Uruguayan Wine Guide
Uruguayan Wine Guide

GIMENEZ MENDEZ

Don Luis Alberto Giménez, with his vast experience in grape growing and wine making, created as his personal way of continuing the tradition of excellence initiated in Uruguay in 1874 by the founder of the first Uruguayan cave. To meet the main principle of our business, whose motto is continuous improvement in quality there started in the early 1980`s a replanting program where virus free vines were imported from France. Additionally, considerable investment was made in state of the art machinery for the production of wines of fine quality. This constant process of modernization, with the Objective of excellence as the prime purpose, lies at the heart of our philosophy.

from left to right: Gaston Viale, Mauro Mendéz,
Marta Mendéz, Sebastian Gonzatto

We own 120 hectares of vineyards of French origin located in Las Brujas, on the rivershores of the River Plate, which have been set in an area of mild slopes on virgin, slightly sandy soil. Thanks to the special care of our staff, our grapes reach an optimum Ievel of ripeness, which provide our products with harmony, richness, colour and bouqué

Wine Making Techniques and Procedures

The first stage of our work involves the most thorough cleaning and the most dedicated care of our grapes, which is a source of great pride and, at the same time, imposes a challenge on us.
After a year of intense dedication, the moment has come to grow our own grapes and select the best clusters.
Once the harvest has been completed, in a few hours grapes are carried and exposed to temperatures under 16 grades C, then placed in 10kg cases covered with plastic, so as to prevent road dust from reaching them.
On arrival, grapes are weighed and then placed on a conveyor belt whose function is to select the best grapes. Once this selection has been made, the crushing process separates the fruit from its non-usable portion (stalk). Grapes are then sent to the stainless steel fermentation containers, which do not exceed 200hl, provided with two belts located at both ends, by which water at between 2 and 4 ºC circulates. In this way, we control the fermentation -alcoholic- process.