Uruguay makes more wine than it can reasonably drink, in more styles than any single guide can carry. This almanac is our reading of it. 17 regions, ranked the way we'd visit them; the houses our critics keep returning to; and a short list of restaurants where we'd spend the evening.
Uruguay
Uruguay
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The country, in numbers and adjectives.
The terroirs, by hand.
9 regions worth the trip first — chosen by the Femente desk for the houses we’d open with, the variety of styles within each, and the cooking that grew up around them.
Canelones
Canelones sprawls across Uruguay's heartland, where Tannat vines anchor serious reds while Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc stake claims on…
Montevideo
Montevideo's red wines taste of clay and black fruit ripened in Atlantic wind—dense, mineral, rarely showy. Local producers favor…
Maldonado
The Atlantic wind shapes everything here—Maldonado's reds arrive lean and mineral, their tannins sharpened by salt air and cool nights,…
Wine of Uruguay
Tannat vines grip Uruguay's Atlantic-facing slopes with the same tenacity that defines the country's wine culture—restless, unapologetic,…
Carmelo
Carmelo's reds marry the dusty tannins of old-vine Tannat with the softer contours of Merlot and Cabernet, creating wines that sit…
San José
San José's reds split between thick-skinned Tempranillo and leaner Garnacha, each camp fighting for definition in limestone soils that…
Juanico
Juanico's reds find their structure in clay and limestone soils that demand extraction and patience—producers here build wines meant for…
Coastal Region
The Coastal Region bottles the tension between Atlantic winds and ripening heat, yielding reds with mineral grip and whites of unexpected…
Rivera
Tannat defines Rivera—a grape that demands clay and cool nights to shed its tannin armor and reveal black fruit and leather underneath.…
The country’s house grammar.
The 8 styles Uruguay makes most of, ranked by bottle count on Femente. The bar beneath each cell shows that style’s share of uruguay’s production.
661
Uruguay Tannat — the country’s most numerous bottle.
262
3
3
3
3
3
2
The houses that keep showing up.
9 Uruguay estates the prestige critics have agreed on — ordered by the count of 95+ scores across Vinous, Decanter, Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.
Where to spend the evening.
12 rooms across Uruguay our editors keep coming back to — chosen for the cooking and the wine list, in that order.
La Vieja
Grill · European · Latin American — Montevideo
82
Ignacio Medina
Street Food · Traditional — Montevideo
45
Saigón Noodle Bar
Noodles · Grill · Asian Fusion — Montevideo
40
Parador La Huella
Street Food · Latin American — Santa Mónica
40
Virazón
Seafood · Fish · Latin American — Punta del Este
40
Lo De Lalo 🍽 Comidas Caseras🇺🇾®️
Traditional · Latin American — Montevideo
40
Three Cats Restaurant
Grill · Bakery · Comfort — Ciudad de la Costa
40
VERNE
Latin American · Modern — Montevideo
40
Pizzeria y Parrilla Urbana
Grill · Pizza · European — Montevideo
40
El Primero
Latin American · Creative — Montevideo
40
La Vuelta
Grill · Latin American — Manantiales
40
Posada en José Ignacio, PDE 🇺🇾
Latin American — Arenas De José Ignacio
40
Add Uruguay to your cellar journal — or pick a region and start walking.
A short note in your inbox when we add a new region, find a winery worth crossing town for, or open a tasting we’d send you to. No noise. Just the ones we’d book ourselves.