In Mendoza , bunches of Cabernet Franc grapes hang on vines , patiently awaiting their moment to be picked in late summer . In the distance , the Andes Mountains watch over the vines ’ annual cycle — the range ’ s jagged , snow-capped peaks like brushstrokes sharing a canvas with green vineyards and a cobalt sky . Argentina ’ s modern winemaking story began in 1853 , when Domingo Faustino Sarmiento ( the former president of Argentina ) tasked French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget with creating a winegrowing industry in the country . Drawing on experience from his native Bordeaux , Pouget took a selection of cuttings with him , including Semillón , Chenin Blanc and Malbec . Argentina ’ s signature red grape , Malbec was so underwhelming in France in those days that it was only used for blending . In Mendoza , however , the variety adapted to the elevated mountain terroir with as much aplomb as the migrant descendants of the fourth- and fifth-generation winemaking families who crossed the Atlantic , often escaping war or poverty . A protagonist was born .
Italian and Spanish surnames mark the
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European connections — López , Zuccardi , Bosca , Catena , Durigutti — families that all have winemaking in their DNA . Their bodegas are dotted all around Mendoza , the province that produces three-quarters of all Argentine wine . Thanks to more than 320 sunny days a year , conditions are ideal for grape cultivation in this semi-arid , elevated desert watered by Andean snowmelt .
The Andean Mountain Range form the backbone of Argentina ’ s notable terroir . In Mendoza , vineyards start at around 2,130 feet above sea level in the eastern department of Maipú , climbing up to 5,580 feet in the northern province of Salta and even higher — an eye-watering 8,860 feet — in Jujuy , a province that borders Bolivia .
Besides the fame of its Malbec , the world ’ s fifth-largest wine producer also makes outstanding whites such as Torrontés , Chardonnay and Semillón , as well as other reds including Pinot Noir , Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon . Wine critics are extremely discerning , and rightly so , when it comes to awarding the top 100-point score for the perfect vintage , but in 2024 , Zuccardi Valle de Uco ’ s Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal 2021 and Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard ’ s
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From left : Grapes from the Tunuyán Department in Mendoza Province ; large wine barrels stacked on top of each other at Bodegas López in Maipú Previous pages : The view across an organic vineyard in Mendoza with the Andes Mountains in the background |
images : awl images |
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