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12 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Location/geography/topography
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- Eastern seaboard of South America, bordering Atlantic
- Small country (like UK) - 90% are situated near Montevideo on rolling hills in the south. |
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Climate
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- Similar latitude as Chile and Argentina.
- Temperate, maritime climate, similar to Bdx. (And New Zealand) - Only South American country influenced by the Atlantig - High humidity (like NZ) |
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Weather
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- High humidity and rainfall peak close to harvest --> powdery mildew and grey rot. --> Lyre system to prevent this
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Soil
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Fertile, vigorous clay soils, mostly on hills around Montevideo.
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Grape varieties
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Basque settlers arrived in the 1870s and brought varieties:
Tannat. - 70% is red: Tannat, Merlot, CS, Syrah. - Whites from SB, Chardonnay - Rosé from black Muscat Hamburg: Muscat of Alexandria x Trollinger |
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Tannat
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- 'Harriague'
- Originally from Madiran - 36% of all plantings - Tough, deep black berries. - Fortified reds to sweet rosés. - Fruity dry red most exported - Often blended with Merlot to soften. - Plumper and more velvety than in Madiran. |
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Viticulture
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- Sunny but wet climate makes organic viticulture difficult.
- Rain makes powdery mildew and grey rot a problem --> vines trained on lyre system. |
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Vinification
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- Historically the dry reds spent long time in oak --> tannic and unyielding.
- Today improved cap management, micro-oxygenation and judicial use of oak have improved this. |
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Wine styles
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- The most important style for export is the elegant but powerful Bdx-like style of Tannat, and for many of these some Merlot is used to soften the powerful tannins.
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Scale of production
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- Unlike Brazilians, Uruguay are dedicated wine drinkers.
- 4th largest South American producer - 60.000 ha - 850.000 hl |
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History
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1870s: vineyards planted by Basques and Italian settlers.
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Trade
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- High and increasing domestic wine consumption.
- Slowly starting to become more prominent on export markets. - 33% of production exported. - main export market is Brazil |
