Uruguayan Wines and Olive Oils Win Over Palates at Expo Osaka

The Uruguay Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025 hosted a wine and olive oil tasting that brought together the specialized press, business leaders, and representatives from various countries. The event, organized with the support of Uruguay Wine and ASOLUR (the Uruguayan Olive Association), aimed to position Uruguay as a supplier of premium food and beverages in the demanding Japanese market.

Guests discovered the distinctive identity of Uruguayan wine, with the Tannat grape as the emblem of national viticulture—renowned for its intensity and elegance—alongside varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Albariño. Uruguay is now an established player on the global wine map, thanks to its calcareous soils, Atlantic influence, and a winemaking tradition that blends family heritage with innovation. It also stands out as the first country in Latin America with all wine production fully traced and georeferenced, reinforcing the sector’s reliability and sustainability.

The tasting also featured Uruguayan extra virgin olive oils, a still young but rapidly growing sector that leverages its Mediterranean-like latitude, fertile soils, and temperate climate to produce fresh, natural, high-quality oils. Since becoming a full member of the International Olive Council (IOC) in 2016, Uruguay has raised standards, boosted research, and expanded its markets. In 2023, it exported olive oils worth more than $3.6 million to destinations including Brazil, Spain, the United States, and Japan.

The tasting in Osaka also served as a platform for networking among producers, importers, and communicators, highlighting opportunities to expand the presence of Uruguayan products in Asia. With its sophisticated consumers and high purchasing power, Japan is a key market for Uruguay to continue growing in the gourmet sector and to reinforce its image as a country of quality, innovation, and sustainability.