Montevideo,
Uruguay 
Viti / Vini First technical audit in Uruguay from Saturday February 12 to Sunday February 20, 2022
The delegation of French experts was made up of Stéphane Badet (Professor of Economics at the Lycée Technique Vitivinicole and at Bordeaux Sciences Agro), Jean-Philippe Roby (Teacher-researcher at Bordeaux Sciences Agro and international expert for the Ministry of Agriculture), Guilherme Martins (Research Engineer at the ISVV oenological research unit) and Christine Pecastaingts (Director of Interco).
The aim of this mission was to produce a technical audit report on the Uruguayan wine industry, requested by the National Institute of Viticulture of Uruguay (INAVI), on the context, the situation today, to make an analysis and a diagnosis, to identify the first recommendations, to underline the work to be done and the major stakes for the years to come.
The expert mission followed an intense program of technical visits, wine tastings, institutional meetings and technical conferences.
The program in detail:
February 13: Arrival in Montevideo in the morning.
February 14: Signing of the INTERCO-INAVI cooperation agreement, followed by a press conference, under the patronage of Jean-Paul Seytre, French Ambassador to Uruguay. They visited the Scalabrini nursery, which produces virus-free bare-root grafts. They then visited Fucrea, the Uruguayan federation of Crea groups, in the presence of traditional winemakers.
February 15: A day dedicated to visits to bodegas. The first was to Bodega Traversa, the largest in the country, which exports a lot to Brazil thanks to an agreement with the Aurora cooperative. Produces wine in tetra, bag-in-box and VCP. Our second visit was to Bodega Spinoglio, which organizes wine tourism and events at its winery. CREA producer. The final visit was to Bodega Favretto, a traditional producer of table wine, with strong sales of Dame-jeanne.
February 16: Second day of visits. In the morning, they visited Bodega Garzón, producer of medium- and high-quality wines. The country’s leading exporter by value. They do wine tourism. In the afternoon, they visited Bodega Altos de la Ballena, producer of VCP, producer of Crea and wine tourist.
February 17: Third day of technical visits to academic and research institutions. First, they visited INIA (Institut national de la recherche agricole). They have several projects underway, in collaboration with the Faculty of Agronomy and INAVI. Next up was a visit to the School of Oenology. In the afternoon, they visited a cooperative winegrower, who produces according to the sustainable production program, and a second winegrower without assistance or program: Sorbara or Cettolo.
February 18: Morning visit to Bodega Bouza, high-end wines, wine tourism and exports. Afternoon of technical conferences at INIA on visualized successes or errors and recommendations. Diagnostic progress. The mission ended with a dinner with Ambassador Jean-Paul Seytre at the Résidence de France.
February 19: Flight back to France.
In June 2022, the final report of the Uruguayan wine industry appraisal mission was sent to INAVI.
