Bodega Garzón, 2018 Cabernet Franc-Tannat, Maldonado, Eastern Coast, Uruguay
Bodega Garzón is the vision of businessman and billionaire Alejandro Bulgheroni, who established the winery in 2008. With a deep respect for the natural biodiversity of this expansive 1500 ha estate, the 240 ha of vineyards are planted among native flora and fauna, including a 200 hectare nature reserve. And this commitment to biodiversity and sustainability extends into the winery, which first Silver LEED certified winemaking facility outside of North America. Under the guidance of renowned winemaking consultant Alberto Antonini and enologist German Bruzzone, in a short period of time, Bodega Garzón has put Uruguay on the world wine map.
Uruguayan wine industry is vastly different than the two countries we often think about when we think of South American wine, namely Chile and Argentina. Currently in Uruguay, there is about 5991 ha worth of vines planted, and the annual production is 600,000 to 1,000,000L, which is 0.07% of the output of Chile and Argentina. The climate of the viticultural regions in Uruguay is also very different as we have the strong influence from the Atlantic Ocean, which brings a lot more rainfall, humidity and cooler temperatures, giving the country not only a moderate maritime climate, but Uruguay also has more vintage variation than what see in Chile and Argentina.
Many of us know that Tannat is the flagship grape of Uruguay, and for good reason. Being a variety the hails from southwestern France, it is used to a more maritime climate and its thick skins help it to stand up to the high humidity here. The first tannat vines were actually planted here by Basque-native Pascual Harriague in 1871. And today Tannat accounts for just over a quarter of the vineyard area, with about 1610ha planted.
While my experience with Cabernet Franc from Uruguay is limited, I am excited by its potential here. From what we know, Cabernet Franc's birthplace is Basque Country, so the border of France and Spain, on the Atlantic Ocean. And we can see from other examples like Bordeaux and Bolgheri, that Cabernet Franc seems to appreciate these places with a strong marine influence. What's more is that Cabernet Franc is planted alongside Tannat in a number of regions in southwest France, such as Irouléguy and Béarn. So while there are only 237ha of Cabernet Franc in the ground in Uruguay today, I think the future looks bright for Cabernet Franc here.
So there are two main viticultural areas in Uruguay where the majority of plantings are. The main area combines the regions of Canelones and Montevideo, which accounts for around 78% of vineyards, and then the area that makes up the Eastern Coast, which includes Maldonado, Rocha and Lavalleja. Bodega Garzón is located in Maldonado, so that will be the focus of our terroir deep dive today.
While Maldonado's viticultural history dates back to around 1890, the region's modern day wine story is quite recent, with the first commercial plantings being established in the early 2000s. Today, it has around 411 hectares under vine, so a tenth of the size of Canelones. The region on Maldonado starts about 70km east of the capital city of Montevideo, and stretches about 85km from west to east, and it can be divided into five sub-regions. Now generally, as you move further east along the Uruguayan coast, the conditions get a little cooler and a bit drier, which is relative because the region of Maldonado still receives a decent amount of rainfall per year, about 1040mm precipitation annually.
Bodega Garzón is located in the Garzón sub-region, which is the furthest east in Maldonado. We're situated at around 34.6 degrees south latitude, so similar to that of Colchagua in Chile, San Rafael in Argentina, Walker Bay in South Africa and Eden Valley in Australia. We're only 18km, that's 11 miles, inland from the Atlantic Ocean, so the influence from this massive body of water is huge. There are marine fogs in the morning that help to delay warming of the vineyards, and then these strong ocean breezes in the afternoon which keep the vineyards cool and also help to reduce the humidity and disease pressure.
Another point to note is that altitude is not as much as a factor here, as compared to say Argentina. In Garzón we have this very hilly landscape, with elevations generally between 60 to 150m, so we don't see major temperature swings here. Rather the combination of the maritime influence and the elevation gives us a longer, gentler, more moderate growing season.
At Bodega Garzón, they have 20 hectares of Cabernet Franc planted. And when you look at their vineyards via satellite on google maps, it is this incredible labyrinthe of plots, at varying elevations, slopes, and exposures. They have actually parcelled their 240 hectares worth of vines into well over 1000 different plots, all of which are vinified individually. The winery tells me that their parcels of Cabernet Franc vines are generally all on west-facing exposures to maximize sun in the afternoon.
The soils here at Bodega Garzón are quite special. It is essentially weathered granite which is called balasto, and its origins date back 2500 million years , making these some of the oldest soils on the planet. The texture of the soil is a free draining, sandy-loam texture, with depths ranging from 50cm to 3 metres depending on the parcels. And the free draining nature of these soils, as well as their low fertility, is particularly important to the success of high quality viticulture here.
This wine is coming from about 16 hectares worth of Cabernet Franc vines, from select parcels. The vines were planted in 2009 and 2010, so approximately 8 years of age, and they have since planted more Cabernet Franc in 2018. They are working with both clone 327 and clone 214, the Bordeaux and Loire clone respectively. While we don't often talk a lot about Cabernet Franc clones, through my research I've discovered that these two clones dominate plantings around the globe, which is super interesting.
From a winemaking perspective, this wine is 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Tannat, and both grapes are vinified the same. The fruit is hand-picked , destemmed and lightly crushed. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeast in 8000L concrete vats, with some light pump-overs during the active fermentation to minimize extractions, with a total time on skins of about 7 days. Aging takes place in 2500L oak foudres for 16 months.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Bodega Garzón
Region: Maldonado (Eastern Coast)
Sub-Region: Garzón
Assemblage: 80% Cabernet Franc, 20% Tannat
Soil: Weathered granitic sandy-loam, depths ranging from 50cm to 3m
Alcohol: 14.0%
