For several years Uruguay had been a region Boutinot had been considering, encouraged by customer requests and a growing number of recommendations from wine writers. Ultimately, it took less than twelve minutes with Daniel Pisano—his wines, his wit, his irrepressible moustache and twinkling eyes—to convince us.

Uruguay’s highest point, Cerro Catedral, rises to just 514 metres above sea level, offering a sweeping 360-degree view of rolling shrublands and grassy hills. From this landscape comes the Pisano family’s long tradition of winemaking. Their wines have been present in the UK for over 30 years in various forms, and we are delighted now to manage the next chapter of that story.

The Pisano family share an Italian and Basque heritage and this family-run estate traces its roots back to 1914, when Italian immigrant, Don Césare Secundino Pisano, moved to Progreso and planted vineyards there. Today, brothers Eduardo, Gustavo, and Daniel share responsibility for viticulture, winemaking, and marketing respectively. They are a dynamic, animated trio with the combined energy of three hundred people rather than three, working from Progreso—45 minutes inland from Montevideo, and about 20 kilometres from the broadest point of the Río de la Plata estuary, before it meets the cool South Atlantic.

As Daniel explains with a mischievous wink:

“We are on the same latitude as Mendoza, but instead of altitude, we have the cooling influence of the Malvinas current and the South Atlantic winds. Where Mendoza uses altitude to temper the vines, we use proximity to the ocean. I like to think of Progreso as Uruguay’s Côte de Beaune, where Pisano’s chalky, limestone hill is our Corton-Charlemagne. But from our Corton, I can see the sea, see?”

From their dry-farmed vineyards, Pisano’s Tannats show aromatic precision, fine linearity, and silky tannins, while Albariño thrives here with a tangy, breezy, gently saline character that is both generous and refined. Eduardo Pisano was named Viticulturalist of the Year 2025 by Tim Atkin MW, while Daniel received the inaugural Uruguayan Legend award in 2020. More importantly, the Pisano family has won Boutinot over—wholeheartedly.

We begin with four wines: two Albariños and two Tannats. The wines are elegant, and restrained expressions that feel deeply rooted in Uruguay’s identity.