Bodega Cerro Chapeu
Originally from Spain, the Carrau family has been making wine for generations, to Uruguay in 1930. Scientists, nature lovers, and pioneers, they saw winemaking promise in the unique soils and microclimate in Rivera, Uruguay, and established one of the only wineries in this very remote region. In 1973, Quico Carrau Pujol, in collaboration with the University of California Davis, began the search for Uruguayan terroir to plant the first virus-free vines. They ultimately settled on the iron-rich, deep sandy soils of Rivera, in Cerro Chapeu, located along the northern border of Uruguay and Brazil. The Cerro Chapeu region is located in one of the purest environments according to the environmental sustainability indexes (ESI) of Columbia and Yale universities. A few years later, they designed one of the first gravity fed wineries in South America. More than 40 years later, Bodega Cerro Chapeu has become a leader in low-intervention viticulture and winemaking, producing outstanding, unique expressions of Tannat, Arinarnoa, and many international varietals.
