Argentina

First experiments with viticulture in this South American country can be dated back to 1541, when the Spanish conquistadores planted vines near the mouth of the river Plate on the Atlantic coast. However, these experiments failed. Argentinian wine production really began with the production of wine for communion. The citizens of the town of Santiago del Estero, located in the north in the province of the same name, built a church and went in search of a priest. The Jesuit priest Cedrón, who had travelled from Spain with the conquistadores, travelled from Chile on the other side of the Andes mountains, and as a gift brought along cotton seeds, wheat, barley and some vines of the European vitis vinifera species. He planted these in 1557, and it is thought that the grape varieties most widely planted in Argentina, Criolla Chica, Criolla Grande and Cereza, are descended from these vines. By the end of the 16th century, a commercial wine industry had developed in the province of San Juan. Don Tiburcio Benegas (1844-1910) is considered to be the father of the wine industry in Argentina. He founded the Trapiche estate in Godoy Cruz in 1883, which is still in existence today, and successfully experimented with European and Chilean grape varieties. He was appointed governor of the province of Mendoza in 1886, and remained a strong protagonist and driving force in the Argentinian wine industry right up to his death. His father-in-law Don Eusebio Blanco had written the book „Las viñas y los vinos de Mendoza“ in 1872, this was the first comprehensive and basic book on viticulture in Argentina. In the mid-19th century, the French agronomist Aimé Pouget introduced the varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, the latter is today the leading red variety in Argentina. There were two major waves of immigration from Europe, one in the early 18th and the other in the late 19th vcentury, mainly from Spain, Italy and France. These immigrants provided a tremendous positive impulse to the wine industry. In the early 20th century, Leopoldo Suarez imported 600 dirrerent varieties of vine from the leading wine-growing regions in Europe.

The growing regions are widely dispersed, stretching from Salta in the north to Chubut in the south. In the west, along the foothills of the Andes, they make up a strip of land around 2.200 kilometres long and 100 kilometres wide. Vineyards tend to be located at fairly high altitudes of on average 600 to 1.200 metres above sea level, ensuring cool nighttime temperatures. As rainfall is extremely low in many areas, averaging 200 to 250 millimetres per annum (however, violent hailstorms are frequent), with low relative humidity and long periods of drought, irrigation is essential almost everywhere, although the dry climate does have the benefit that fungal diseases are almost unknown. Irrigation is provided via a network of canals, the origins of which were begun by the Indian indigenous people centuries ago. The water is sourced from numerous rivers carrying melted snow in the form of water from the nearby Andes mountains, as well as from thousands of deep artesian wells that are usually 80 to 120 metres deep. The water is run through the vineyards using convoluted channel systems. Viticulture was really only able to expand once a large dam had been built in 1885. More modern producers use drip irrigation systems. The most widely planted varieties, accounting for more than 50% of the vineyard area, are the heavy-bearing Criolla Chica, Criolla Grande, Cereza and Moscatel Rosado, these are processed to produce table grapes, grape concentrated and light wines. Red wines are made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Bonarda, Malbec (most important red variety), Merlot, Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Tempranillo and Verdot. The most widely planted white varieties are Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Muscat d´Alexandrie, Pedro Giménez, Riesling, Sémillon, Torrontés Riojano (including two further variants of this and Ugni Blanc). In 1980, the total vineyard area was still 255.000 hectares. Due to a boom in white wines, many vineyards, particularly those planted with red varieties, were uprooted, which led to a reduction in the total area by one-third. The currently 209.000 hectares of vineyard produced around 13 million hectolitres in 2000. This puts Argentina in the top 5 producers worldwide, and ist annual per capita consumption of wine is also among the highest in the world, at around 40 litres (this figure was still around 90 litres in the early 1970’s. Around 10% of the total area is used to produce table grapes and rectified grape concentrate.

A special feature in Argentina is that many vines are very old, often averaging around 50 years. As many of the soils are sandy, phylloxera did not really play a major role in Argentina, and many of the vines are ungrafted. Around two thirds of the wines produced are simple, low-alcohol table wines, primarily light red wines, and are consumed exclusively within the country itself. White varieties are also used to produce dry, alcoholic, sherry-style wines. The „Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura“ was founded in 1959, it issues the regulations and controls their implementation. There are three categories of quality. The „Vinos de Corte“ come mainly from Mendoza and San Juan, and are destined exclusively for blending. The relatively light „Vinos Communes“ are not classified in terms of origin, vintage or varietal. The „Vinos Finos“ are subject to specific regulations and strict controls, and are further divided into two categories. The „A“ category includes most of the white and rosé wines that have to mature in bottle for a minimum of one year. The “B” category includes the best wines in terms of quality, particularly the red wines. A wine of origin system was introduced in 1993, this includes limits on yields. The first DO to be classified was Luján de Cuyo (Mendoza). This was followed by Maipú, Rio Negro, San Rafael and Valle de Calchaqui. At this stage, controls are not implemented by the state, participation is on a voluntary basis. Currently, probably around 50 of the total of 1.100 wineries (many of which buy in most of their fruit from grape farmers) produce outstanding wine. The two largest wine-producing companies in Argentina, which are also among the largest in the world, are Catena and Peñaflor. Additional important wine estates are mentioned under the wine-growing regions:

* Catamarca 2.300 ha
* Chubut 100 ha
* Jujuy 500 ha
* La Rioja#La Rioja (Argentina) 7.000 ha
* Mendoza 144.000 ha
* Rio Negro and Neuquén 5.500 ha
* Salta and Cafayate sub-region 1.500 ha
* San Juan 50.000 ha