Last weekend the World Wine Tourism Day was celebrated.
We celebrate it in the Uruguayan Tuscany: Carmelo.
We had been planning this trip for a long time, so with great joy we enjoyed it from start to finish.
The first winery we visited was Bodega Zubizarreta.
We visited this winery for the first time and we have chosen it for its authenticity.
Although it is focused on tourism, the human warmth and the life stories that the people who carry it forward have, they were worth being known.
It´s belongs to a family of Vazco origin that has already been in our country for 3 generations.
There, we were welcomed by Mariela Zubizarreta and her family. With them we shared stories, wines, a delicious snack with local cheeses and sushi in the vineyard.
Our second stop was at Bodega El Legado.
His name, “El Legado”, responds to the fact that Bernardo Marzuca and his family bought back the family vineyards and transformed this piece of Carmelo into their own dream.
We were received by the family and their staff who were waiting for us with a beautiful long table. We feel like a great family with them.
We toured the beautiful facilities and the vineyard and then had lunch together, accompanied by their wines, including the latest novelty, their white Viognier.
This boutique winery offers to the visitor a unique environment, a well-cared, comfortable building, the warmth of its owners in personal attention and exclusive wines.
All this makes it a must for anyone who walks the Carmelo Wine Route
It is a winery with a charm that makes you fall in love, something that is difficult to convey because you have to experience it!
In the afternoon we headed to Puerto Camacho.
There, two boats were waiting for us to sail for an hour on the Río de la Plata.
To make it even more perfect, on board we enjoyed a snack with Narbona products, which formed the basis for tasting a series of sparkling hybrids, produced by Bodega Narbona based on grape musts and beer. A novelty that was explained in detail by Valeria Chiola, the winery's own winemaker, who joined us on board.
Upon returning from the boat, we had dinner at the Basta Pedro restaurant, facing the river, also accompanied by wines from Bodega Narbona.
There ended our Saturday, which could not be more perfect, even the weather was on our side!
The next day, after a good rest, we went to Bodega y Olivares El Quintón.
Located in Colonia, a few kilometers from the town of Tarariras, it is a fairly recent winery and olive oil plant in our country, with Argentine capitals, with state-of-the-art facilities.
It is the only winery in Uruguay specialized in the production of Malbec and has already received several international awards with them.
There we were received by Martín Chivetti, agronomist in charge of the project, and Facundo, one of our incredible hosts.
For almost 3 hours we toured its vineyards and olive groves, winery and oil mill. It was so interesting that time passed without noticing it!
In the Almazara, its 64 hectares of olives are processed (as well as they also receive olives from other establishments to provide this service). There we taste its three varieties of oils, also olives and local cheeses.
Then we toured the winery, where everything is designed in order to obtain the best of its 7 hectares of vineyard, which is focused almost entirely on the production of Malbec.
Then in the main house we taste their 4 wines along with a delicious snack to have lunch later and continue enjoying their wines. Again all together at a large table, they treated us like royalty and made us feel like family.
Today it was shown that Uruguayan Malbec can be as good or better than Argentine. Is it because it is produced by Argentines but in Uruguay? That perfect combination may be the secret. You will have to check it yourself.
Thank you very much to all of our hosts during this weekend. They really made us feel unique, we could see all the dedication and affection with which they prepared our visits.
And fundamentally we want to thank the friends who accompanied us and made it perfect, with their good energy, joy and generosity.
They are the ones who put the magic in all our encounters.
It was a weekend full of unforgettable moments that we hope to be able to repeat very soon.
Cheers!