Starting in the north, Catamarca, Salta, and Jujuy total about 6,000 hectares of land under vine. Catamarca has the most, with 3,000 hectares. Jujuy makes almost nothing besides cheap table wine. Salta is the most prestigous of the three. Salta is the highest altitude vineyard in the world, at 2,000 meters above sea level. In [...]
Continue reading about Argentinian Wine Regions
While there has been an increase in wines made from the international grape varieties in Argentina, the old grapes still dominate the plantings there. Criolla Grande, Cereza, Moscatel de Alejandria and Pedro Giménez are among the most common. Torrontés is the third most grown white grape, and it only accounts for 2,000 hectares under vine. [...]
Continue reading about Argentinian Grape Varieties and Viticulture
Most of Argentina’s wine-making areas are in one small strip of high, almost desert land that fits best in the continental climate category. Most of the vineyards are located about 980-1250 feet above sea level, which lets them take advantage of a lot of daytime sunlight, and cooler nighttime temperatures. There is almost no rainfall [...]
Continue reading about Argentinian Geography, Climate and Soil
Argentinian wine laws are not particularly strict or organized. The do have a official bureau, the Instituto Nacionale de Vitivinicultura (INV) whose current power is limited only to regulating the production of grapes and wine exports. Argentinian wine laws do not discuss what grapes are allowed to be grown in which areas or any specific [...]
Continue reading about Argentinian Wine Laws
Much like Chile, Argentinian wine history dates back to the 16th century, when vines were introduced from Peru. Jesuit priests grew a grape they called Criolla Chica, which was the same grape as Pais in Argentina, and the mission grape in California. They used it as a sacremental wine, and they found the most success [...]
Continue reading about History of Argentinian Winemaking
Argentina produces close to 14 million hectaliters (400 million gallons) of wine per year, an absolutely huge amount. Eight countries have more acreage under vine, but only 3 of those are producing more wine than Argentina. This doesn’t really say good things about the overall quality of Argentinian wine. Much of this wine production is [...]
Continue reading about Argentina
Uruguay is one potential up and coming wine producers in South America. It’s wine history does not go back as far as other areas, dating back to just the end of the 19th century. At that point, Basque and Catalan settlers from Spain introduced Tannat, which is the most planted grape in Urguguay, and Petit [...]
Continue reading about Uruguayan Wine
The northernmost grape-growing region in Chile is Atacama. This is one of the dryest climates on earth and is a terrible climate for growing anything used to make wine. Most of the grapes grown here are used for table grapes, and an Oak-aged brandy type spirit called PIsco. Pisco is usually made of Moscatel, Toronotel, [...]
Continue reading about Chilean Wine Regions
The most commonly grown grape varities in Chile include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Carmenere, and Moscatel. Sauvignon in this case is not Sauvignon Blanc, but a distant relative, possibly Sauvignon Vert. Some grape varieties in Chile have been confused with more common international ones, and genetic testing has recently revealed the inaccuracies. Carmenere, for [...]
Continue reading about Chilean grape varieties
Historically, most of Chile’s vineyards have been located near populous areas. Santiago has been the center of most of the wine activity. Its location is ideal for irrigation from runoff water from the nearby Andes, it has little risk of frost, and the cool evenings help to bring acidity to the wines.
Outside of Santiago, Chileans [...]
Continue reading about Chilean Climate, Geography and Soil.
RSS feed link
