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In Argentina, viticulture has been practiced since the 16th century. In the last statistics of the OIV of 2014, Argentina ranks 7th behind Spain, China, France, Italy, Turkey and the USA. Argentine wine production is thus in the South American rankings ahead of the wine-growing country Chile, which is better known in Europe. On almost 228,000 hectares of vineyards, 15,197,000 hectolitres (year 2014) of wine are produced annually. This corresponds to about 5% of the world’s wine production. While the amount of white wines produced has stagnated since 2000, by 2013 the amount of red wines produced had multiplied from just under 4 million to over 15.2 million hectolitres.

Until 20 years ago, practically only simple wines were produced in large quantities for the local market. Since the early 1990s, quality wines have also been convincing on the export market. In 2004, the South American state exported $431 million worth of wine, mainly the Malbec variety.

The highly fragmented vineyards extend approximately from Salta in the north to the province of Chubut in the south. They form in the west of the country along the foothills of the Andes a strip with a length of 1750 kilometers and a width of 100 kilometers.

History of Viticulture in Argentina
The roots of viticulture in Argentina are in Spain. Viticulture has been practiced since the time of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. For almost 380 years, the vineyard developed positively until it reached its provisional maximum in 1977. For many years, the motor of upward movement was the satisfaction of domestic consumption. The winegrowers subsequently failed, also politically motivated, to face international competition. When the domestic market collapsed due to changes in consumer habits, Argentine viticulture had to be fundamentally reformed. In Argentina, the vineyard planted in 2014 amounts to 228 tha and has increased by 6,000 ha since 2012.

The beginnings

Viticulture in Argentina was founded by the first European settlers who came to South America from Spain and Portugal. However, he was only conceivable through the preliminary work of the Inca. Thanks to them, in the semi-arid climate of the region around the province of Mendoza, the soil of the steppe-like Monte was made usable by an elaborate irrigation system. For these purposes, the rivers Río Mendoza, Río Tunuyán, Río Atuel and Río Diamante (all tributaries of the Río Desaguadero) were integrated into the system. When the first European settlers came to the area, the irrigation system was used by the indigenous Huarpe tribe.

The Spanish navigator Juan Díaz de Solís was the first European to reach present-day Argentina in 1516. This area was colonized in the 16th century by the Spanish from two directions: From Peru they took the no