Uruguay · Río Platense

Toscanini Family Vineyards

Fourth-generation family winery in Canelones, 30 km north of Montevideo, founded in 1908. Tannat is the signature grape, made across three range levels from the silky Reserva Familiar to the Gran Tannat Premium, which macerates for 22 days and ages 18 months in oak.

The producer

Montes Toscanini farms 90 hectares in Canelones, split across two parcels at Paso Cuello and Canelón Chico. The winery is in its fourth generation, run today by siblings Cecilia, Juan, and Leonardo. Tannat is the grape the estate is built on: all three Tannat range levels begin with hand-harvested fruit held to under six tonnes per hectare, shaped by warm Atlantic days that ripen the grape fully and cool nights that hold its acidity. The Gran Tannat Premium is the flagship, drawn from 22 days of controlled skin maceration and 18 months in oak.

The estate traces its founding to 1908, when Don Juan Toscanini, who had arrived from Geneva with his wife Doña Maria Bianchi in 1894 and spent fourteen years farming, built his first winery and bottled 4,200 litres under the name La Fuente. His grandchildren restarted serious production in 1979 and restructured the vineyards three years later, removing common varieties and replanting with Tannat, Cabernet, and Merlot. A premium pivot in 1995 brought the first international recognition, and the winery is now cited as Uruguay's most awarded over the past two decades.

Known for

Tannat across three range levels, from the fruit-forward Reserva Familiar to the structured Gran Tannat Premium.

Notable facts

The story

4,200 Litres and Year One

When Don Juan Toscanini built his winery in 1908, he bottled 4,200 litres and sold every drop under the name La Fuente. The estate went quiet through much of the twentieth century, and it was his grandchildren who chose to restart it in 1979. They went back to the records: the La Fuente ledgers, the production figures, the bottling notes from a man who had spent fourteen years farming before he trusted himself to make wine. The family had produced wine for one generation, stopped for two, and the third had to decide whether to begin again from scratch or treat 1908 as year one. They treated it as year one. The fourth generation now counts the winery's age from that first vintage, not from the 1979 restart, and the century-mark anniversary fell in a period when the estate was being cited as the most awarded in Uruguay.

4,200 Litres and Year One

When Don Juan Toscanini built his winery in 1908, he bottled 4,200 litres and sold every drop under the name La Fuente. The estate went quiet through much of the twentieth century, and it was his grandchildren who chose to restart it in 1979. They went back to the records: the La Fuente ledgers, the production figures, the bottling notes from a man who had spent fourteen years farming before he trusted himself to make wine. The family had produced wine for one generation, stopped for two, and the third had to decide whether to begin again from scratch or treat 1908 as year one. They treated it as year one. The fourth generation now counts the winery's age from that first vintage, not from the 1979 restart, and the century-mark anniversary fell in a period when the estate was being cited as the most awarded in Uruguay.

From the atlas

Montes Toscanini

At A Glance

The Producer

Montes Toscanini farms 90 hectares in Canelones, the wine-producing heartland of Uruguay, split across two parcels at Paso Cuello and Canelón Chico. The winery is in its fourth generation, run today by siblings Cecilia, Juan, and Leonardo. Tannat is the grape the estate is built on, and the Gran Tannat Premium is the bottle the range climbs toward: 22 days of skin maceration, 18 months in oak, and the full weight of what the Atlantic climate delivers to this corner of South America.

Over a century separates Don Juan Toscanini's first vintage from the bottles on shelves today. The family arrived from Geneva in 1894, farmed for fourteen years, then built a winery. After a long dormant period, his grandchildren restarted production in 1979. The 1982 replanting brought Tannat, Cabernet, and Merlot to ground that had previously carried common varieties, and a premium pivot in 1995 drove the first international recognition. The winery is now cited as Uruguay's most awarded over the past two decades.

Place

Canelones is the largest wine-producing department in Uruguay, running inland from Montevideo in a belt of low hills and rolling farmland. The Atlantic Ocean sits close enough to regulate temperature: days are warm enough to ripen Tannat fully, but nights cool quickly, so the grape builds aromatic concentration and holds its acidity rather than collapsing into pure weight.

Toscanini's two sites, Paso Cuello and Canelón Chico, share this thermal rhythm. The label carries no protected appellation or designated origin, as Uruguay's wine law does not operate through the same classification structures found in France or Spain. Wines are labelled by grape and tier, and Canelones fruit character reaches the glass without a formal hierarchy to name it.

Soil And Site

Detailed soil mapping for the two parcels is not published, so the physical character of the sites is best read through vineyard management choices. The estate limits yields to under six tonnes per hectare and practices hand harvest across both sites. Canopy work includes leaf-thinning to improve light exposure and ventilation. Some parcels carry vines around 35 years old. The combination of yield control, older vine material, and Atlantic night cooling shapes the concentration and freshness that mark the Tannat range.

Story

Don Juan Toscanini and his wife Doña Maria Bianchi left Geneva in 1894. They settled in Canelón Chico, 30 km north of Montevideo, in a region where Italian emigrant farmers had already begun to plant. Don Juan worked the land for fourteen years before he built his winery. His first vintage, in 1908, produced 4,200 litres and went to market under the name La Fuente.

The winery produced through the early decades, then went dormant. It was Don Juan's grandchildren, the third generation, who restarted serious production in 1979, now operating as Montes Toscanini. Three years later, in 1982, the family restructured the vineyards: common varieties came out and Tannat, Cabernet, and Merlot went in. The replanting was a declaration about what the estate wanted to make, and Tannat took its place at the centre.

By 1995 the winery had moved decisively into premium production and collected its first international recognition. The current fourth generation, Cecilia, Juan, and Leonardo, carries the operation forward with the Gran Tannat as its flagship.

Vineyards And Cellar

Hand harvest and a yield ceiling of under six tonnes per hectare apply estate-wide. Leaf-thinning through the growing season opens the canopy, improving fruit development and keeping humidity low. Only grapes grown on the estate's own 90 hectares go into the wines.

In the cellar, the philosophy is to intervene as little as possible. Fermentation temperatures are carefully managed, and the aim is to carry the grape's character through to the bottle rather than correct or supplement it.

The Gran Tannat's production is the most demanding in the range. After harvest, the wine macerates on the skins for more than 22 days. Temperature is controlled throughout; pump overs and délestage keep the cap managed and extraction even. Malolactic fermentation and stabilisation take place in concrete vats. The wine then enters oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The extended maceration is a direct response to Tannat's biology: the grape is one of the thickest-skinned red varieties grown commercially, and its natural tannin load is extreme. The long soak, controlled at temperature and managed by délestage, is how Toscanini draws colour and depth from the grape without losing the fruit.

Wines

The range is anchored by Tannat at three levels, supported by a roster of French red varieties and three whites.

Gran Tannat Premium is the top expression. After 22-plus days of maceration and 18 months in oak, the wine shows inky purple colour, concentrated aromatics of black cherry, plum, blackcurrant, and blackberry, and a palate carrying chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and oak. Tannin is firm and layered; acidity threads through and gives the wine length beyond the initial weight.

Reserve Tannat sits at the range midpoint. Twelve months in a combination of French and American oak shapes the character here. Dark fruit and spice on the nose, plum and dark chocolate on the palate, structured tannin, and a sustained finish.

Reserva Familiar Tannat is the most approachable expression. Ten days of maceration builds concentration, but only half the wine sees oak, and that contact is limited to six months. The shorter maceration and reduced oak exposure produce a silkier texture.

Other reds include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Marselan. Whites are Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier. All grapes were added to the estate during or after the 1982 replanting, when common varieties were removed.

In The Glass

Tannat from Canelones under Atlantic influence has a particular character: deep colour, concentrated dark fruit, and firm tannin, but with an acid backbone that stops the wine from becoming heavy. At Toscanini, the cellar work amplifies this. The Gran Tannat Premium pours an opaque, inky purple. Black cherries and raspberries lift from the glass first, followed by plum, blackcurrant, and blackberry as the wine opens. The palate adds dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and oak alongside dense, layered tannin. Acidity runs through the mid-palate and into the finish, keeping the fruit from going flat. The Reserve Tannat is a step lighter in tannin load but still drives plum and dark chocolate through a structured finish. The Reserva Familiar is the softest of the three: fruit-forward with less oak weight, easier to open young.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Gran Tannat Premium. It carries everything the estate does in concentrated form: the yield-managed Canelones fruit, the 22-day maceration, the concrete vat malolactic, and 18 months in barrel. In the glass, it is inky, aromatic, and built for food: black cherry and plum upfront, dark chocolate and coffee across the palate, firm tannin that holds its shape through the finish, and enough acidity to cut through the weight. This is Tannat made at full commitment, and it shows every choice Toscanini has made since the 1982 replanting in a single glass.

Anecdote

When Don Juan Toscanini built his winery in 1908, he bottled 4,200 litres and sold every drop under the name La Fuente. His grandchildren, watching the estate go quiet through much of the twentieth century, chose to restart it in 1979. They looked back at the records and found the La Fuente ledgers, the production figures, the bottling notes from a man who had spent fourteen years farming before he trusted himself to make wine. The family had produced wine for one generation, stopped for two, and the third had to decide whether to begin again from scratch or treat 1908 as year one. They treated it as year one. The fourth generation now counts the winery's age from that first 4,200-litre vintage, not from the 1979 restart, and the century-mark anniversary landed in a period when the estate was being cited as the most awarded in Uruguay.

Final Word

Montes Toscanini is a Canelones estate that has stayed on the same ground for more than a century and placed Tannat at the centre of everything it does. The Atlantic climate, the yield discipline, and the long maceration in the Gran Tannat are three decisions that work together. The wine is dense, aromatic, and built to age, and the range gives clear steps from approachable to serious.

Sources

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