Like its neighbor Argentina, where Malbec rules the roost, Uruguay owes much of the success of its wine industry to a grape imported from France. Basque settlers arriving in the latter part of the 19^th century brought with them cuttings of Tannat from their homeland in the French Pyrenees. Since that time, Tannat has become Uruguay’s flagship wine. While Uruguay makes only a small fraction of the wine produced in Argentina, its prominence on the global stage got a huge boost in the first decade of this century. That’s when Argentinian billionaire Alejandro Bulgheroni tapped the expertise of the international consulting winemaker Alberto Antonini to plant vineyards and start making wine in the province of Maldonado on Uruguay’s Atlantic coast. Made since 2015 in an impressive state-of-the-art winery, Bodega Garzon’s Tannat-based wines are now among the most reliably delicious South American reds. The Tannat Reserva’s rich plum and blackberry flavors are enlivined by a bright acidity that can be chalked up to the influence of cool Atlantic breezes. It may be from a small country, but this is a wine with a big personality that never fails to impress. 117810