Rosé From Uruguay

A recent visit to Las Vegas found the wife and I taking her mother to lunch on the strip, at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab in Caesars Palace.  There, I chanced upon a wine from Uruguay.

Uruguay is located about halfway down South America's South Atlantic coastline, between Brazil and Argentina.  

Bodega Garzon is in the seaside town of Maldonado.  It was named by Wine Enthusiast as the New World Winery of the Year a few years ago.  Their website shows pictures of a winery so modern that it could rival the elegance of any in the world.  I had the rosé.

I do not know if this was the Garzon Riserva Rosé or the Pinot Rosé de Corte.  Whichever, it was all Pinot Noir, aged in stainless steel for three to six months.

The wine showed a nice salmon color in the glass and a nose of earthy strawberry and cherry.  The acidity was nice, if not overwhelming, and the wine was quite dry.  I paired it with Joe's Chilean sea bass and it was delicious.

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Loire Rosé On Wonderful L.A. Wine List

The wine list at Los Angeles restaurant Market Provisions is a good one. Not too fancy, not at all pedestrian and always loaded with choices that show the care with which they are made. I love the whites and rosés there, all of them as food-friendly as you could want, with savory, shimmering acidity.

The 2015 Rosé Chinon by Jean-Maurice Raffault is one of those wines, perfect for seafood, cheese or salad.  The Loire Valley Cabernet Franc grapes are grown in gravelly soil along the Vienne River, two-thirds pressed and one-third saignée for the pink wine. The Raffault family is into its 14th generation of making wine in Chinon.  Their rose cost $12 for a glass at the restaurant.

It carries a light pink color and a fruity, strawberry nose.  The cherry palate is not only tasty, but shows good acidity as well before a little melon on the finish.

It was great with the Moroccan olives, but my wife liked her Pinot Blanc so much with that app she didn't even sip the rosé.  She also really enjoyed her Uruguayan Albariño. That choice displayed a savory quality and an acidity I have never found with that grape. The rosé was just fine with my smoked scallops, too.

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Uruguayan Wine: Sauvignon Blanc

Uruguay is notched between Argentina and Brazil, with the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires to the southwest, right across the wide mouth of Rio de La Plata. Uruguay’s latitude puts them right in line with other wine growing areas as portions of Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Wine grapes are grown over most of the nation, with Tannat serving as Uruguay’s calling card. The Tannat grape hails from South West France, the Madiran region specifically, where it produces a wild and tannic wine. The juice there is so harsh that the French are said to have invented micro-oxygenation to try and tame it. The Tannat grapes of Uruguay, while still notably tannic, are much milder and user-friendly. They also grow Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, and white grapes like Chardonnay, Semillon and Riesling.

Bodega Garzón is in the Maldonado area, in Punta del Este on Uruguay’s southernmost tip, just 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The vineyards are on thin and rocky soil which drains well and is rich in minerals.Their sustainable, hilltop winery makes nearly half its energy needs through wind and sun..

The Garzón Sauvignon Blanc 2015 carries a lively acidity at only 12.5% abv, perfect for summer sipping. The pale straw-colored wine offers a zippy and citrus-laden nose, with tons of wet-rock minerality. There is a grassy element, but not a pungent one like that found in New Zealand. It’s more of a South African-style minerality that comes across. The palate is as fresh as can be, with a fruity tartness and a suggestion of sweetness. It's a great match with a seafood salad. Crab or Shrimp Louie hits it just right, as do peel and eat. 

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Uruguayan Wine: Garzon Albariño

I have had the pleasure of tasting only  a few wines from Uruguay, but they have been memorable. The South American country is notched between Argentina and Brazil, with the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires to the southwest, right across the wide mouth of Rio de La Plata. Uruguay’s latitude puts them right in line with other wine growing areas like portions of Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Wine grapes are grown over most of the nation, with Tannat serving as Uruguay’s calling card. The Tannat grape hails from South West France, the Madiran region specifically, where it produces a wild and tannic wine. The juice there is so harsh that the French are said to have invented micro-oxygenation to try and tame it. The Tannat grapes of Uruguay, while still notably tannic, are much milder and user-friendly. They also grow Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, and white grapes like Chardonnay, Semillon and Riesling.

Bodega Garzon is in the Maldonado area, in Punta del Este on Uruguay’s southernmost tip, just 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The vineyards are on thin and rocky soil which drains well and is rich in minerals.Their sustainable, hilltop winery makes nearly half its energy needs through wind and sun..

The Garzón Albariño 2015 is a 100% varietal wine that hits a ripe 14.5% abv on the alcohol scale. It was aged for six months in stainless steel, in contact with the spent yeast cells to give a full mouthfeel.  Winemaker German Bruzzone works alongside enologist Alberto Antonini and viticulturist Eduardo Felix to fashion this invigorating white wine.

The wine offers a light, golden hue and the aromas we want with the Albarino grape. The honeysuckle is right up front, followed closely by pineapple and tangerine. An earthy note shows on the palate, a minerality that goes far beyond citrus zest.  There’s a bright acidity that will support a Cobb salad or chicken breast just as well as it does a handful of walnuts


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