Wine region
Mendoza
Mendoza is the heart of Argentine wine: vines at the foot of the Andes up to about 1,500 metres, irrigated by snowmelt, and the home of Malbec.
- Vineyard area
- about 140,000 hectares, over 70 per cent of Argentina’s vineyards
- Main grapes
- Malbec; then Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Bonarda and Chardonnay
- Climate
- desert climate in the rain shadow of the Andes: usually under 300 mm of rain, plenty of sun, cool nights
- Altitude
- vines from about 600 to over 1,500 metres, irrigated with Andean snowmelt
- Signature wines
- Malbec from Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, Cabernet Franc, red blends
Mendoza lies in western Argentina, at the foot of the Andes, at about 33 degrees south, and is the country’s wine capital: with about 140,000 hectares it holds over 70 per cent of Argentina’s vineyards. The climate is that of a desert. The Andes block the rain from the Pacific and usually less than 300 millimetres falls in a year, so no vine would survive without irrigation. The water comes from snowmelt in the high Andes; rivers such as the Río Mendoza and the Río Tunuyán feed a network of canals and ditches, the acequias, some of which date from the 16th century.
The second distinguishing feature is altitude. In the traditional zones around the city, in Luján de Cuyo and Maipú, vines stand at roughly 600 to 1,100 metres; in the Uco Valley further south they climb to about 1,500 metres and more. For comparison, Visperterminen in Valais, at about 1,150 metres one of the highest vineyards in Europe, would sit in the upper middle of the range here. With altitude the days are bright and the nights cold. The grapes ripen with plenty of colour and fruit yet keep their freshness, which is why wines from the highest sites are known for their tension and energy.
The grape of Mendoza is Malbec. It comes from south-western France, where it is at home around Cahors. French vines were planted in Mendoza from the 1850s onwards; the French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget, who set up an agricultural school there, is regarded as the pioneer. Today Argentina has about 47,000 hectares of Malbec, more than any other country, and over four fifths of it is in Mendoza. The wine is deeply dark, with plum, blackberry and violet and soft, ripe tannins; the high sites give wines with more tension and acidity. Alongside it grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Bonarda and, for white wines, Chardonnay.
Mendoza is not a uniform territory but a mosaic of oases along the rivers. Luján de Cuyo, south of the city, was the first area in Argentina to carry a controlled designation of origin (DOC) and is known for powerful Malbec from old vines. The Uco Valley, with Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos, stands for elegant, fresh wines; sites such as Gualtallary and Paraje Altamira, with stony, calcareous soils, are among the most discussed of recent years.
At the table Malbec belongs with the grill: beef entrecôte, Argentine asado, empanadas with minced meat or a firm hard cheese. The leaner wines from the heights also suit lamb or a mushroom dish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees; the dense wines gain from half an hour of air beforehand.