Bodega Garzon house spotlight
James Suckling TV. German Bruzzone, Bodega Garzon winemaker, presents the 2019 Single Vineyard Tannat, this wine, from the Atlantic-side Garzon estate in Uruguay.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2019 Bodega Garzon Single Vineyard Tannat Maldonado, Uruguay across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $29.13 and the average is $29.13. Our slash is $29.00.
2019 Bodega Garzon Single Vineyard Tannat Maldonado, Uruguay
Baby-Balasto. Tim Atkin 96. If you have ever wanted a Tannat worth drinking, this is the one, now twenty-nine dollars.
Garzon skipped Balasto in 2019, so this Single Vineyard Tannat carried the house: 100 percent Tannat from ballast soils about 11 miles from the Atlantic. Tim Atkin 96. Descorchados 94. James Suckling 93. Now $29.
Baby-Balasto. The Tannat worth drinking.
Bodega Garzon did not bottle Balasto in 2019. Patricio Tapia at Descorchados scored this Single Vineyard Tannat 94 and said the fruit that would have gone into the flagship landed here: red fruit, spice, floral aromas, 18 months in barrel that do not get in the way, then firm juicy tannin across the palate. Tim Atkin put 96 on it and named it a Wine of the Year. If you have ever wanted to try Tannat, this is the bottle. Twenty-nine dollars.
The house
Alejandro Bulgheroni built Bodega Garzon with Alberto Antonini and German Bruzzone on Uruguay's Atlantic coast. Tannat is the national grape. This is the single-vineyard bottling.
The wine
100% Tannat. Concrete ferment, large untoasted French oak. Ballast soils, ocean air.
The scores
Tim Atkin 96. Descorchados 94. James Suckling 93. Flagship-year Tannat at twenty-nine dollars.
The drinker
Take the leap. Even one or two bottles in the case. Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Lamb or chimichurri steak.
Inky damson and blackberry, then spice, floral, and juicy tannin
Tim Atkin called it inky, intense, and built to last: fruit concentration and freshness rather than oak, juicy damson and blackberry, stony minerality, layered tannins. Descorchados found red fruits, spicy and floral aromas, then fruit and firm juicy tannins that expand freely, a delicious Tannat to drink now or keep a few years. James Suckling found black cherry, blueberry, violet, fresh nutmeg, and ink on a velvety, polished close.
Cooler and wetter than average, a year that favored acidity over sheer power. Balasto was not bottled. This is baby-Balasto: the wine that stood in as the house red. Drink from 2023.
Black cherry, blueberry, violet, nutmeg, ink, wild blackberry.
Full, fine-grained tannin, concrete ferment, large untoasted oak, Atlantic lift.
Licorice, graphite, polished length. Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Concrete, then large untoasted oak, so Tannat stays fruit and stone
Grapes from selected ballast blocks ferment in large concrete tanks, then age 12 to 18 months in 25 to 50 hectoliter untoasted French oak. The point is micro-oxygenation without vanilla toast, so black cherry, ink, and granite stay in front. Eleven miles from the Atlantic, constant maritime breeze. German Bruzzone called 2019 cool and dry enough to ripen seeds and keep Tannat soft.
100 percent Tannat. No Balasto in 2019. This is the single-vineyard bottle that took the fruit.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Lamb and chimichurri steak.
Uruguay's Atlantic Tannat house, then a vintage without Balasto
Garzon exists because Bulgheroni wanted a world-class Tannat estate on ballast soils next to the ocean.
Alberto Antonini designed the viticulture. German Bruzzone runs the cellar. The winery is gravity-fed, LEED-certified, and set in rolling Maldonado hills.
Balasto is the icon, sold through Place de Bordeaux in other years. 2019 skipped that cuvee.
This Single Vineyard Tannat is the open door: Tim Atkin 96, Atlantic Tannat, twenty-nine dollars.
Lamb, char, and a little herb
Tannat wants grilled lamb and a hard-seared steak. Black cherry and ink meet spice crust and chimichurri.
Two plates. One spice-crusted rack of lamb. One Argentine skirt steak with chimichurri. Both can take Tannat tannin and blueberry.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Wide bowls.
Spice-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Warm spice and lamb fat. Garzon Tannat's most natural landing.
Why it works: Firm tannins soften against the lamb. Black cherry and nutmeg echo the crust.
View Recipe for spice-crusted rack of lamb (opens in a new tab)
Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
Charred beef and chimichurri keep Tannat fruit and herbs in the same key.
Why it works: Beef fat rounds fine tannin. Parsley and garlic draw out floral and herbal sides.
View Recipe for grilled skirt steak with chimichurri (opens in a new tab)Put this Garzon Tannat in the cart
Baby-Balasto. Tim Atkin 96. Twenty-nine dollars. Carpe Diem.
Snag this 96-point Tannat. Great wines do not sit. Cheers.
