Montevideo wineries

[HALrunner]

I'm looking for a tour recommendation for either Juanico Winery or Bouza Bodega? Are their any others you would recommend? Thank you!

[Lunenburg]

We went to Juanico with relatives a few years back. it was very enjoyable, they gave us a full tour - they were picking the grapes and processing them at the time. We had a tasting with about six of their wines- Don Pascual brand. They had an excellent English speaking guide for us.  

 

As we were leaving, two tour buses were arriving for a tour with a meal -we could see all the meat cooking on the parilla as we did our tour.   I just made our own arrangements and drove there ourselves. You could do similar and rent a car or arrange a taxi perhaps. Remember though Uruguay now has a 0% alcohol tolerance for drivers. You can have the car impounded and your Embassy notified resulting  in a DUI in your home country.

 

Juanico and Bouza  are the ones used by most cruise ship tours in Montevideo as they are not too far away and can deal with English speakers. There is another one Bodega Garzón about an hour and half outside of Punta del Este if you are stopping there.

 

Numerous companies arrange tours - I am a little puzzled that some do not tell you the name of the winery - I would want to know ahead of time, some are very small and not that interesting.

http://www.bodegasdeluruguay.com.uy/enoturismo/ is a list of all the wineries in Uruguay. Just pick Bodegas on the first page. Anything outside of Montevideo or Canelones would probably be too far from the port in Montevideo and not all do tours.

[HALrunner]

Thanks for all of this helpful advice! 

[rogeralan]

Several years ago we visited Alto de la Bellena winery which was about half way between Montevideo and Punta Este.  It was a young couple starting it up at that time.  The wine was exceptional and they were so charming.  

[Lunenburg]

20 hours ago, rogeralan said:

Several years ago we visited Alto de la Bellena winery which was about half way between Montevideo and Punta Este.  It was a young couple starting it up at that time.  The wine was exceptional and they were so charming.  

 

 I would beg to differ about the location.  it is at least two hours from Montevideo and about 15 minutes from Punta del Este.