The state with the capital Montevideo is located in the southeast of South America on the Atlantic Ocean. It borders Brazil to the north, the Río de la Plata to the south and Argentina to the west. The beginnings of viticulture took place later here than in the other countries in South America. The first vines were not imported from Spain until the middle of the 17th century. However, commercial viticulture did not begin until around 1870, when immigrants from the French Basque country and Italy planted the first vineyards. One of them was the Frenchman Pascual Harriague (1819-1894), who founded the vineyard "La Caballada" near Salto and planted the grape variety Tannat, which he had brought with him, on about 200 hectares. That is why it is also called Harriague after him here. Today, there are over a hundred-year-old Tannat vines in Uruguay.
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