May 29,2015

Tannat Grape from Uruguay

Tannat is native to the Madiran region of southwestern France, however it has found a new home in Uruguay. Over one third of the wines produced in Uruguay are from the Tannat grape variety.

In the 1870’s Don Pascual Harriague, a French Basque immigrant brought this grape along with him.

Tannat is a dark colored rich full bodied wine. This grape variety is well known for its harsh tannins. Here in Uruguay, the Tannat grape grows well and creates a much softer wine than when grown from its southwestern France home. Also, today’s wine makers want people to enjoy their Tannat wines so they are finding ways of making it more approachable to drink them today.

Let’s try some Uruguayan wines made with Tannat.