Tannat & Embers: A Spring Sunday Party on the Lawn at Bodega GarzΓ³n π·π₯
Tannat & Embers: A Spring Sunday Party on the Lawn at Bodega GarzΓ³n π·π₯
While the Northern Hemisphere zips up its cardigans, I did the opposite β I flew into spring. Late October in Uruguay means warm gold afternoons over the rolling granitic hills of Maldonado, barely ten miles from the chic beach village of JosΓ© Ignacio. And there, on the lawn of Bodega GarzΓ³n, the party was already swelling: long white-draped tables under the trees, an asado cracking over the coals, and glasses of the country's signature red β Tannat β catching the light. This is the estate built by Alejandro and Bettina Bulgheroni with the counsel of famed winemaker Alberto Antonini, whose gravity-flow winery opened in 2016 and wears a LEED sustainability badge like a tailored jacket. A party here isn't an event. It's the landscape showing off.
π Scene 1 β The Party in Full Swing
I slipped into a cream linen sundress, grabbed a magnum in one hand and a glass of deep, velvet Tannat in the other, and let the afternoon carry me. Between the tables the grass was warm, the smoke smelled of woodsmoke and miracles, and every guest was mid-laugh β I simply became one more spark in the bonfire of the day.
π· Scene 2 β The Clink Nobody Else Heard
Every party has its secret center, and ours was a wooden asado board, sizzling chimichurri-slathered cuts, and one perfectly timed joke. I crouched low, glass ready β clink β and my friend and I dissolved into laughter while the coals glowed behind us. You, darling, were sitting right where the camera is. That's how close this felt.
π₯ Scene 3 β Golden Hour, Lights On, World Off
And then the party exhaled. String lights flickered on over the lawn, someone lit the firepit, and I folded myself onto a striped blanket with one knee up and a glass of Tannat resting right where I could reach it. The hills went lavender, the glass went amber, and the whole evening felt like it had been decanted just for me.
β¨ Bodega GarzΓ³n Tasting Notes & Travel Tips
- Wine Featured: GarzΓ³n Single Vineyard Tannat 2015 β Decanter World Wine Awards 2017 Best in Show (Best Red Single Varietal, 95 points); poured alongside the Reserva AlbariΓ±o line that took Platinum at the same contest, and the Tannat Reserva 2023 that earned 96 points and Gold at Decanter 2025. The icon blend Balasto is a splurge worth every peso.
- Best Time to Visit: Uruguayan spring (OctβDec) for lawn lunches under warm sun β or FebruaryβMarch for vintage, when the estate's famous Harvest Party fires up with Mallmann-style open-flame cooking at the on-site restaurant.
- Getting There: About 40 minutes by car from Punta del Este's international airport (PDP), or roughly two hours from Montevideo β pair it with a night in JosΓ© Ignacio, ten miles away.
- What to Wear: Breezy linen or a wrap dress for the afternoon sun, espadrilles for the lawn β and a knit layer slung over one shoulder, because Maldonado's evening breeze is flirtatious and does not ask permission.
π Today was Uruguay's love letter to me, written in Tannat and charcoal smoke. Next Sunday, I'm chasing bubbles somewhere colder β meet me there, and don't be late. I hate drinking the first glass aloneβ¦ actually, no I don't. But it's better with you. π