On Saturday, March 29th, the long-awaited festival for all Brazilians took place for the first time in Porto Alegre. Tents and grills were set up at Porto Alegre's legendary Cais Embarcadero to welcome more than 400 people, along with 11 wineries and their importers.

Marcelo Bolinha, a renowned grill master from Rio Grande do Sul, was in charge of the grills and the more than 200 kg of lamb and Uruguayan beef cuts donated by INAC. The dishes offered ranged from shoulder, leg, ribs, and rack of lamb to beef, all accompanied by grilled vegetables and Brazilian farofa.

Our traditional dulce de leche pancake with burnt sugar was also included.
The festival began at 12:00, and upon entering, visitors received a glass of wine and a wine stopper, which was included in the price of admission, as well as a wine menu with more than 45 labels available for tasting.

The 11 Uruguayan wineries were on display in the main tent, where everyone could freely sample their wines until 5:00 PM.

The event was a resounding success, with tickets sold out three weeks before the event. Visitors sampled lamb and Uruguayan wine; those wishing to purchase could do so directly from each winery on-site.

The 11 participating Uruguayan wineries were: Ariano, Bouza, Bracco Bosca, Cerro Chapeu, Cerro del Toro, Compañía Uruguaya de Vinos de Mar, Garzón, Montes Toscanini, Spinoglio, Pizzorno, and Vinicola Aurora.

On Saturday, April 5th, the festival was held again, this time in São Paulo, marking its fourth edition. Seventeen wineries presented more than 68 labels to an audience of more than 600 people.
Participating wineries included Antigua Bodega, Ariano, Bouza, Bracco Bosca, Castillo Viejo, Cerro Chapeu, Cerro del Toro, Compañía Uruguaya de Vinos de Mar, El Capricho, Garzón, Marichal, Montes Toscanini, Spinoglio, Pizzorno, Vermut Flores, Vinicola Aurora, and Viña Edén.

Once again, the grills were hosted by Itamar Ramalho, a meat specialist and passionate griller and owner of Ramalho Experience, a renowned churrasqueira in Campinas, who presented innovative dishes based on 350 kg of Uruguayan lamb.

The idea of the festival is to bring part of Uruguayan culture and gastronomic traditions closer to our Brazilian neighbors and major tourists in our country. Tannat and lamb are two emblematic products of Uruguayan gastronomy, which are the centerpieces of these celebrations at the Tannat and Lamb Festival held in June each year at all the country's wineries.

For four years now, Uruguay Wine has been holding this celebration in Brazil as part of its promotional strategy and campaign, aiming to be closer to consumers and promote national wines and the country itself as a major tourist destination.

Brazil is the main export market for Uruguayan wines, with a 54% share of exports.
In this context, the activities were carried out in partnership with INAC, which joined the movement this year with the new campaign, "Uruguayan Lamb: From the world's meat boutique”.

This campaign began developing after a market research project conducted by INAC in March 2024 to analyze the consumption of Uruguayan lamb in Brazil, as a more profitable alternative compared to other sources.

The market study showed that 85% of imported lamb is from Uruguay. The recorded consumption of imported lamb occurs mainly in southern and southeastern Brazil, and therefore the marketing campaign planned by INAC, through its sector brand, Uruguay Meats, is initially focusing on São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. These cities are also strategic as they are highly developed in the specialty food circuit.

Two more editions of the festival will be held in Brazil this year: on September 27th, the first edition will be held in Rio de Janeiro, and on October 4th, the second edition will be held in the city of Campinas, São Paulo.