Mendoza Province Mendoza (), officially the Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the r ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

's most important

wine region Wines are produced in significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes berries mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degrees of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, typically in regions of Mediterranea ...

, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the country's entire wine production. Located in the eastern foothills of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, in the shadow of

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...

, vineyards are planted at some of the highest altitudes in the world, with the average site located above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The principal wine producing areas fall into two main

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

- Maipú and Luján, which includes Argentina's first delineated

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

established in 1993 in

Luján de Cuyo Luján de Cuyo is the district capital of the Luján de Cuyo Department located in the west of the Mendoza Province of Argentina. It forms part of the Greater Mendoza metropolitan area. Wine It was the first delineated appellation for the purpos ...

. The pink-skinned grapes of

Criolla Grande Criolla Grande (also known as Criolla and Criolla Grande Sanjuanina) is a red wine grape commonly found in Argentina. It is different from the Chilean wine grape Pais, also known as ''Criolla Chica'', but ampelographers believe that both grapes ...

and Cereza account for more than a quarter of all plantings but

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are ...

is the region's most important planting, followed closely by

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del País in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in it ...

and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

. J. Robinson (ed.) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'', third edition, pp. 29–33, Oxford University Press, 2006 Mendoza is considered the heart of the

winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

industry in Argentina with the vast majority of large wineries located in the provincial capital of Mendoza.A. Domine (ed.) ''Wine'', pp. 840–844, Ullmann Publishing, 2008

History

The region of Mendoza, or historically Cuyo, experienced an unprecedented wine-boom in the 19th century and early 20th century which turned it into the fifth largest wine growing area of the world and the first in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

.La vid y el vino en América del Sur: el desplazamiento de los polos vitivinícolas (siglos XVI al XX)
/ref> The establishment of the Buenos Aires-Mendoza railroad in 1885 ended the lengthy and costly trade with

cart A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

s that connected these two regions of Argentina and sparked development of vineyards in Mendoza. Furthermore, massive immigration to

Río de La Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

mainly from

Southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...

increased demand and brought know-how to the old-fashioned Argentine wine industry. The vineyards of Mendoza totalled 1,000 ha in 1830 but grew to 45,000 in 1910, surpassing Chile which had during the 19th century a larger area planted with vines and a more modern industry. By 1910 around 80 percent of the area of Argentine vineyards were planted with French stock, mainly ''

''.

Climate and geography

Located in the far western expanse of Argentina, the

Climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

of Mendoza is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

with

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

desert conditions. There are four distinct

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

s throughout the year, without any real temperature extremes. This provides a very stable growing cycle for the vines without any major events such as winter dormancy. The main concern for winemakers regarding the climate is the

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

during the summer months which is known to locals as La Piedra. The soil of the Mendoza wine region is primarily

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

composed of loose

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

over

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

. Mountain rivers, including the Desaguadero, Mendoza,

Tunuyán Tunuyán is a city in the west of the province of Mendoza, Argentina, located on the western shore of the Tunuyán River, south from the provincial capital Mendoza and east of the Chilean border. It has 49,132 inhabitants, and is the head town ...

, Diamante and the

Atuel River The Atuel River is a river located mainly in the south of the Argentine province of Mendoza, with its last part in La Pampa. It is a tributary of the Desaguadero River. The Atuel is the longest river in Mendoza. It is born in the Andes range, ...

s, provide ample water supplies from melted glaciers in the Andes. Nearly 17,000

borehole A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petr ...

s are scattered throughout the region, providing the equivalent of an additional two rivers' worth of water flow to the area. A system of irrigation channels, canals and reservoirs (some dating to the 16th century) help sustain viticulture in this semi-arid desert region.

Wine producing areas

As of 2008, the Mendoza region contained more than 356,000 acres (144,000 hectares) of planted vineyards-producing nearly two-thirds of the entire Argentine wine production. The principal wine producing areas fall into two main departments – Maipú and Luján, which includes Argentina's first delineated appellation established in 1993 in

. With vineyards planted at altitudes between , the Luján de Cuyo region is known particular for its Malbec which seems to thrive in this region as a

mean A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

annual temperature of . Historically the San Rafael region to the south and San Martín region to the east of the city of Mendoza were important centers for wine production. San Rafael was also awarded DOC status in 1993. V. Lombardi (author) International Sommelier Guild; December 2002
However the switch to premium wine production of international varieties has diminished their importance. One area of emerging importance in the Mendoza wine region is the Valle de Uco which includes the

Tupungato Department Tupungato is a department located in the province of Mendoza, Argentina. The cabecera (departmental capital), Tupungato, is located approximately south of Mendoza city, in the Valle de Uco. Its name comes from the Tupungato volcano (at 6,570 ...

featuring vineyards planted nearly above sea levels and is emerging as a source for premium quality white wine varietals such as Chardonnay. In the Luján department, areas that may appear on

wine labels Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

include the towns of Anchoris, Agrelo, Carrodilla, Chacras de Coria, Las Compuertas, Mayor Drummond, Perdriel, Tres Esquinas, Ugarteche and Vistalba. In the Maipú department, areas that may appear on wine labels include the towns of Maipú, Coquimbito, Cruz de Piedra, Las Barrancas, Lunlunta and Russell. Argentina's most highly rated Malbec wines originate from Mendoza's high altitude wine regions of Lujan de Cuyo and the Uco Valley. These Districts are located in the foothills of the Andes mountains between elevation.WINE TOURS: Argentina - Mendoza
, "Fly Fishing Patagonia"Wine Tip: Malbec Madness
"Wine Spectator", April 12, 2010 The subject of elevation is of much interest to the wine world because with increased altitude, the intensity of the sunlight increases. The role of this increased light intensity is currently being investigated by Bodega Catena Zapata's research and development department headed up by Laura Catena, Alejandro Vigil and Fernando Buscema.Visiting Mendoza, Argentina
Wineanork"

Grape varieties

The pink-skinned varieties of Cereza and Criolla Grande have historically formed the backbone of the Mendoza wine industry and today still account for around a quarter of all vineyard plantings. Used primarily for inexpensive

jug wine "Jug wine" is a term in the United States for inexpensive table wine typically bottled in a glass bottle or jug. Historically, jug wines were labeled semi-generically, often sold to third parties to be relabeled, or sold directly from the wi ...

s and grape

concentrate A concentrate is a form of Chemical substance, substance that has had the majority of its diluting agent or diluent (in the case of a liquid: the solvent) removed, such that the substance becomes the majority of the composition. Typically, this w ...

, their importance has steadily declined as the Mendoza region focuses more on the export of premium wine

varietals A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

. Malbec has emerged as the most important variety followed, in planted acreage, by Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Argentina's Mendoza wine route: top 10 guide
- published by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...