Toscanini Wines

In 1894 Juan Toscanini and his wife, María Bianchi, left Genoa for the Río de la Plata and settled at Canelón Chico, 30 kilometres north of Montevideo, where they worked a small plot of land, rented at first and later bought. In 1908, Juan founded a winery of his own, making 4200 litres in its first year and selling it under the name La Fuente.

The company is still called Juan Toscanini e Hijos (‘Juan Toscanini and Sons’) and the vines and winery have passed down through children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren since. For decades, like most of Canelones, the family made everyday table wine, but that all changed in 1982, when it restructured its vineyards around Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and set out to make fine wine. International recognition followed in 1995, and two years later the first export shipment left for the UK.

The vineyards now cover 90 hectares at Canelón Chico and Paso Cuello, in the south of the country, where the Atlantic keeps nights cool through the ripening season. The family makes wine only from its own grapes, all of which are picked by hand, and keeps additions in the cellar to a minimum. 

Tannat is the thread running through everything. The winery’s top red, Adagio, first made in 2000 and released only in exceptional vintages, blends it with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In 2001 a joint venture with the Chilean estate Château Los Boldos produced Casa Vialona, a straight Tannat given 18 months in barrel.

When the winery reached its centenary in 2008, the family picked the finest Tannat of the vintage, called it Antología, and produced precisely 1908 bottles.