Giminez Mendez

Husband and wife team Luis Alberto Giménez and Marta Méndez already had a long track record in the wine industry before they decided to go into business for themselves in 1991. They bought what was left of Bodega Vidiella, in the town of Canelones, founded in 1874 by Francisco Vidiella, who with Pascual Harriague laid the foundations of Uruguayan wine, but which by then was little more than four walls. The result was Gimenez Mendez, a winery focused from its inception on Uruguay’s beloved grape, Tannat. Today, the winery is one of the nation’s most successful exporters, whose wines are prized internationally for their excellent gastronomic properties.

Tragically, Luis died just five years after the winery was founded, leaving Marta to run it alone as a mother and sole provider to her children. Humble and honest, Marta has always believed that the challenges you confront are the lessons you most need to learn. In 1997, a trade mission to Europe convinced her to reinvest in the cellar and replant the vineyards in pursuit of quality.

Marta has built Gimenez Mendez up from those four walls, founding the association of Uruguay’s exporting wineries along the way. She is best known for her Tannat, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc, though the wine closest to her heart is ‘Luis A. Giménez’, named in honour of her late husband.

Her son, Mauro Giménez Méndez, joined in 2008 and now runs the winemaking with Gastón Vitale, whose own Finca Las Violetas also appears in this issue. The vineyards, at Las Brujas, Los Cerrillos and in rural Montevideo, produce 24 varieties including Tannat, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño and Arinarnoa, a French crossing of Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon that the family says it was first to bottle on its own. Malbec, still a rarity in Uruguay, was planted in 2006. An integrated system is used in the vineyards, out of care for the estate’s landscape and ecosystem.