Los Cerros de San Juan

With its first stage completed in 1869, Los Cerros de San Juan is the oldest winery in Uruguay. In around 1854, the Lahusen family, bringing from Germany a long viticultural tradition, acquired four ranches between the San Juan river and the Río de la Plata, where the land was similar to the Bordeaux region. The venture was originally called the Compañía Rural Alemana – ‘the German Rural Company’ – and only took its present name in 1942. In 1872, oak barrels from France began taking their place in the new stone-built cellar, which is still used today. By the end of the century, around 800 people lived on the estate, with their own bakery, dairy and cold store, and even their own currency.

Its cool stone walls up to 90 centimetres thick, the estate’s cellar is dug into a hill over two floors, with temperatures that range between 12 and 18°C through the year. Beneath it is a chamber once used to collect winter rainwater, which workers circulated by hand to cool the fermenting wine; it’s among the earliest forms of temperature control used anywhere, the winery believes.

Argentine investors bought the estate in 2019, and a careful restoration followed under winemaker Daniel Ekkert who, fittingly enough, comes from the province of San Juan. In keeping with the building itself, the wine is matured in amphorae of cocciopesto, a Roman-era mix of crushed brick and lime, and in cement tulips imported from Italy. These containers are a fundamental part of the winery’s process, allowing minimal intervention so the grapes can better express their terroir. Riesling and Gewürztraminer are a nod to the founders’ homeland; a Gewürztraminer was one of the first two wines released under the Lahusen name, in 1994.

Many visitors now arrive by river, crossing from Buenos Aires by ferry in under two hours, and enjoying lunch served in the estate’s old general store.