A sommelier for one day or The evening of Uruguayan wines in Prague

The decision to bring chosen wines of the Uruguayan wineries and to present them to the professional public in homeland (in the Czech Republic) matured already during the degustation in the Stagnari family. Since the first moment it was obvious that the presented wines offer an unexpected standard of quality, to speak nothing of their distinctiveness so seldom findable in the unified flood of cheap wines of the South America. Uruguay started the path fated to smaller, less established viniculture countries. It has to offer higher quality for the same, often less money than the winery giants. The informed wine lovers are able to find great wines by themselves and regardless of the laws of marketing, but in the context of the manipulated world trade it is the only way to achieve competitive strength. Such a development can be currently observed in our nearest neighbour - Austria - as well. In Czechia too already, thanks God, a few tens of Sleeping Beauties received a prince's kiss and awakened from the sleep caused by the catchy fairytale of communist comrades which ends so bitterly...But we are falling behind Uruguay too much. That is one of the reasons why I think that (especially) the red wines of this country might be a welcomed invigoration of the Czech trade, since a rigorous approach to the quality of one's work is typical of Uruguayan winemakers. They are not motivated by a desire for gain, but by the love of wine as such. Viniculture is not simply a matter of bread and butter for them, it is their passion and sense of life. Neither in music may you follow a different creed, that is why I took a liking for local winemakers and their wines. That is just why I decided to use my little knowledge of the world of wine and contribute at least minimally to the increase of awareness of the Uruguayan production in the Czech republic. As the Prague degustation showed, save exceptions the knowledge concerned is zero, to our great shame... With regard to my very limited transport possibilities during the concert tours of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, I managed to bring - I dare to say - a record amount of bottles (about 30 pieces). Some of the brought delicacies were primarily destined to repose in my private archive. For the programme of the degustation I chose ten exclusive wines of the production of two wineries (Del Pedregal and Pizzorno). The winery Pisano subsequently demonstrated unusual helpfulness and (at expenses surpassing many times the price of the contents) they delivered by air a packet of six wines for the degustation. Thus the following 16 samples could be found in the finals (in the order they were tasted in the degustation):

1) Sauvignon blanc 2006 „Don Próspero“, Canelón Chico (Pizzorno)

2) Torrontés 2006 „Río de los Pájaros“ Reserve, Progreso (Pisano)

3) Merlot 2005 „particular“ (Del Pedregal)

4) Tannat – Merlot – Cabernet (40/30/30) 2005 „particular“ (Del Pedregal)

5) Tannat – Merlot (60/40) 2005 „particular“ (Del Pedregal)

6) Tannat 2005 „particular“ (Del Pedregal)

7) Tannat 2006 „Río de los Pájaros“ Reserve, Progreso (Pisano)

8) Tannat 2004 „RPF - Reserva Personal de la Familia“ , Progreso (Pisano)

9) Pizzorno - Reserva 2002 (Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot – 60/30/10) Canelón Chico (Pizzorno)

10) Petit Verdot 2005 „RPF - Reserva Personal de la Familia“ , Progreso (Pisano)

11) Merlot 2004 „prima donna“ , Río Santa Lucia (Del Pedregal)

12) Pisano Arret Xea 2002 Grand Reserve, Progreso (Pisano)

13) Tannat 2004 „Don Próspero“ Reserva, Canelón Chico (Pizzorno)

14) Tannat 2004 „prima donna“ , Río Santa Lucia (Del Pedregal)

15) Tannat 2004 Riserva, Riberas del Santa Lucia (Del Pedregal)

16) Tannat 2004 Et Xe Oneko, Beltza Likore, Progreso (Pisano)

It was Mr. Vítěslav Nevosad, who helped very much with the realisation of the tasting proper as he provided us with his beautiful wine cellar in Karlín for the degustation. Last but not least he provided us with refreshment at his own expenses and he had a hand in inviting many members of the evaluation committee. He works as a manager in the insurance field in his everyday job, he is a great wine lover, a keen organiser of the club of wine lovers "Cuveé club" and he owns a wine shop. The following gentlemen sat down to the table:

Seidl - one of the greatest Czech experts, a connoisseur of French wines, the company Merlot Grand Vins

Karlík – an importer of wines from the New World

Kopsa - an importer of wines from Algiers - Rosalia Ltd.

Štepányi - an importer of the Chilean winery Carmen

Nevosad - see above

Kadlec – the member of the "Cuveé club"

Vaněk - an importer of Brasilian wines - Cosmopolitan Brasilian wines Ltd.

Kozák – a connoisseur and an importer of French wines, newly also wines from the New World - Kupmeto Ltd.

and myself...

For most of the participants, this evening was a premier encounter with Uruguayan wines (they are practically not imported into the Czech Rep. yet). That is why already the first sample, the Sauvignon blanc of Mr. Carlos Pizzorno, caused a little astoundment and it opened a hot discussion. In the words of all the evaluators, the wines were an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Mr. Seidl's praise pleased the most, because this great connoisseur of French wine and culture of its drinking (he even lived in France for many years) is usually quite critical to wines of the New World. It came as the greatest surprise of the evening that it was just him who became the most convinced defender of the presented wines against an unnamed representative of those importers, for whom the low acquisition costs of the wines of the South American giants as Chile and resulting easy marketability and high profit margin are the only clue in the selection of the imported portfolio. It confirmed the objectivity of my conviction about the exceptional position of Uruguayan wines in the context of their neighbouring countries. The final evaluation united all the participants. They appreciated highly especially the mastery of winemakers in the work with barrique barrels (all the wines without exception were a demonstration of the ideal use of oak, when the wine is just gracefully spiced, rounded and the wood never covers up the original character of the wine), further they appreciated concentrated fruitiness and distinctiveness. What was interesting from this point of view was especially the varietal of Tannat, whose original home are the French regions of Madiran and Irolequy. Only in Uruguay it was brought to perfection and it is duly considered to be a national pride. For myself, it was an opportunity to experience for a while the interesting job of a sommelier. I am considering a try to pass degustator exams in future and thus I could verify beforehand what the presentation of wines to the professional public amounts to. Fortunately the impressive quality of the wines stood by me and I could be proud of it. The experts in the field were very indulgent toward my efforts and as a reward they declared me a member of the guild of wine connoisseurs. The commercial result is still in the air and it depends on the competence of the participants. My personal impression tells me that because of indolence and desire to play it safe commercially, the balance is not going to tip in the favour of winemakers and frankly I feel quite sorry for that. To the most precious deeds no eight - lane highway leads, but a narrow thorny path and the real profit is not always contained in the item that is paid out immediately. Viniculturists know it well and their approach will triumph. It depends only on importers whether they will miss the opportunity to be part of it at the right moment - as did many of their colleagues before in the case of California, New Zealand and other once anonymous countries.