Maipú
Warm continental desert
Mendoza's oldest wine district, close to the city, with old vines, historic wineries and the region's best-developed wine tourism.
Overview
About Maipú
Maipú is one of the oldest wine-growing areas of Mendoza, on the plain immediately east and south-east of the city. Many of the region's first bodegas were founded here, and old vines of Malbec, Syrah, Bonarda and Criolla survive alongside olive groves. It is also the easiest part of Mendoza to visit, with a wine museum, a well-established network of cellar doors and bicycle routes between wineries.
The vineyards are lower than in Luján de Cuyo or the Uco Valley, so the climate is warmer and the wines are typically riper, softer and more generous, with a long tradition of oak ageing. The district is also home to the historic wineries and the older style of Mendoza wine that predates the modern high-altitude push.
Maipú is marked on the map.
Argentina
Shaded: Mendoza. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Warm continental desert
Warm and dry, with strong sun, little rain and large swings between day and night. Lower altitude than the western districts means riper grapes, and the vineyards depend on irrigation from Andean snowmelt.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Deep alluvial soils of sand and clay loam, with stony layers in places, at roughly 700 to 900 metres. The old plantings are often on the sandy ground.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Maipú is a geographical indication within Mendoza, and its wines are often labelled by grape, with the district named on the back label.
Maipú GI
The geographical indication for wines made from Maipú grapes.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.