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Argentina

Argentina (ES)
Argentine (F)
Argentino (I)
Argentina (GB)
Argentina (PO)
Argentinië (N)

The presidential Republic of Argentina in the south of South America with the capital Buenos Aires covers 2,780,400 km². It borders Chile to the west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the north-east and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Until its independence in 1816, it was part of the Spanish colonial empire.

Argentinien - Landkarte, Flagge, Wappen

History

In 1541, Spanish conquistadores planted vines at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata on the Atlantic coast, but without success. Argentinian viticulture began with the production of mass wine. The citizens of the northern city of Santiago del Estero in the province of the same name built a church and looked for a priest.

The Jesuit priest Cedrón, who arrived with the conquistadores from Spain, travelled from the other side of the Andes from Chile and brought cotton seeds, wheat, barley and some European grape varieties with him as a gift, including the historically important Listán Prieto, which is known here as Criolla Chica, Uva Negra or Uva Negra Vino (see also under Criolla). These vines were planted from 1556 in the three provinces of La Rioja, Mendoza and San Juan. By the end of the 16th century, commercial viticulture had already developed in some of these areas.

Argentinien - Avalleneda und Weinberge Mendoza

Viticulture in modern times

Don Tiburcio Benegas (1844-1910), who founded the Trapiche winery in Godoy Cruz in 1883 and successfully experimented with European and Chilean vines, is considered the founder of Argentinian viticulture in modern times. His father-in-law Don Eusebio Blanco had written the book "Las viñas y los vinos de Mendoza" in 1872 as the first fundamental work on Argentinean viticulture. In 1853, the French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget (1821-1875) was commissioned by the Argentinian president Domino Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888) to introduce suitable vines.

The Malbec (Cot) variety proved to be particularly suitable and is the leading variety in terms of quantity. In the first half of the 18th century and towards the end of the 19th century, there were two large European immigration flows from Italy, Spain and France, as residence permits were greatly simplified at the initiative of the politician Nicolás Avellaneda (1837-1885). These emigrants gave viticulture a hugely positive boost. At the beginning of the 20th century, oenologist Leopoldo Suárez Zapata (1882-1932) introduced European vines to Mendoza on a large scale.

Regions & growing areas

The highly fragmented vineyards stretch from Salta in the north to Chubut in the south. In the west, they form a strip 1,750 kilometres long and 100 kilometres wide along the foothills of the Andes. The altitude of 600 to 1,200 metres above sea level on average and up to 2,400 metres in some places results in cool night-time temperatures. The Colomé winery in Salta even cultivates vines at an altitude of 3,111 metres, making it the highest vineyard in the world.

Due to low rainfall averaging 200 to 250 mm per year with relatively frequent hail, low humidity and high drought (with the advantage of rare fungal diseases), artificial irrigation is essential. This is done mainly through a network of canals, which was started centuries ago by the indigenous people. The water comes from rivers carrying meltwater with their springs in the nearby Andes, as well as from thousands of deep wells with water pumped from a depth of 60 to 120 metres, and is channelled through the vineyards in winding furrows. The wine-growing regions:

Argentinien - Landkarte und Valles Calchaquíes, Cafayate, Salta

Vineyards & grape varieties

In 2022, the vineyards covered 207,047 hectares of vines and the wine production volume was 11.5 million hectolitres. In the mid-1970s, the area under vines was still 350,000 hectares. Due to a white wine boom and regulatory measures, 130,000 hectares were cleared. A special Argentinian feature is the categorisation of grape varieties into red, pink and white varieties. The high-yielding pink-coloured Criolla Chica, Criolla Grande, Cereza, Moscatel Rosada and others are processed into simple light red wines and RCGM (rectified concentrated grape must).

Two thirds of bulk wines from white and rose-coloured varieties are marketed in open bottles, Tetra Paks and larger glass bottles. The two market-dominating producers, Catena Zapata and Peñaflor, are among the largest wine companies in the world. The most common variety is Malbec (Cot), which is ideal for Argentinian conditions. As phylloxera has hardly played a role, there are many ungrafted cultivated vines. The grape variety index with the top 50 (Kym Anderson):

Grape variety

Synonyms or arg. Name

Colour

Hectare

Cot Côt, Malbec red 40.401
Cereza Ceresa, Cereza Nera pink 28.887
Douce Noire Bonarda red 19.072
Criolla Grande Criolla Grande Sanjuanina pink 15.596
Cabernet Sauvignon - red 15.356
Syrah Shiraz red 12.707
Pedro Giménez Pedro Jiménez white 11.197
Torrontés Riojano see also under Torrontés white 8.208
Muscat Gris / Muscat Rouge formerly under Moscatel Rosado white 6.526
Chardonnay - white 6.227
Tempranillo Cencibel, Tinta del País red 6.140
Merlot - red 5.632
Aspiran Bouschet Aspiran Bouchet red 4.087
Muscat d'Alexandrie Moscatel de Alejandría white 2.716
Chenin Blanc - white 2.157
Sauvignon Blanc - white 2.148
Torrontés Sanjuanino see also under Torrontés white 1.885
Pinot Noir - red 1.866
Sangiovese - red 1.837
Trebbiano Toscano Ugni Blanc white 1.622
Ancellotta - red 991
Cabernet Franc - red 929
Tannat Harriague red 837
Hebén Gibi white 785
Viognier - white 773
Sémillon - white 767
Petit Verdot Verdot red 740
Torrontés Mendocino see also under Torrontés white 653
Béquignol Noir Béquin Rouge red 616
Damaschino Valenci white 527
Barbera - red 444
Sauvignonasse Sauvignon Vert white 424
Pinot Gris - white 401
Listán Prieto Criolla Chica, Uva Negra pink 374
Greco Nero Verdot red 356
Maticha Bou Touggala, Bou Touquala Chetoui white 257
Fintendo - red 185
Fer Fer Servadou red 183
Bonamico - red 137
Alicante Henri Bouschet - red 135
Gold Muscat Moscato Giallo white 119
Palomino Palomino Fino white 104
Rieslina - white 103
Muscat Blanc - white 94
Riesling - white 93
Montepulciano - red 82
Canari Noir - red 80
Carmenère - red 59
Aglianico - red 51
Lambrusco Maestri - red 48

Wine law

The "Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura" (INV), founded in 1959, is responsible for the guidelines for quality viticulture and control. There are three quality categories. The "Vinos de Corte" originate mainly from Mendoza and San Juan as a blend. In the light "Vinos Communes", no value is placed on origin, vintage or pure variety. The "Vinos Finos" are subject to precise regulations regarding vintage, origin, grape variety and bottle ageing.

An origin system was introduced in 1993. The three-tier quality system consists of "Indicaciones de Procedencia (IP), Indicaciones Geográficas (IG) and the highest level Denominación de Origen Controlada (DOC). Maximum yields are also set for the latter. The first DOC area to be classified was Luján de Cuyo (Mendoza) in 1992. It was followed by Maipú, Río Negro, San Rafael and the Valles Calchaquíes area shown in the picture above.

Map: © Goruma
Flag: Public domain, Link
Coat of arms: by Dexxter, Public domain, Link
Avellaneda: Public domain, Link
Mendoza vineyards: By David - Salentein Vinyard, CC BY 2.0, Link
Map: From CIA, CIA World Factbook, Public domain, Link
Valles Calaquíes: By Tokyo Tanenhaus - flickr, CC BY 2.0, Link

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