Uruguay

Uruguay is South America’s fourth most important wine-producing country with an area under vines of more than 9,000 ha/ 22,200 acres, of which more than 95% is for wine production. Total wine production in 2011 was of 900,000 hl/19.5 million gallons.

The history of winemaking in the country is comparatively recent, starting as late as 1870, with vineyards planted by immigrants, mainly Basques and Italians. This tradition of ‘peasant’ smallholdings continues, with the average vineyard size being no more than 5 ha/12 acres. In all there are over 1,750 growers but fewer than 300 wineries, and only about 15% of those focus on higher quality and export. Wine was initially produced for local consumption and, with half the population of the country living in the capital Montevideo, four-fifths of the vineyards are in the immediately neighbouring departmentos, especially in Canelones. Most other vineyards are in the west, close to the Río de la Plata (River Plate), which forms the border with Argentina. Domestic wine consumption is high, and stable, currently standing at 22.5 l/6 gal per person per year.

With the formation of Mercosur, announced at the end of the 1980s, the Uruguayans realized that they would have to protect their wine industry from Chilean and Argentine wine, with their lower production costs. In order to achieve this, the Uruguayan National Institute for Vitiviniculture (INAVI) embarked on a three-pronged campaign. Firstly, encouragement was given to growers to plant vinifera varieties, rather than the american vines and hybrids that then dominated. Secondly, the Uruguayans were urged to be proud of their own wines, with stress being laid on their purity and ‘naturalness’. (In an American report published at the 2004 World Economic Forum, Uruguay was ranked third most environmentally sustainable country in the world after Finland and Norway.) Finally efforts were made to conquer export markets despite limited promotional resources. brazil, because of a shortage of domestic red wine, is by far the most important export market, accounting for 60% of the total, followed at a considerable distance by the united states and russia.

Wines are divided into two classes, VCP (Vino de calidad preferente) and VC (Vino Común). VCP wines, which account for about 12% of total production, must be made from V. vinifera grapes and be sold in 75 cl, or smaller, bottles. VC wine, which is sold widely in demijohns and tetrapacks, is predominantly rosé based on muscat of hamburg grapes, although this variety is in sharp decline thanks to increasing demand for V. vinifera wines even in this market sector.

For better quality wines the dominant grape variety is tannat, introduced to Uruguay by Basque settlers and made with increasing enthusiasm and expertise. In 2013 it accounted for 24% of all plantings of wine grapes. Other red wine grapes are Merlot (11%), Cabernet Sauvignon (8%), and Cabernet Franc (4%), while white wines (around a quarter of total production) tend to be made from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

Most of the vineyards lie on deep clay soils on gently rolling hills to the north of Montevideo, but there are vines in 16 out of the 19 departmentos. More recent plantings in the Cerro Chapeu region on the Brazilian border and in El Carmen and Carpinteria in the centre of the country are on poorer soils where there is a bigger diurnal temperature variation (see temperature variability).

The climate in Uruguay is influenced by the Atlantic, and often compared with that of Bordeaux, although the average rainfall (particularly in the south) and the average annual temperature are higher than in Bordeaux. Humidity can be excessive even though the climate seems to be getting warmer and drier, so the espalier training system is popular, gradually replacing the once-widespread lyre. High soil fertility has to be controlled by producers aiming high. The newest vineyard area to be developed is around Garzón in Maldonado. Here granite soils, higher elevations (up to 300 m/1,000 ft), and constant cooling breezes from the Atlantic promise less humid conditions for crisp whites, refined reds, and expanding olive plantations.

International interest in Uruguayan wines has been shown by several recent investments, including Argentinian pesos at Garzón and Narbona, Brazilian Real at Filgueira, and California dollars at Artesana. International consultants are few in number (e.g. Alberto Antonini, Paul Hobbs, and Michel rolland) but more and more young winemakers such as Gabriel Pisano, scion of the family that more than any other has spread the word about Uruguayan quality wine, are gaining overseas experience to reinvest in Uruguay.

1. Dominé, A., and Herrera, M., The Unique Wines of Uruguay (Montevideo, 2013).
2. Goldstein, E., South American Wines (Berkeley, Calif., 2014).
3. www.winesofuruguay.com