Argentina
Continental desert
South America's largest wine producer and the home of high-altitude Malbec, planted along the foothills of the Andes.
Overview
About Argentina
Spanish colonists planted the first vines in the 16th century. Malbec was brought from France by Michel Aimé Pouget in 1853, and after being largely abandoned in France it found its best expression here, first as an everyday red and then, from the 1990s, as a globally admired one.
Most vineyards lie in the desert-like Cuyo region on the eastern side of the Andes, where irrigation from snowmelt is essential. Mendoza dominates production; Salta in the far north has some of the world's highest vineyards, and its aromatic white, Torrontés, is Argentina's signature white grape.
Where is a grape grown?
Hover a marker to see what's grown there, and click it to open that place. On a touch screen, tap once to preview and again to open. Bigger markers have more grapes linked to them.
Argentina
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Continental desert
Vineyards sit in the rain shadow of the Andes, with a dry, sunny, desert climate and very low rainfall, so irrigation from mountain snowmelt is essential. Altitude brings cool nights that retain freshness.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Poor, free-draining alluvial soils of sand, gravel and stone washed down from the Andes, at altitudes ranging from around 500 metres to more than 3,000.
Go deeper
How the wines are classified
Argentina's system is young and mainly geographic, and it ranks places rather than wines.
DOC
Denominación de Origen Controlada, the top designation, with Luján de Cuyo the first, in 1993, and San Rafael also recognised.
Indicación Geográfica
Named areas such as the Uco Valley or Maipú, with less strict rules.
Varietal labelling
A wine named for a grape must contain at least 85% of it.
Within Argentina
Regions
Mendoza
Argentina's wine capital in the Andean foothills, where irrigated high-altitude vineyards produce ripe, plush Malbec.
Salta
One of the world's highest wine areas, in Argentina's north-west, where Torrontés and Malbec grow at up to 3,000 metres above the sea.
What's grown here
Grapes
Grapes linked to Argentina or to a place within it. Each grape's page links back here.