Bodega Garzón
Uruguay’s most emblematic winery
Located in a fantastic setting 160 meters above sea level in the Garzón hills, Bodega Garzón is a family estate in the idyllic country of Uruguay, pioneered by Alejandro P. Bulgheroni. In a latitude similar to the best wine regions of the world (Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand), between parallels 30° and 35° S, it is just 18 km. from the Atlantic Ocean, benefiting from the influence of its clean, fresh breeze.
Unique to the region, Bodega Garzón is leading the change in winemaking innovation, varietal experimentation, and sustainability.
With the advice of international enologist Alberto Antonini, the hills became a complex network of vineyards that produce wines with a strong identity, expressing the inimitable character and features of the Garzón terroir.
Currently there are 12 varieties planted (including Tannat, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Marselan, Albariño, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio) on a total 220 hectares, distributed in 1150 plots, with substantial differences in the slope of each terrain, and in microclimate, orientation, humidity levels, sun exposure and soil characteristics. The vineyard is located in the lower levels of the terrain, protected from the wind.
The winery sits on an elevation, set out as a natural balcony that enjoys a privileged view of mountain ranges and vineyard terraces. Its open cooking restaurant is supervised by renowned Chef Francis Mallmann. It will be the first sustainable winery with a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification to be built outside North America, following the stringent requirements of the United States Green Building Council and aiming to obtain a certification for all its facilities -winemaking, vineyards, and hospitality-, which is unprecedented in the world.
The winery has a total capacity of 2.2 million liters, distributed in three well-differentiated fermentation sectors plus a vintage sector, with stainless steel tanks, epoxy-free cement vats and truncated cone-shaped oak barrels that allow the utmost expression of terroir in the wines.
Handling of the wine is gravitational (with no pumping involved), which greatly benefits the quality. The areas that require less natural lighting and more thermal stability are partially underground so as to make use of terrain inertia and reduce the energy consumption associated with air conditioning.
A constant search for maximum quality meant that the entire venture had to be aligned with these premises, respecting the environment and making the intervention a tool for integration.
Their wines – which in honor of their origin, carry the name of the village – have received over 75 international awards in only four years, including a Gold Medal for Garzón Tannat 2014 and a Silver Medal for Garzón Albariño 2015 at Decanter World Wine Awards 2016.
Bodega Garzón is proud to be served in selected British Airways First Class flights in 2016.
UK stockists include: Selfridges, Cambridge Wine Ltd., Bacchanalia, Corks and Cases, John Villar Wines.
Bodega Garzón is leading the change in winemaking innovation, varietal experimentation, and sustainability
How diverse are the terroirs of Uruguay? ‘Radical,’ says Paul Hobbs, consultant winemaker for Familia Deicas, which launched Uruguay’s first single-vineyard collection of Tannats. ‘They are anything from heavy clay soils to fractured rock. The sites are extremely diverse, climatically as well as geologically. The wines reflect that. That is one of the exciting things. You go from one to the next and you may as well be in different worlds.’
The different worlds of soil originated in a truly old world – the ancient supercontinent of Pangea. ‘We have very old soils, from the mother rock shared with South Africa,’ says Alfredo Silva, Uruguay’s leading soil expert. ‘We have 99 classified soil groups in Uruguay – a much more varied geology than in neighbouring countries. Uruguay calls your attention because it is very small, but the geological variation is very large.’
This patchwork is now being explored as the potential for new vineyard sites and quality wines is uncovered with the help of new investment pouring into the wine industry.
In the far west, just a stone’s throw from Buenos Aires is Carmelo in Colonia, where Narbona wine estate is the latest foreign investment making characterful wines on the calcareous river bed. Nearby in the hills of Mahoma, schist soils are home to exciting wines being made by Juanicó and Finca Piedra. But it is further up the coastline in the
region of Maldonado where the biggest investment is happening.
Uruguayan pioneers such as Alto de la Ballena started making wine there in 1998 and paved the way for new investors from Brazil and Japan. The biggest investment of all though is Argentinian billionaire Alejandro Bulgheroni’s $100 million (£770,000) wine estate, Garzón. Spotting the potential, he snapped up 8,000 hectares – 217ha of which are already planted with vineyards.
‘Uruguay has an Atlantic Ocean climate, the equivalent of Galicia or Bordeaux, which means quite a lot of rain, so you need a soil with very good drainage,’ says Alberto Antonini, Garzón’s consultant winemaker. ‘Garzón’s vineyards are planted on granite, which is very, very good. I like the energy these granitic soils give to the wine; it is interesting.’
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Interesting soils are one reason why Uruguay has seen an influx of investment, but it is also down to its relative stability. ‘Uruguay’s economy has performed much better and experienced less volatility than that of neighbouring countries,’ comments Dirk Reinicke, former Latin American director of Deutsche Bank, who invested in El Capricho winery in Durazno. ‘We have a new class of entrepreneurs in Uruguay.’
So why does so little Uruguayan wine make it to the UK? In this case, size does matter. ‘Uruguay can’t compete at the entry level, as the entire country’s production is smaller than Concha y Toro’s!’ says Nicolas Bonino, export manager for Juanicó. ‘At entry level, our neighbours are very big and very competitive.’
Uruguay will always remain a ‘limited edition’ of South America, but it is that same unique combination of Uruguay’s people and place that make the wines so different.
With two excellent vintages (2015 and 2016) being bottled and setting sail across the Atlantic, Uruguayan wine is worth hunting down more than ever.
‘You go from one site to the next and you may as well be in different worlds’ Paul Hobbs, Familia Deicas