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Tannat: Uruguay's 'unlikely' wine hit
With more seeds than other grapes, blue-black Tannat is high in astringent tannins -- a dominant characteristic that gave it its name and was long considered undesirable.
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Workers carrie grapes during harvest at Bouza winery in Melilla, Uruguay on March 13, 2023. More than 10,000 km from its origins in France, a red grape with a reputation for harshness produced an “unlikely“ hit that thrust Uruguay onto the global wine map. In a land of gauchos and open flame grilling, the varietal found the perfect host in the mild, humid climate of South America's Atlantic coast and its carniverous inhabitants. With more seeds than other grapes, dark red Tannat is high in astringent tannins -- a dominant characteristic that gave it its name and was long considered undesirable.
(AFP /Pablo Porciuncula)
M
ore than 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from its origins in France, a red grape with a reputation for harshness has produced an unlikely hit that thrust the small South American country of Uruguay onto the global wine map.
In a land of gauchos and open-flame grilling, Tannat found a perfect host in Uruguay's mild, humid climate and carnivorous inhabitants.
With more seeds than other grapes, blue-black Tannat is high in astringent tannins -- a dominant characteristic that gave it its name and was long considered undesirable.
But it turned out to be the perfect tipple to cut through a fatty steak -- of which Uruguayans eat more per capita than almost any other nation.
Tannat "marries very well with meat," enologist Eduardo Boido of the Bouza winery in Montevideo told AFP.
"You eat the meat and you take a sip of Tannat to cleanse the palate, you eat again..." he explained among the recently-harvested vines.
Now Uruguay's national grape, Tannat is originally from the southwest of France, where it has grown for centuries.
