Familia Deicas Extreme Vineyards, Cerro del Guazuvirá

Wine Type: Red

Grape(s): 50% Merlot, 40% Tannat, 8% Petit Verdot, 2% Viognier

Country: Uruguay

Region: Lavalleja

Organic: No

Vegan: Yes

ABV: 12.5%

Tasting Notes: "Bedrock" is Santiago Deicas' description of the soils in this stony, granitic site, which is already producing remarkable things after just three vintages. Amphora-fermented and aged, with salty minerality, damson and dark plum flavours and lovely freshness and palate length. 95 Points. Tim Atkin MW

Winemaking: This vineyard is planted in Cerro del Guazuvirá, Lavalleja (where there are barely any vineyards) at 17 miles from the Atlantic coast, on ancient rock with volcanic granite. In order to plant the vines, back in 2013, the rock had to be dynamited. When planting the vines, soil from a nearby site was brought, and individual pots were made with it to aid water retention. This wasn’t enough and so a special gel had to be mixed with the soil. To avoid the damage by the local wild deer “Guazuvirá” the vines were covered with a specially designed mesh. And an electric fence was put in place to stop the jabalies (wild boar) from destroying the mesh.