Tannat

Tannat is a thick-skinned, deeply pigmented red wine grape from the foothills of the Pyrenees in south-west France, where it is the backbone of Madiran — one of the most ferociously tannic of the classic French reds. Carried across the Atlantic by Basque settlers in the nineteenth century, it found a second home in Uruguay, where it is now the national grape and the country's flagship wine. Its name is widely read as a nod to its defining trait: a wall of firm, astringent tannin wrapped around dark blackberry and plum fruit. French bottlings are powerful, structured and built to age, while Uruguayan versions tend to be a touch softer and rounder. Tannat is also notable for carrying unusually high levels of antioxidant procyanidins, which has drawn the attention of cardiovascular researchers.