Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 75

FOCUS: URUGUAY
Our blind panels tasted 69 new-release wines from Uruguay for this issue. Our critic,
Joshua Greene, rated 11 as exceptional (90+) and 5 as Best Buys. Find a complete list of
wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

W HI T E
TORRONTES
123866

90 | Pisano

$15

2018 Progreso Río de los Pájaros Reserve
Torrontés (Best Buy) ^ The Pisano family sustains their own massal selection of torrontés
Riojano, which originated in the area around
Chilecito, in Argentina's La Rioja. They produce it in a dry style, catching the clean cool
of the Atlantic in the wine's saline acidity.
Decant this and you'll find a lovely orangeblossom perfume, crisp lines and some light,
leesy tannins that would take on vitello tonnato. § Total Wine & More, Bethesda, MD

$60

2016 Montevideo Monte Vide EU ^ Eduardo
Boido blends this wine from tannat, merlot
and tempranillo grown at two estate vineyards, one close to Montevideo, the other 15
miles inland to the north. He vinifies the varieties separately, aging them in French and
American oak, then blends them to achieve
the refinement and suede-like texture apparent in this wine. It's plump in the middle,
then complex in a lasting scent of bay,
tobacco, red fruit and peat-like wood tones.
This has the stuffing to develop for several
years in bottle. § Elixir Wine Group, Bend, OR
123853
$19

2013 Maldonado Reserva Tannat-Viognier ^
Viognier contributes to this wine's perfume
(there's 15 percent in the blend), making for a
super-floral red with some dried-peach notes.
It takes tannat in a black raspberry direction
while the ripe tannins lead into earthy notes
of black mushrooms and black tea. It's a velvety red for Cantonese beef with black mushrooms. § Classic Wine, Stamford, CT
123868

90 | Pisano

$16

2013 Uruguay Don Adelio Ariano Reserve
Tannat-Syrah (Best Buy) ^ With its deep
syrah density, peppery spice and the umami
savor of cloud-ear mushrooms, this is an
earthy blend for pepper steak. § Jacques Viean,
Wauwatosa, WI

TA N N A T

93 | Viña Edén

123855

90 | Alto de la Ballena

89 | Ariano Hermanos

90 | Bracco Bosca

$11

90 | Familia Deicas

$40

2016 Atlantida Ombú Tannat (Best Buy) ^
A light and crunchy tannat, this grows just
inland from the Atlantic. It's a salty, spicy,
coastal red, with scents of black currants and
cracked black peppercorn-a great match
for grilled sardines, and a super buy. § MYB
Imports, Houston, TX
123878
2016 Canelones Domaine Castelar Vineyard Tannat ^ From a vineyard in Progreso,
northwest of Montevideo, this tannat grows
on clay soils, producing a soft and meaty red
with sweet black-plum flavors. It's effusively
fruity, clean and generous, an accessible tannat for beef tenderloin sprinkled with flaky
sea salt. § Paul Hobbs Selections, Sebastopol, CA

123886

RED BLENDS

91 | Bouza

grate them so there's no perception of excess
mass). Warm, spicy and round, this heads
from cranberry-bright to black as the tannins
bring dark chocolate flavors in the end. Pour
it with roast squab or the dark meat of roast
turkey. § Total Wine & More, Bethesda, MD
123908

rooted in calcareous clay just north of Montevideo, it's lovely juice, generous and zesty,
with tannins that need some time to integrate, or some country pâté to make them
disappear. § Total Wine & More, Bethesda, MD
123905

$16

2017 Progreso Río de los Pájaros Reserve
(Best Buy) ^ An intriguing blend of tannat and
syrah, with five percent viognier giving it a
perfumed lift, this sustains a delicate buzz of
acidity with an assist from the clay-limestone
soils where it grows. It has tannat's red fruit
without massive tannins (or syrah helps inte-

$27

2016 Maldonado Cemento Tannat ^ This is
tannat in pure form, grown directly north of
Punte del Este, the southeastern tip of Uruguay. It's fermented in epoxy-lined cement
vats and then aged in unlined cement, where
the oxygen exchange allows the tannins to
relax, growing fuller without the vessel adding anything but an emphasis on the coolness of the fruit. And that fruit purity is beautiful, preserving the floral notes of the grapes,
singing in a high note of wild raspberry,
and deeper tones of fresh cherries plucked
straight from the tree. Underneath that fruit,
supporting it, powerful tannins read as spice,
directing the wine toward coffee-glazed roast
duck. § The Wine Nation, Miami, FL
123877

91 | Familia Deicas

$40

2016 Canelones Valle de los Manantiales
Vineyard Tannat ^ This grows in Garzón, on
hills facing the Atlantic, where the Deicas
family planted 42 acres in the early 2000s.
There's a superripe character to this wine,
bringing tropical flavors, like passion fruit,
to its gentle Bretty blackness. But there's
also freshness that keeps the structure lifted
and the flavors complex. This is round and
smoky, a match for burnt ends, Kansas City
style. § Paul Hobbs Selections, Sebastopol, CA
123867

91 | Pisano

$18

2017 Progreso Río de los Pájaros Reserve
Tannat (Best Buy) ^ This tannat builds its
cool, spicy flavor out of the Atlantic winds.
From vines planted at the turn of the century,

123800

90 | Garzón

$20

90 | Viña Edén

$36

2017 Uruguay Reserva Tannat ^ This grows
in Uruguay's coastal hills, where Alejandro
Bulgheroni invested in planting more than
1,000 parcels of vines. Working with consulting oenologist Alberto Antonini, the team
fermented this wine in cement vats, then
aged it in stainless steel and oak uprights.
It's tannat in a bright, spicy, accessible style,
with an underlying structure that's slowly
revealed with air. The dark, iron-like tannins
gain power as it opens, lending the wine the
weight for sautéed calf 's liver with onions. §
Pacific Highway Wines, Greensboro, NC
123885
2016 Maldonado Reserva Tannat ^ Onethird of this wine ages in oak barrels, the rest
in cement vats. Tasted side by side with the
winery's Cemento Tannat, this one shows its
oak in scents of coffee and an opulent texture. The tannins have taken on a humuslike darkness, deepening the wild-blueberry
flavors. It's soft and smooth, a wine for roast
venison. § The Wine Nation, Miami, FL n
WINE & SPIRITS

JUNE 2019

75


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Wine & Spirits - June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - June 2019

Contents
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 1
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 2
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 3
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 4
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 6
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 7
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 8
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 9
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 10
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 11
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 12
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 13
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 14
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 15
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 16
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 17
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 18
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 19
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 20
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 21
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 22
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 23
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 24
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 25
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 26
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 27
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 28
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 29
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 30
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 31
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Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 36
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 37
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 38
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Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 40
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 41
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 42
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Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 50
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Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - Cover3
Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - Cover4
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