Last Saturday we made a very special visit.
For the first time in almost 9 years of visiting wineries in Uruguay, we met the Bodega Sierra Oriental, located in Paraje José Ignacio, in Maldonado.
We waited a long time to make this visit and we were sure that the wait was going to be worth it…
And the truth is that it was totally true.
A little history about the winery:
As a teenager in the 1980’s, Rodrigo Diz, looked from the José Ignacio beaches to the sierras that could be seen inland on the horizon and as in Galicia or Tuscany, he imagined having a field there, combining the sea and mountains, swimming and riding horses.
In 2003 that dream came true when he found what is now the Establecimiento La Oriental in Paraje José Ignacio. There, in 2004, he planted an olive grove of 12,000 trees and in 2005, an additionanal 7 hectares of vineyards was planted containing: Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
In 2011 the first white varieties were planted: Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Pinot Grigio, as well as one of Rodrigo’s favorite reds, the Sangiovese, very unconventional varieties for this región.
In 2015, Rodrigo inaugurated the winery on the same grounds with machinery and tanks brought from Italy.
As of today, his wines have won the important prize in the International Competition "Tannat al Mundo" three times and received scores in 7 out of 90 in international publications.
Upon arrival we were received exclusively by its director, Rodrigo Diz, who received us as if we were part of his family. Together with him we toured the vineyard, the winery, where we tasted their wines directly from the tanks and learned first-hand all the history and passion behind this entrepreneurship.
Then, in the family house, a dream table awaited us where we enjoyed an exquisite lunch prepared especially for us by chef Martín Caricot, accompanied by all the wines from the winery, including his Tannat, winner of the highest prize in the recent contest Tannat al mundo 2022.
It was really a memorable day, in a remote place, surrounded by the beauty of the vineyards, in a house with a Moroccan construction of dreams.
Delicious wines, excellent gastronomy and the best company in the world. We can not ask for more.
What Wine Explorers tirelessly seeks is precisely to explore to live experiences like these, which can only be lived through wine.
We can only be thankfult o Rodrigo for opening the doors of his own house with such generosity and most importantly, to all who accompanied us and made this special day possible.
We could say that it was one of the most incredible days we have lived in almost 9 years.
Until next time!