I'm currently in the cutest seaside town in Uruguay - Colonia del Sacremento - eating dinner on a sidewalk cafe looking at the ocean with a half bottle of wine. It's Tannat, of course. In terms of body it reminds me of Merlot but has a darker black fruit character more like Cabernet Sauvignon. Tannat may actually be the perfect marriage of those 2 varietals if anyone ever needed one - the structure and complexity of Cab Sauv with the lightness and ease of Merlot (read: not so tannic). Bordeaux could have just made Tannat instead of doing all their mixing of Cab Sauv, Merlot, and the others ;) I'm sure they have their reasons. At this point I don't know enough about how Tannat holds up and how the quality varies to judge France. Which brings me to my next point - this San Juan Tannat does not have a vintage anywhere on the bottle. I don't know what this means. The obvious answer is that it is a blend from different years. I don't know if that is a thing here. I am hoping my upcoming winery visits will shed some more light on this subject.
