Bodega Garzón Reserve, Albariño

Bodega Garzón is a family-owned winery in Maldonado, on the Atlantic coast in southern Uruguay. They pioneered viticulture in this area over 10 years ago and have since become the standard-bearer for premium Uruguayan wines. In November 2018, their pioneering status was recognised by Wine Enthusiast with the ‘New World Winery of the Year’ award.

In 2007, owner Alejandro Bulgheroni invited consultant winemaker Alberto Antonini to visit his 700-hectare olive farm between the small town of Garzón and the beach. With stunning views, rolling hills and olive trees, Alberto was taken aback by its beauty, likening it to his native Tuscany. After properly analysing the soil and conditions, it became clear that this site had huge potential to produce premium wines. Originally, they planted Tannat (Uruguay’s flagship variety) and Albariño, as Alberto identified clear similarities between Galicia and Garzón regarding the cooling Atlantic breezes and well-draining granitic soils. Over the past 10 years, these rolling hills have been transformed with olive groves and vineyards and 12 grape varieties are now planted on the estate. Bodega Garzón is a patchwork quilt of 1,150 individual plots, each around 0.2 hectares in size and carefully chosen for a specific variety according to its soil and microclimate.

Alberto has a light hand in the winery and is very careful with the use of oak. As with his other projects worldwide, he has moved away from barriques in favour of concrete fermenters and large, untoasted oak. He does this to produce pure expressions of each grape variety and place, as well as to avoid masking the character of his wines. The winery is specially designed to operate as sustainably as possible and in 2019 made history by becoming the first winery in the world to earn LEED certification for its facilities (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Built on natural terraces, the winery uses cutting-edge technology and operates using a gravity flow system to ensure quality and energy efficiency at every stage of production.

Given the spectacular winery and stunning landscape, alongside an on-site Francis Mallmann restaurant and proximity to Punta del Este (Uruguay’s most popular resort), it is unsurprising that Bodega Garzón was ranked in the top at the IWC-sponsored World’s Best Vineyards Awards in 2021 (for the third time), as voted for by over 500 wine industry experts.

Reserve

Bodega Garzón’s Reserve wines are modern and characterful expressions of single varieties made from carefully selected, hand-harvested grapes. The Albariño Reserve has aromas of white peach, citrus fruit and jasmine, and culminates in a long, refreshing finish. Unoaked, it spends about five months on the lees to obtain its beautiful, textural quality on the palate. The Tannat, Marselan and Cabernet Franc Reserve all spend up to 12 months ageing on the lees in stainless steel tanks and large untoasted casks. The Tannat is intense and juicy with ripe tannins and a lingering freshness. The Marselan has pronounced flavours of red fruits, mint and eucalyptus and the Cabernet Franc is perfumed with a distinctive herbal character and soft tannins. The 2021 vintage was awarded 95 points by Decanter, with critics describing the wine as ‘elegant, aromatic and fresh, with great varietal and regional typicity.