A report about visiting the Uruguayan viniculture

A winding path lead to the unforgettable experience of the Uruguayan wine travelling I am going to tell you about now. I am one of those incorrigible optimists who - only queuing for the ticket - in the moment they hear the train conductor whistling still believe they are going to catch the train that is about to leave. However, I cannot help myself wonder when I look back and see how both expeditions passed off easily and to everyone's satisfaction. But all in due order.

All started by looking at a plan of the new concert season of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the close of the spring last year. Santiago de Chile, there it was written among the destinations of the excursions to the South America. A lure of reddening vineyards below the snowy tops of the Andes made my heart beat faster and it even suppressed for a while the repulsion for intercontinental flight I usually feel with a mere thought of it. After all the Maipo Valley, one of the most captivating natural sceneries connected with wine is within reach from this beautiful city and the first lines of grapevine can be found already on its periphery. Unfortunately my dream was soon swept away by a manager's hand somewhere in Argentina, because of financial reasons. Chile was crossed off the list of countries. I couldn't have anticipated that I would not give a damn about Chilean vineyards in the light of this excursion. So I gradually reconciled with the thought of another dreary and exhausting excursion. From a viniculturist's point of view neither other countries already established in the world of wine were promising – I mean Brazil and Argentina. To the nearest vineyard it was about thousand kilometres – and who knows if a bus goes there:-)

It is a great pity for wine lovers that in our country – but also in Europe in general – we do not know much about the wine production in Uruguay. Only a memory that I once caught a glimpse of a few samples of wine from this country in a wineshop on the internet made me open wise books and search. I continued my hunt for information and I find a promising one: the centre of viniculture in Uruguay is the region of Canelones, an area adjacent to the capital of this country – Montevideo. The server www.winesofuruguay.com was of a great service to me, you can find there - besides a great amount of information about the Uruguayan viniculture – also contacts of individual winemakers who are joined in this organization. Why the Czech winemakers cannot get something similar for their tithes? I chose several companies because of their transport accessibility and the impression of promising quality I got while looking through their internet presentations. I soon insolently showered those poor people with emails. First answers came the same day in a few hours – due to the favourable time shift between the Czech republic and Uruguay. All were positive and unusually helpful. Already then I got an impression that the people of this country would be very hospitable and friendly. The reality several times surpassed the expectations. The answers were altogether five, all positive...I will spare you, dear reader, the description of the mutual correspondence cruising the ocean, as it is not interesting...

Lets go further in time. It is 1st June 2006, something after three o'clock. The plane of Uruguayan airlines is approaching the runway of the Montevideo airport. I am observing the vineyards spreaded below us and I am thus managing to divert my attention from the pilot, who is obviously only learning how to land directly in the tough traffic. Well, in an amusement park you would have to pay for such adrenaline and moreover we are to visit the first from the four wineries already this evening! A thunder bang makes us know we are on solid land again. When disembarking, I notice that my companions, with whom I am to spend the evening's programme, share the same blissful smiles and eagerness in the eyes. Picking up my luggage from the conveyor belt in the arrival hall, I realize that the whole embassy knows about my trip (Mr. attaché came to bid us welcome in person) and that they even want to give us a helping hand because it will be necessary to carry out the preferential fulfilment of the voting obligation (the elections in the transoceanic countries start earlier in contrast with the Czech Rep.) Much less helpful are people in the hotel – only few rooms are ready. It is not a fault of the alphabet, believe me – according to Murphy's law I get a room as the last member of the orchestra, exactly four minutes before the collective departure for the embassy. An unexpectedly large participation of colleagues knocks our plans askew – the bus can hold only about half of the participants. Unfortunately not our half. And we should have left the ballot boxes as firsts. The time of the departure of the transfer, which is to be put near to the embassy, is pitilessly drawing near. We are giving way to slight uneasiness (mobile connection is not working). But fortune favours us and so everything works out exactly to the minute. Great thanks go to Mr. ambassador who helps to adjust last details through phone. We find meanwhile that we share the same hobby and Mr. attaché presents me with a DVD with a recording of the Czech TV's programme “Wine Journeys” dedicated this time just to the vineculture of Uruguay. It is about half past eight and the thirteen - member group of eager wine lovers gets into the miniature van. A good mood reins, even if I feel a slight scepticism in the air regarding the future events. The driver puts into effect his experience from the rally and the journey is thus passing swiftly and with a little excitement. As soon as we turn off the highway, first lines of grapevine appear by sides and the buildings of the winery Antiqua Bodega Stagnari (formerly "Del Pedregal") shine in the distance, even the last sceptics are finally starting to believe that we are going into a real winery (you can repeat certain information over and over eternally but finally you find that half of the participants do not have a guess as to why exactly they got into the bus). We receive a warm welcome in the winery and because the night already covers the vineyards with the veil of darkness, we are leaded directly to a beautiful degustation hall . As we get to know later, it was opened only recently and we have the honour of being the first visitors. To all appearance we were also the first visitors in general to the whole winery, because without a degustation space the company hadn't been prepared for visitors by then. The winery Antiqua Bodega Stagnari is like a well coordinated orchestra, where the conductor's baton passes on among the female team members: Mrs. Virginia Stagnari (head conductor, the owner of the winery), Mrs. Laura Casella (principal conductor, enologist) and a daughter of the owner (for the present an assistant of the conductor, after finishing her studies she will become a permanent conductor). The ladies viniculturists are doing a great work, they can be duly proud of it. Only seldom the first sample in degustations sets so high a target of quality. And I am not mentioning the distinctiveness. The only white wine of the degustation, magnificently fruity, fresh Chardonnay with unusual delightful “sea” flavours (iodine, moist seashells) originating probably from calciferous soil or – how sometimes is stated – from sea air (a heavy sea storms a few kilometres from the winery), made all the participants wonder what we should expect next as the whole assortment of the winery was still before us... I must admit that the result surpassed all fantasies. My tongue has tasted such treasures of the wine world as the famous Chateau Lafitte - Rothschild, or legendary Australian Shiraz "Grange" (not that I paid those wines...) but I must admit that I haven't had a possibility to know such an integrated quality of the production line of wines from one company and this experience is not going to repeat so soon, in my opinion. Here are all the wines we tasted during our visit (including the score rating ):

86 Tannat - Merlot - Cabernet Sauvignon, particular 2005

86 Merlot, reserva particular 2004

87 Chardonay, particular 2005

87 Cabernet Sauvignon, particular 2005

88 Tannat - Merlot, particular 2005

88 Tannat, particular 2005

92 Merlot "prima donna" 2004

95 Tannat "prima donna" 2004

98 Tannat, Riserva 2004, Riberas del Santa Lucia

Passion for wine and great care dedicated to it in Antiqua Bodega Stagnari is evident from every glass and from the discussion with the female viniculturalists. Laura Casella in her own words literally has Tannat, the pride of Uruguayan vineyards, for breakfast, lunch and dinner (it originates from the French regions of Madiran and Iroléquy). With almost fanatic zeal she is looking for a way to make perfect even more perfect. I cannot imagine what may follow her Riserva, but she says she is preparing a great surprise, which we won't be able to taste sooner than in a year. Let ourselves be surprised. But already now we can be sure – it is going to be a bomb! Much to my pity, the cellar of the winery was being reconstructed and thus it was not allowed to visit it. However, during the degustation the owner let her heart be softened by my pleas and she allowed me to have a glimpse of this quiet wine kingdom together with my colleague Kolář. I would like to give honour to the winery for the well prepared service of the degustation. The bottles were opened before our arrival and the wines could thus optimally breathe and develop. The higher series were decanted. Also the tempering and first - rate appropriate glass were without fault. And I am not even mentioning the superb refreshment in the form of buffet tables, whose amount was not possible to consume even for 13 people. The fresh hot specialities, with which some of the wine courses were interlaid, brought us into the state of highest bliss. For the whole time we felt like visiting friends. This evening had nothing in common with typical "turistic" visits of companies as we know it, not to the last detail. If for nothing else – where else could you bid the owners farewell shortly before midnight? Because of those features, the visit of Antiqua Bodega Stagnari was impressed in the minds of the participants as an indelible experience, which is still recalled even today...

The following day we switched roles with the viniculturists. In the auditorium of Teatro Solis sat down the members of families Pizzorno, Stagnari and Bouza and this time it was our turn to present the fruits of our efforts. I hope that the viniculturists were also content....

On 3rd June 2006 a small marathon awaited us. We got up early, because the visit of the first winery was planned already for half past nine. For transport we used the services of a well - tried driver, who made time for us quickly and moreover he offered more than a generous price. The brakes of the minivan screeched just on time on the ground in front of the winery Pisano. Two employees came to assist us immediately. It drizzled so we stayed in the vineyard only shortly. What is especially interesting in the vineyard are the bushes of Tannat, which are there from the beginning of the family company in the early years of the 20th century. The members of the young generation even keep the technical equipment of the ancestors in the cellar. Thus a small family museum arose. In this winery they are used to frequent visits, so the tour was similar to a castle visit with a guide. But that changes nothing on the quality of information we received. In one of the tanks I discovered an interesting thing, which caught my attention. Into the semiclosed opening lead a small tube, which was on the other side connected to a pressure vessel with unknown contents. I couldn't help asking our guide, Fabian Houjeije, what was happening in the tank right now. I was explained that the unknown stuff precipitates maturation of tannin in a young wine and that this method is used for table wine, so that it is sooner drinkable and thus also vendible. Nothing can be done, today's viniculturists possess other arms than just a prayer for a merciful weather, like it or no. I haven't come across anything similar even in professional literature. I saw for myself in degustation that this method fortunately is used only in the case of table wines. That is, the greatest advantage of the wines of the Pisano company is their structure. Almost all red wines have quite a firm tannin frame, which promises good and perennial maturation. Thus the usage of the mentioned method is fortunately impossible. Other features like superb fruitiness, masterful work with the barrique barrels, complexity of the wine and other parameters I won't mention only because in the case of those wines it is understood by itself (according to the impression I carry away with me from Uruguay). But back to the question of tannin. In the degustation the bottles were being uncorked directly before the wine was being poured into glasses. This fact together with the not quite ideal temperature in the degustation hall (and maybe my palate at 10 o'clock in the morning unawakened yet...) lead to slight underrating of the wines on my part. To simplify it, the representatives of the basic production lines gave me a slightly rough impression, thus the scores were necessarily lost in the category of fineness. Also the smell was somehow frightened by the lower temperature. However, I must say – to defend the honour of the Pisano family vineculturalists – that only in the Prague degustation I appreciated fully (under better set conditions) beauty of the wines, which duly obtain laurels all around the world. We had an opportunity of tasting those wines:

91 Petit Verdot "Reserva Personal de la Familia" 2004

91 Tannat "Et Xe Oneko" 2004, Beltza likore

90 Pisano Arret Xea 2002, Grand Reserve

89 Tannat "Reserva Personal de la Familia" 2004

86 Chardonay "Reserva Personal de la Familia" 2004

83 Torontés "Cis Platino" 2005

83 Syrah "Río de los Pájaros" 2005

82 Tannat - Merlot "Rio de la Plata" 2005

73 Cabernet Sauvignon "Rio de los Pájaros" 2005

We bade farewell to the winery Pisano only after 13 o'clock. Already during the morning when the visit was beginning, it was obvious that the original time plan was not feasible. Fortunatelly, the families let each other know by phone that we are behind schedule and so I hope it didn't cause them undue complications. Our next stop lied only a few kilometers further. In this case it was literally a family visit, because Bodega Pizzorno is a joint company of a married couple Anna and Carlos Pizzorno. Perhaps nowhere else it was so cosy as in the little house of those two very kind people. Their viniculture proves that even under small – almost garage conditions – wines of world quality can arise, if a real love for work and rigorous approach to quality are present at their birth. Carlos Pizzorno is guided by this philosophy at every step, in the vineyard and in the cellar. In the vineyard he applies the biodynamic principles. At the foot of every line there is a useful beauty - the rose, the most sensitive indicator of soil equilibrium. When in some part of the vineyard the grapes ripen into the optimal quality, Mr.Pizzorno does not hesitate to harvest the smallest parcel individually. You see, no global harvest of the whole vineyard by combine harvester. He has several loyal cooperators on the phone for this purpose and above all a few small vinification tanks in the cellar. Thanks to them he can process even smaller portions of grapes, which he later very skilfully blends. Assemblage is anyway the strong point of Mr. Carlos. He experiments with the use of oak barrels from various production areas (Allier, USA and Hungary) separately for individual varietals and portions, which gives wines an excellently diverse taste and fineness. The wines of the Pizzorno family most of all wines showed explosive fruitiness, which we appreciated so much in Uruguayan wines. Above all bodega offers an amazing proportion between the quality of their wines and their price. For example: Sauvignon blanc 2006, in whose production partook a guest from New Zealand, "flying winemaker" Duncan Killiner, is a first class expression of this varietal. It can bear comparison with first class Sauvignons of New Zealand and French Sancerre (as in Prague degustation a prominent expert claimed, a great connoisseur of French wines, Mr. Seidl). The basic price of such wines is about 350 - 400 CZK (eq. 10 - 15 EUR). The price of the Sauvignon of Mr. Pizzorno? 70 CZK (eq. 2,50 EUR)!! Naturally it is the price valid in Uruguay, until the moment of embarkation of the wine, however it is more than a sensational approach on the part of the producer. Bodega is presently building a new archive cellar. The existing stock of the company is stored in an old disused concrete fermentation tank, to get into it Mr. Carlos (apparently not suffering of claustrophobia) many times has had to squeeze through a frighteningly narrow opening to take out a large stock of bottles. In the cosy dining room of the Pizzorno family we tasted :

94 Tannat "Don Próspero" Reserva 2004

91 Sauvignon blanc "Don Próspero" 2006

90 Pizzorno, Reserva (Tannat - Merlot - Cabernet Sauvignon) 2002

89 Tannat "Don Próspero" 2004

87 Tannat - Merlot "Don Próspero" 2004

87 Merlot rosé "Don Próspero" 2006

The time passed unmercifully and so we unwillingly bade those newly acquired friends farewell. The last winery of the day awaited us, Bodega Bouza. The originally arranged time of the visit was between the hours 12 - 13. See, aren't the Uruguayan people hospitable when our expedition appeared on their access road no sooner than at about six o'clock? Bodega Bouza is an exemplary type of "boutique" winery. A beautiful gate to the premises in the style of French Chateaux, "park style" vineyards, spectacular architecturally reconstructed complex of an original old winemaking grange. In its new reconstructed form the company has been producing wine only for four years and in this short time they have moved up among the country's elite! In the modern, clean, almost aseptic fermentation room there is latest technological equipment controlled by a computer. This is how I imagine the term “controlled fermentation”:-)! Owing to this, the temperature in the fermentation vessels and other parameters necessary for precise vinification are under complete control. In the basement of the fermentation room there is a spacious cellar with a great number of barrique barrels. The stock of the company is wittily located under the floor of the cellar, in the space of a former concrete fermentation tank. A part of the whole complex is also a small museum of historical vehicles, which were probably decades ago used in the day - to - day operation of the previous ancestor of present bodega. In the garden I also found a discarded historical railway wagon. The owners of the winery would like to make out of it an unconventional degustation room in future. For now a spacious and a very cosy hall with a fireplace serves for this purpose. Here we had the opportunity to taste among others:

97 Tannat "A6 - parcela única" 2004

89 Tannat 2004

88 Tempranillo - Tannat 2005

82 Tannat - Merlot 2005

The wines of the Bouza winery are like perfectly cut jewels. As if all the components were weighed on a medical scale. Here they also apply rigorous approach to the quality of the production process. What is interesting is, for example, sorting of individual grapes on the belt (usual selection is made by whole bunches of grapes, at the most the unripe parts are cut off with scissors). It must be an immensely exhausting drudgery. Precisely this approach is obviously close to this winery and the quality of their wines confirms that it is the right way. Unfortunately even here the moment came to take a collective picture and say goodbye...

To the wines rating I also include two magnificent samples of the company Ariano Hermanos:

88 Tannat "Don Adelio Ariano" Reserve 2004

86 Cabernet Franc 2004

This winery answered my email which originated the realization of both expeditions, but unfortunately they had to refuse a visit because they are not technically prepared for it. The mentioned two bottles were sent to me as a gift directly into the hotel. Cordial thanks on my part and on part of my colleagues too!

The wines of Uruguay are in no way an anonymous unit of the South American export. To be more specific, neither they fit in among the wines of the neighbouring countries. They offer a great individuality and quality already in the price relationship, into which average, globally unified wines commonly belong. Neither they are typical representatives of the "new - world" style. They do not lack in typical succulence, fruitiness and sweetness of tannin, however their taste is much more close to European wines. The expectations, inspired in you by their smell, often turn into something absolutely unexpected as soon as you taste them. They are mysterious, individual, distinctive ... Just taste them...