In an unprecedented cross-government initiative, Uruguay has declared wine a ‘living culture’ through a formal declaration signed at Palacio Santos in Montevideo last week.
While several countries have successfully positioned wine as cultural heritage, notably through UNESCO recognition, these efforts have largely focused on preservation. Uruguay’s approach is more explicitly programmatic, combining cultural policy, sector coordination and international diplomacy within a single initiative.
Cross-government agreement signed
The agreement was signed on 22 April between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the country’s wine body, the Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (INAVI). The programme, Vitivinicultura como Cultura Viva del Uruguay, seeks to expand the perception of the sector beyond production and exports, framing it instead as a broader cultural system encompassing heritage, landscape, community and identity.
The official ceremony saw 200 members of the diplomatic corps, government officials and institutional representatives witness the signing of the Declaración de Palacio Santos, a formal statement of intent to develop a long-term, cross-institutional agenda.
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