Mendoza Wine Region Guide

Winemaking and regional classifications

So you may ask, where to start? Well, central Mendoza has the longest and proudest tradition for fine wine, and a high percentage of Argentina’s most renowned and respected wineries are based here. Indeed, the talent that continues to flow into central Mendoza is remarkable, coupled with an increasing emphasis on matching a specific variety to a place, and a greater understanding of the region’s complex mosaic of terroirs. Vineyards on either side of the avenues that radiate from the city, in the Luyan de Cuyo appellation, form what is perhaps Mendoza’s most important sub-region for premium wine. The Malbec grown here is arguably Argentina’s finest; planted on particularly poor soils, the appellation’s vineyards are among some of the country’s oldest, which escaped Argentina’s enthusiastic vine-pull schemes in the late 20th century.

In addition, central Mendoza benefits from a temperate (almost cool in the district of Agrelo) climate and a unique terroir that incorporate high amounts of gravel in the topsoil, whereas elsewhere in Mendoza soils are typically alluvial and sandy. Moreover, there are none of the salinity problems that can cause difficulties in other parts of Argentina.

Moving further east, one encounters growers and producers that were (traditionally) generally in the market for quantity, rather than quality. And it is certainly true that the growing conditions in this part of Argentina present greater challenges – vineyards here are at lower altitudes and the cooling influence of the Andes is largely negated. However, quality is improving and an emerging generation of growers are realizing that there is a shrinking global market for bad wine.

Which brings us nicely on to the exciting developments taking place in the Uco Valley. This is Argentina’s other must-visit region from the fine wine lover’s point of view. It is named not after a river but after a pre-Columbian Indian chief reputed to have introduced irrigation here. Although the first vines were planted as recently as the 1980s, the Uco Valley now has well over 10,000 hectares of vineyard, at altitudes of 1000-1700m above sea level. Here, high-altitude is king and producers such as Catena and Terrazas de Los Andes specify precise altitudes on their front labels. It’s perhaps the most vital ‘terroir-modifier,’ and the single most important ingredient in fine wine production in the Uco Valley, situated south of the city of Mendoza.

At the top of the hierarchy – literally and figuratively – are the mountain vineyards in the Tupungato subregion, where much of Argentina’s fine Chardonnay is grown, in addition to sublime Malbec and Bordeaux red varieties. Tupungato has been the focus of sophisticated modern vineyard development, and some of the older wineries are at a distance from the vineyards. Diurnal temperature variation is another vital factor in allowing wineries to make balanced, elegant wines – nights are sufficiently cool to produce delicate fruit flavors and acidity levels are sufficiently high to maintain freshness in the wines. In fact, frost is a constant worry and late frosts are a particular threat in the east of the Uco Valley on the lower slopes of the San Carlos subregion.

Indeed, Tupungato’s terroir is not perfect, but these conditions do seem ‘designed’ to provide wines with excellent aromatics, color, structure and fruit flavors. It is very rare for a wine made in Mendoza, however young, to have astringent and harsh tannin. The prevailing texture of Mendoza red is velvet, a wine that will age beautifully but offers much for the impatient wine lover.

Geography and terroir

The heart of Argentina’s wine industry has always been Mendoza, situated near the Chilean border, west of Buenos Aires. It takes a stony heart not to be captivated by your first sight of the vineyards flanking the snow-capped Andes – serrated blades of rock and ice that separate Mendoza from its Chilean neighbor. It’s a complex and varied viticultural landscape, typically oases of green set in a semi-arid desert. Today, there are approximately 230,000 hectares under vine, with over 1,200 estates producing wine.

Mendoza, centered on the vibrant city of the same name, will probably always dominate Argentine exports. Still, regions such as La Rioja, Salta, and Patagonia are increasingly making a name for themselves in global markets.

Of course, there are great differences in terroir across this diverse and wondrous landscape, but a focus on high-altitude viticulture unifies Argentina’s premium winemakers. Indeed, the altitudes at which Argentine vineyards flourish would be unthinkably high in Europe. The average elevation of Argentine vineyards is over 900 meters above sea level. At this height, overnight temperatures are regularly low enough to give an attractive combination of potent flavors, good freshness, and acidity. Most new plantings are on rootstocks, for the disease phylloxera is not absent from Argentine vineyards; however, vineyard diseases are very uncommon due to the hot, dry climate. Soils are young and alluvial, with quite a high proportion of sand in many areas. The climate is arguably far more important than the soil – the intense sunlight means that full ripeness is easy to achieve in most areas. However, winemakers must be vigilant to avoid unwieldy alcohol levels and jammy flavors.

That being said, the fearsome hot, dry wind from the northeast called La Zonda is a real liability, particularly during flowering. Conditions in Argentine vineyards are far from perfect, and the weather is unpredictable. Winters are cold at these high altitudes, but spring frosts can present a real danger during bud burst. Moreover, summers in the lower-altitude parts of San Juan and the south of Mendoza can be too hot for fine wine production. Yet even in this seemingly arid landscape, it has a nasty tendency to hail, which can devastate an entire year’s crop. As a result, some growers have invested in special hail nets, which can also usefully reduce the risk of sunburn in Argentina’s powerful and abundant sunlight.