Tannat’s New Home

A postcard available at Corchos, a small, classy wine bistro in the old quarter of Montevideo depicts a personification of a Tannat grape, Uruguay’s flagship varietal. He is short and … robust… North American of girth and his face sunburned to a deep shade of British tourist. He snarls a challenge over a stubby hand-rolled cigarette and his eyes back it up; try me, they say; see these spurs on my boots, they say; that’s right, they say; I’m no Pinot Noir mo#% *f#$!!@.

And for the longest time he got the arms-length respect he demanded in his native Madiran, a small area in the Gascon region of France. Generally blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc to make Madiran appellation wines (a wine must contain at least 40% Tannat to classify) or made as a single varietal, wines with Tannat are relatively simple and rustic and usually stored for many years before consumption is even considered. (It has been said that a single varietal Tannat could outlive a human being.) Although the years of bottle aging served to temper the Tannat’s bellicose green tannins, it had never been much of a success outside of its native region. Recently, however, some producers have been raising the profile of the region as modern techniques like micro-oxygenation have helped to soften the wine in the cellar. (The positives and negatives of this are another debate entirely.)

In the Southern Hemisphere, however, lazing about at Uruguay’s very wine friendly latitudes (30 – 35 degrees) and cooled by Atlantic sea breezes, Tannat seems to have found a perfect home. Long, warm summers and plenty of water allow the grapes to ripen much more than they usually do in France. The berries develop higher sugar levels and the seeds and skins (principal sources of tannins) lose some of the harsh green bitterness that is characteristic of the European version.

In the vineyards, the winemakers then prune back the quantity of bunches harshly – for some of the top, small production wines they will leave only 2 or 3 bunches per vine. Add a gentle hand in the cellar (although here too some use micro-oxygenation) and intelligent oaking regimes and the end result is an elegant and infinitely more approachable version of this fascinating yet feisty varietal.

It will never be a world beater, and it doesn’t want to be. Its charms are not immediately evident as in many of the top new-world wines which are an assault on the senses, brimming with gorgeous and outspoken aromas and explosive fruity flavours. Tannat is more reticent, often very closed on the nose and although it has buckets of rich, dark fruit flavours, it is still packed with powerful tannins to which many modern wine drinkers have become unaccustomed. This strong tannic backbone, however, makes it a perfect pair for food, particularly richly flavoured dishes like barbecued meat and lamb which would overwhelm the delicate nuances of many other, more prized varietals. (In Uruguay the barbecue or asado is a grand national institution, which goes a long way to explain Tannat’s local popularity.)

The majority of the bodegas (wine farms) who produce fine wine – approximately 70 – are still family owned and embody one of the great pleasures of wine; their focus is on small quantity, high quality wines that reflect their personality, their philosophy and their terroir. The diversity among Tannat production is immense, from young and fruity (well… relatively) to elegant and intense and a vast array of blends in-between, some are still an experiment, some a spectacular success. In a world where in order to better serve commercial interests, wines are created by flying consultants and are slowly homogenizing towards the ideal, competition winning wine, this is a breath of fresh air. Whether in time, with greater international success, Uruguay too will fall into the commercial spin, remains to be seen, but for now it is a special corner in the wine lover’s world.

A couple of Tannat facts:
Tannat was first brought over to Uruguay by Don Pascual Harriague in 1870; he was an early pioneer in Uruguayan wine and invested a lot of time in importing and experimenting with a large number of varietals to find those which best suited the local climate. Later due to his efforts on the part of Uruguayan wine industry, Tannat was renamed Harriage. Only recently was the name changed back to the rightful Tannat.

Let’s talk about the French paradox – the French suffer from a relatively much lower incidence of heart disease, despite consuming much higher amounts of saturated fats. This, although never officially claimed, is generally attributed to their higher consumption of red wine and ever more studies are backing this up. Of particular interest are the anti-oxidents known as polyphenols, which are present in high quantities in the skins and pips of the grapes and help to protect the lining of the blood vessels of the heart. The wine which tops the list of polyphenols – Tannat.

What to eat with your Tannat, the classic as per any Uruguayan is barbecued meat, but here are two special ideas:
Bodega Bouza is one of Uruguay’s best known wine farms, as much due to it having a couple of excellent wines, as to its truly top class restaurant. Their suggested pair for a good Tannat is an Asado Ventana de Ternera – barbecued veal ribs (the cut known as ventana refers to the 5 central ribs) grilled slowly on a medium fire and served with brochettes consisting of a happy jumble of potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pancetta, shallots and mushrooms.

RECIPE: Sorrentinos de Cordero con Crema de Pimientos Rojos
The next recipe is from Corchos wine bistro and boutique in Montevideo with a more creative and challenging pair – Sorrentinos de Cordero con Crema de Pimientos Rojos – lamb sorrentinos in a cream red pepper sauce. (Lamb in any form is another classic pair with Tannat as the wine easily holds up to the strong flavours of the lamb.) Sorrentinos are a very popular kind of stuffed pasta in Uruguay and in Argentina.

Ingredients:
For the curried sorrentino dough:
7 eggs | 300ml cc cold water | 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil | pinch of salt | 2 tablespoons of curry powder | small bundle of spring onion | enough flour to make a firm ball of your dough

For the filling:
1kg of lamb (hindquarter) | 1 kg of sweet potato | 200g camembert | salt | pepper | nutmeg | rosemary | olive oil
For the cream of red pepper:
2 large red peppers | 500 cc of cream

Let’s get to it…

For the dough, mix the eggs with the cold water mixing in the oil, curry powder and finely chopped spring onion in a large bowl. Slowly incorporate flour until you can form a firm, dry ball of dough. Store in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Now the filling; cube the lamb and the sweet potato (peeled) toss into a baking tray, oil the whole lot and spice with salt, pepper, nutmeg (always only a pinch) and rosemary. Roast for 30-40 min at 200 degrees Celsius. Once done, remove, allow it to cool a little and then mix in the camembert until the mixture becomes creamy.

To make the sorrentinos, remove the dough from the fridge and adding flour, stretch it out until your dough is about 2mm thick. Cut out circles of about 5cm in diameter for the base and the cap and if you have a sorrentino mold, place the bottom layer into the mold and fill with a spoonful of your lamb mixture. (The human hand is a perfectly acceptable sorrentino mold substitute.) Slightly dampen the edges of both the base and the cap and join them well. These masterpieces can be frozen at this point and used whenever required. (According to Juan Vázquez, the owner of Corchos, the end result is actually better if cooking from frozen.)

Cooking: boil the sorrentinos in plenty of water for about 7 minutes.
For the cream of red pepper, roast the peppers on high until the skin blisters and chars. Remove the peppers and place them in a plastic bag. (The steam loosens the skin of the pepper) Remove the skins, the head and the pips and blend in a food processor with some olive oil. Heat the cream up in a small pot until it starts to reduce and then add the red pepper paste until the mixture blends well.

Serve up about 8 sorrentinos per person, pour over the cream of red pepper sauce and garnish with rosemary and spring onion. Stand back and admire, crack open a fine Uruguayan Tannat. Enjoy.

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