Winemaking and wines of Argentina

Argentine wine regions and producers. Catalog-guide of Argentine wines with reviews and ratings.

Argentina is one of the leading wine producing countries in the New World. Winemaking originated here in the 16th century, when vines brought to the newly discovered continent by Spanish missionaries came here. Since there are excellent climatic and geographical conditions for growing grapes in Argentina, over time it began to develop actively. On the territory of the Andes and their foothills are the highest vineyards in the world, and the length of the country for more than 4 thousand kilometers from north to south and access to the Atlantic coast provide a wide variety of terroirs of Argentina, which are considered among the best in the world. .

A component of the high quality of Argentinean wines is the mountain sun and a large difference in day and night temperatures in areas that are located at an altitude of several thousand meters. Insolation allows the grapes to gain phenolic maturity at the time of alcoholic maturation, so Argentine wines have a rich and sophisticated bouquet. And the cold nights and hot days that are inherent in the highlands endow them with excellent acidity.

The most famous and one of the oldest Argentine wine producing regions is Mendoza. However, recently winemaking has been developing new terroirs located closer to Buenos Aires and the Atlantic, where very interesting wines are obtained. At the same time, winemaking in Argentina focuses on the best European styles.

The hallmark of Argentina is the malbec variety, which received a new life here after the phylloxera invasion in its homeland, France, and became the leading red grape variety, from which the rich, perfectly balanced and elegant wines are made. The main white variety is the local autochthonous torrontes, which produces fragrant and at the same time elegant wines, very drinkable and friendly.

At the same time, all the leading international grape varieties are cultivated here, from which high-level wines are obtained.