Artesana Tannat Reserva 2018

Artesana has hit a home run with its recently released 2018 Tannat Reserva, earning 92 points from Wine Enthusiast. The 2018 Artesana Tannat Reserva offers an impenetrable robe of the deepest ruby, and in the hands of Artesana’s two highly skilled women, Analía Lazaneo and Valentina Gatti, this 100% Tannat Reserva weds a cornucopia of deep down flavors to tremendous power. With a bit of aeration, the 2018 Artesana reveals an impressive array of savory scents and flavors in the form of wild cherry, plum and bergamot infused with hints of sandalwood and exotic spices. Underlying the fruit and spice lies a monolithic core of ripe tannins that provide backbone, energy and sheer power, as well as the promise of fine drinking for a decade or more. For optimal enjoyment, we suggest affording the 2018 Artesana Tannat Reserva at least 30 minutes of aeration before consuming at cool room temperature (58-62° F). Enjoy!

Uruguay, like neighboring Argentina and Chile, thrives on pairing its rich red wines with some of the planet’s finest beef. With that in mind, there is no wine more suited to pairing with beef than Artesana’s 2018 Tannat Reserva, as the wine’s full, ripe tannins cut through the fat and complement the flavors in beef with aplomb. A juicy Ribeye or New York Strip topped with Portobello mushrooms provides an ideal choice. Short ribs and sliders offer wonderful accompaniments, too. Shepherd’s Pie and Brunswick Stew offer other tasty pairings. Roast lamb rubbed with garlic and herbs pairs beautifully with this wine as well. Grilled Italian sausages, cassoulets, and spicy vegetarian specialties, including a vegetarian paella, provide more outstanding accompaniments. Aged Gouda, Cantal, Pont l’Eveque and other strong cheeses also make ideal companions to a glass of the full-throttle 2018 Artesana Tannat Reserva – Artesana’s brightest star. Buen Provecho!

Artesana is one of South America’s emerging stars, as is Uruguay, a South American oasis of peace and stability that has been making good wine for centuries, most of which heretofore has been consumed by the small but prosperous local population. Yet, in recent years the rich and full-bodied wines of Uruguay have begun to flow north and find favor in “El Norte.” In the last five years, the trickle has become a steady flow, as new and longtime producers in Uruguay continue to raise the quality bar and embark upon the search for additional markets for their country’s distinctive wines. Yet, unlike Uruguay’s South American neighbors Argentina and Chile, Uruguay is a country of small-scale, family-owned wineries with a European winemaking tradition. And as an added note, Uruguay is considered to have one of the purest vineyard environments in the world, ranking 3rd after Norway and Finland in the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) in 2005.

Artesana has been lauded as one of Uruguay’s most exciting small estate wineries. It is located in Uruguay’s acclaimed Canelones winegrowing region, where the temperate coastal Atlantic climate produces growing conditions that are often compared to that of Bordeaux. Artesana is owned by an engaging American woman, Leslie Fellows, and her uncle. Award-winning Uruguayan winemakers, Analía Lazaneo and Valentina Gatti, handcraft Artesana’s iconic, award winning wines that express the unique terroir of the estate vineyard. In recognition of their great accomplishment, Artesana was previously named Uruguay Winery of the Year by the New York International Wine Competition. Artesana’s wines are made in small lots with minimal intervention, allowing the character of the fruit to be expressed. As the estate’s name implies, Artesana is truly an artisanal affair as all of Artesana’s handcrafted wines are made with 100% estate-grown grapes that showcase Uruguay’s distinctive terroir and preeminence with Bordeaux varietals as well as Uruguay’s signature grape variety – Tannat.

In addition to growing glorious Tannat from the estate’s 20-acre vineyard, Artesana releases several exceptional Tannat and Bordeaux blends, as well as a Tannat Rosé. Furthermore, Artesana’s vineyard is completely hand-farmed using sustainable Integrated Pest Management (IPM), low-input, and dry farming to maintain the long-term health of the land. Vines are meticulously tended to produce low yield, high quality fruit and are field-selected and hand harvested. Moreover, all of the estate’s red wines are brought up in a combination of French and American oak barrels and are bottled unfiltered and un-fined.

Tannat hails originally from southwestern France where it has long figured in the wines of Madiran and the legendary “Black Wine” of France known as Cahors. The word tannin derives its name from the Tannat grape, which should tell us something about Tannat: it produces deeply colored, full-bodied, age-worthy wines of considerable backbone. Alone or when blended with Merlot or other vinifera varietals from wineries such as Artesana, Tannat delivers a lot of bang for the buck. In centuries past Tannat traveled to Uruguay where the deeply colored varietal produces full-bodied wines with dark fruit flavors and exotic spicy tones. As it does throughout Uruguay, Tannat rests at the heart of Artesana’s winemaking program along with the conviction that great wine starts in the vineyard.