Diego Spinoglio
Uruguay
Diego's Wines
- Uruguay
- 2 wines
- 2 styles
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Our first ever Uruguayan winemaker!
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A former architect and great grandson of an Italian winemaker who immigrated to Uruguay in the late 1800s, Diego’s family were part of a huge wave of European grape growers who moved to Uruguay at the end of the 19th century. Many of whom brought with them their favourite grapevines, stashed safely in their luggage to be planted in the new world.
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Lots of the wineries set up by those families back then are still going strong. Led by new generations like Diego. He grew up among the grapevines and - after a 4 year break to study architecture - came home to dedicate his life to the family craft. And he’s now been making wine for almost 30 years.
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Uruguay is a wine region like almost no other in South America. Unlike Argentina and Chile, with their arid climates and mountainous vineyards, it’s a tiny country nuzzled up against the fierce Atlantic Ocean. The cooling coastal influences and frequent rains are perfect for producing smooth, plush styles of Uruguay’s signature grape variety - Tannat - which is the basis for many of Diego’s wines.
Vineyard Location
Diego Spinoglio's Story
Diego's Story
My great-grandfather Luigi Spinoglio arrived from Casale Monferrato, Piedmont – Italy to Uruguay in the late 1800s with the profession of winegrower and that was the beginning of my family's history in Uruguay. That is, I am the fourth generation of the family in Uruguay producing grapes and wines. My grandfather Juan continued the trade and then my father, Ángel, settled in the current establishment located in the south of Uruguay in the region called Cuchilla Pereyra (Montevideo). I had the challenge of turning the winery towards high-quality production.
I was born and raised among the vineyards... the winery was the playground of my house. I worked from a very young age in the winery helping my father, but I decided to study architecture, another passion of my family. I studied architecture for 4 years but I always continued working in the winery, in the production and making of wines, which was what I liked. One day I felt that I wanted to dedicate my life to the creation of wines, so I chose to leave architecture.
From a very young age I really enjoyed everything that surrounded making wine. But I became passionate the moment I discovered that winemaking was full of challenges, where there was a universe to explore and where I could create wines that identified me.
I remember that when I was 10 years old I was already helping my father. For a child, the grape harvest is a magical stage that is greatly enjoyed. You absorb the job and most importantly: the passion. At the age of 20 I started designing vintages, so I have been a winemaker for almost 30 years.
My day, my life, is my family and the winery.
I start the day very early, planning the tasks of both the vineyard and the winery. Depending on the time of year, I continue with vineyard control and then I go to the winery, laboratory etc. Continuous dialogue with each area is essential to achieve the objectives I set for myself.
During the harvest my day changes a lot. It becomes harder, more intense, but also more exciting. Each vintage is unique and a new challenge.
With Alejandra my wife, we are a strong team, which makes everything we propose possible. She is a fundamental part of the Winery project. I also have a great work team supporting me.
I like to discover vineyards in different places in Uruguay that achieve a high level of quality and expression of the terroir, and explore their potential. In that sense I have been producing wines for other grape producers and without a doubt the first harvest was a great challenge in which I not only had responsibility for my wines but also for the wines of other producers, for which I had to design and plan their vintage.
My winemaking philosophy is to express a place in a bottle. I like to taste wines from all over the world and observe how a strain expresses the characteristics of the place where it is produced. That has always been very interesting to me and is one of the driving forces in my search as a winemaker.
As a family, we try to transfer a little piece of us and our generous land in each bottle we make.
Since I learned about Naked Wines' proposal, I thought it fit perfectly with the way I want my wines to be known. Being able to maintain contact with the consumers of the wines we create is invaluable because I believe it helps us improve in many ways.
I'm very excited to get feedback from ‘Los Angeles’ about our wines.
Outside of winemaking, I really like sports, soccer, basketball, tennis... Architecture, gastronomy, music and travel.
Diego's Activity
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Quite dry to the palatte and not full bodied but has something different to many South America wines
Lovely wine. £16 offer price is fair. Not sure I’d pay the £24 “market price” though.
Arrived 3 days ago but didn't get round to posting here. My wine rack is pretty full but I wanted to take advantage of the sale, so I decided to splash out on 6 more expensive bottles, that could get a small case over the £100 free delivery threshold. All but one of these I'll be trying for the first time:
Terrafusa Civetta 2019
Demoiselles de Puyblanquet St Emilion Grand Cru 2020
Camille Cayran Chateauneuf du Pape Organic 2021
Olivier Cazenave Pomerol 2021
Simpsons of Servian Sparkling Syrah 2022
Diego Spinoglio Tannat 2021
Denis Crespo's CDP is the only one I've tried a previous vintage of, which was spectacular. Bordeaux wines are hit and miss with me but this seemed an opportunity to try a couple at a more reasonable price. I've only had a couple of Uruguayan wines before, and was impressed by both, so looking forward to trying my first from Naked. The Terrsafusa Civetta sounds so unusual I just had to try it and I've only tried sparkling red once and loved it, so the Simpsons one should be a hit.
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(latest reply 2 months ago)
I didn't get what I expected from this which was disappointing for the price. There was a hint at a lovely flavour but it didn't reach any real depth for me.
This is going to be exciting (for me at least), my first Uruguayan wine, the Diego Spinoglio Tierra Alta Reserva 2021. Reviews suggest that it benefits from some breathing time, so I decanted it a couple of hours ago. I'll be going in soon.
Have a good evening, everyone.
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(latest reply 3 months ago)
Not a pleasant nose, slightly corky. Lacks fruit , harsh.
Classy, subtle and great with steak
Strong tasting, but delicious with the rich beef casserole we had it with
Having already tried Diego's Tierra Alta Reserva, a Merlot Tannat blend which was an instant hit, I was very keen to taste its big brother.
First thing to note is I regard both wines as being reasonably priced. My rating for this one purely reflects that I believe it's very young. I had the bottle open for several days and tasted it regularly with various dishes. However, the tannins wouldn't soften enough for my palate. As such, I didn't make many notes, though it certainly has the makings of being a great wine.
So yes I'd buy it again, but purely to lay down.
In the meantime I have plenty of the Tierra Alta to keep me very happy!
