Uruguay isn't the first place you think of when discussing fine wine, but it is on the way up! Argentina and Chile get all the headlines in this part of the world, but there are vibrant wine industries in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and of course Uruguay! Their most common grape is a French import, Tannat. Often dark and heavy in France, this is a different beast. Plenty of lifted florals to start - lavender, thyme and plum. Good mix of fruit and savour. Some oak tones mix nicely with the fruit-forward nature of the wine. Earthy, with a touch of leather and then a kick of pepper completes the picture.

As with many of the wineries currently making wives in the Uruguayan wine scene (a scene which is quickly making serious dents on the international wine market), Bodegas Carrau is one with a serious Old World heritage. In fact, the Carrau family - of which Juan Carrau is the latest descendant to seriously impress with his viticultural skills - have been making wines for almost four hundred years, having come from the wonderful wine regions of Catalonia, Spain, where they handed down their techniques, skills, and experience from generation to generation. The family upped sticks and headed across the Atlantic to the new world way back in the 1910s, and were among the first to identify the potential that the uplands of Uruguay had for fine winemaking. Juan Carrau is proudly continuing his ancestors’ craftsmanship, attention to detail, and dedication to excellence in his own produce, and makes wines from an interesting range of grapes in order to capture that unique, Uruguayan character in every bottle. While Juan Carrau is very much his great-great-great-grandfather’s great-great-great-grandson, he brings a youthfulness and innovative eye to his winemaking. Traditions and heritage may all be in check, but his use of 21st century winemaking methods, terroir-driven approach, and minimal chemical intervention definitely make him a winemaker who fits in with modern ideas of what quality viticulture is all about. In his portfolio, you’ll find Old World wines (including those made from the Tannat grape, which is quickly becoming a key varietal in Uruguay wine) reinterpreted in New World ways, and his output is the perfect introduction to this fascinating and emerging international wine scene. Uruguay isn't the first place you think of when discussing fine wine, but it is on the way up! Argentina and Chile get all the headlines in this part of the world, but there are vibrant wine industries in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and of course Uruguay! Their most common grape is a French import, Tannat. Often dark and heavy in France, this is a different beast. Plenty of lifted florals to start - lavender, thyme and plum. Good mix of fruit and savour. Some oak tones mix nicely with the fruit-forward nature of the wine. Earthy, with a touch of leather and then a kick of pepper completes the picture.