DAY TWO

We had an exceptional day today.  We hired a car and driver and headed out of the city, but not too far. It is amazing how close to Montevideo you can find some great wineries with a range of wines that equal the best the world has to offer.

Our first port of call was Bodegas Carrau, just 15 minutes out of Montevideo.  The Carrau family has been making wines since 1752.  They began in Catuluna, Spain but have been based in Uruguay since 1930.  The above shot is of Alan at the winery before our tour began.  Our tour was conducted by Marguerite, one of five siblings in the Carrau family who operate the company. She made us feel very welcome and the tour was informative and fascinating. We were joined by a few others from various parts of the world and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. And so were the wines. I'm restricted to white wine these days and the Chardonnay was the best I've had in years.  Alan loved the reds of course.  It was great to see first hand how the whole process is conducted, from the vines right through to the bottling and labelling.

At this point of the day we're both upright, no trace of a wobble. I'll exclude photos of us at the end of the day.

To my right is Marguerite and the range of wines of this winery. A marvellous lady. It was a joy to sample her hospitality as well as the wines.

Next stop was Bodega Bouza, only minutes away by car.  We didn't do the tour here, but had lunch. Alan did some more wine tasting of their reds but I didn't push my luck. I did, though enjoy a glass of white with my meal. We both had lamb and as seems to be a feature of meat in this country, it melted in our mouths. How do they do this?? As they had apple strudel on the dessert menu I just had to try it and it didn't disappoint. But I swore to Alan there was no way I'd be eating that night. Our waiter was a local and spoke excellent English so we had a great commentary on the wine and food as we went along.

As an additional treat, the waiter let us into a locked area so we could view the winery owner's collection of classic cars. I counted twenty-six or twenty-eight. I imagine the total value would run into millions of dollars.  I don't think I've ever seen a private collection of this size. All cars were in near perfect condition. There's also a collection of motor cycles and scooters.

The final stop of the day was at H. Stagnari winery.  We arrived pretty late in the day but twenty-year-old Franco let us in and we sampled yet more extraordinary wines. The young man's knowledge of wines for his age was remarkable. He spoke excellent English and was well travelled. I gave him my card as he is threatening to come to Australia.