We’re back in Uruguay, and if you haven’t heard the first part of my visit to this little South American country, you should go back and listen to that one first.
In that one, I arrived in Uruguay with a small group of nomad friends. We went on a tour of Montevideo, we went to prison, I shared a lot of facts about the country, I opened the history book, I talked about the weather, and then at the end of the episode, I went half an hour north of the capital and found a beautiful winery with the Italian sounding name, Pizzorno.
VISITING A WINERY
I’d just met Lucio Alonso when I left you at Pizzorno Family Estate. He was in the middle of telling us how he ended up working here as a winemaker at the age of just 22. When attending a wine conference in Brazil, he got a call from his old classmate, Francisco – the fourth generation at this winery.
The vineyard is 21 hectares = 52 acres = 30 football fields (soccer fields) = 210.000 square meters. That’s enough – figure out how much that is in square feet.
The Pizzorno family’s fourth generation continues a family legacy, and the wines produced today by Pizzorno Family Estates represent a rich and prosperous land. The third generation Carlos Pizzorno is still in charge and has evolved production using modern vine cultivation and winemaking techniques.
IS URUGUAYAN WINE ANY GOOD?
If you’re like me, Uruguay might not be in your top ten countries when you think of good wine-producing countries.
But it seems like that’s changing… that more and more people remember this little South American country. Lucio will talk about that in a minute… but first…
LAW & ORDER
Let’s look into some statistics to see if it’s a safe country.
Crime Rate
The crime rate is relatively low, and one can visit the country without worrying about the crime other South American countries are known for. Taxis and means of transportation in Uruguay are reliable and safe. You don’t even need to negotiate the ride price because all taxis use taximeters.
Corruption
With a score of 73/100, Uruguay once again leads the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and ranks first in Latin America and in 18th place worldwide. For reference… less corruption than France at no. 22, the USA at no. 27 and South Korea at no. 32… and about the same as Australia, Belgium, and Japan also at no. 18. Denmark is no. 1 the least corrupt country in the world according to the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International.
Safety
In general, Uruguay is safe and the safest country to visit in Latin America. It is economically and politically stable. Even though it is so safe, you should watch out for petty crime in tourist landmarks and crowded areas. The crime rate is low, but pickpocketing and bag snatching does happen, even though it is not very common.
11 Kinds of Grapes
Here at Pizzorno Winery, they have 11 different kinds of grapes and produce five different lines of wine – some for the domestic market and some only for export.
The classic Merlot line is called Don Próspero, named after the person who started the winery over a century ago in 1910.
I’ve you’ve ever been to a vineyard, you might have seen that the grapes are smaller and more compact than what you will eat as a snack. But the grapes I’m looking at here are big and look like something I would find at the supermarket.
DIGITAL NOMAD CHECK
I’ve been sharing many interesting things about Uruguay, and I feel it’s very livable. And I’ve thought that this might an upcoming hotspot for digital nomads sometime in the future.
So, let’s look into that a bit more – with a little help from data from NomadList.com.
Cost of Living
Montevideo is affordable. According to Nomadlist.com, you can get dinner for less than $8, a beer at a restaurant is around $4, a Coke is $1.27, and they say that cost of living for a nomad is $2,319 a month. But that of course, depends on the kind of life you want to live.
Internet Speed
With an average of 9 Mbps, the internet is good. Not fantastic, but decent.
Quality of Life
Again, according to NomadList, the quality of life is pretty good. On a scale from one to five, it gets a four.
English Speaking Level
It’s not very good, so it helps if you can speak a bit of Spanish to get by.
Overall Score
This is based on all the different data points, with the highest weight given to cost, current temperatures, internet speed, and safety. Other indicators are also important, like air quality, if it’s fun to live and, if there’s good nightlife and low racism, and if it’s LGBTQ+ friendly.
The total score for Montevideo is 3.25 on a 1-5 scale. That ranks them far from the top of the list as number 387. And I must say that this surprises me quite a bit. But then… NomadList.com has the data.
WINE TASTING
Then we came to the best part of the tour: Where we tasted the different kinds of wine.
And I’m going to leave you with that. Thanks to Lucio and the team at Pizzorno Family Estate for taking the time to give us this private tour.
I’m Palle Bo, and I gotta keep moving. See you.
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