, has its roots in Spain...
s, which had lower production costs.
Classification system
There are two levels of classification for Uruguay wines:- Vino de calidad preferente (VCP), a "quality wine" category. Wines must be made from Vitis viniferaVitis viniferaVitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....
varieties and are required to be sold in bottles of 75 cl or smaller. - Vino común (VC), a "table wineTable wineTable wine is a wine term with two different meanings: a wine style; and a quality level within wine classification.In the United States, table wine primarily designates a wine style - ordinary wine which is neither fortified nor sparkling....
" category. VC wines are often sold in demijohns and tetra pakTetra PakTetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
s, and much of it is roséRoséA rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...
.
Wine regions
Most of the vineyards of Uruguay are located in the hills north of the capital MontevideoMontevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, in particular in the departments Canelones
Canelones Department
The Canelones Department , with an area of and 485,240 inhabitants, is located to the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones.-Geography and climate:...
, Montevideo
Montevideo Department
Montevideo is a department of Uruguay.It is by far the smallest one in area, and the most populated as well. It contains the city of Montevideo, capital of Uruguay. While most of the department is covered by the capital city, there are still smaller towns within its limits, e.g...
and San José
San José Department
San José Department is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is San José de Mayo.-Population and Demographics:As of the census of 2004, there were 103,104 people and 33,063 households in the department. The average household size was 3.0...
, but there are at least some vineyards in 16 out of 19 departments
Departments of Uruguay
||Uruguay consists of 19 departments :# Artigas . Formed in 1884 from part of Salto Department. The only department to border both Argentina in the west and Brazil in the north and east.# Canelones . One of the original 6 departments created in 1816...
.
Grape varieties
Among the vinifera grapes, TannatTannat
Tannat is a red wine grape, historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay, where it is considered the "national grape". It is also grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Peru, and in Italy's Puglia region where it is used as a...
is the most common (36%). Other common varieties are Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
(10%), Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
(7%), Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
(6%), Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
(6%), and Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
(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.