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Mendoza Province is the oldest and largest wine-producing region of Argentina. The area's wines set the tone for both domestic and international understanding of the country's style and quality.
Remarkably, the province is mostly high Andean desert -- making it almost impossible to grow any crop there. But a long, intricate network of irrigation has made vines bloom in this otherwise infertile region, allowing other factors -- long growing season and moderate, dry climate -- to come to the fore in its wine production.
Mendoza produces the country's signature wine, the Malbec, at its best. Other distinctive grapes grown here are the Bonarda, Tempranillo, and Torrontés, as well as the expected international varietals.
The Vendimia, or harvest festival, is the province's main public holiday and the main national celebration of wine. It stretches from the last Friday in February until the next Sunday, early in March; the 2008 dates are 29 February to 10 March.
edit Facts and figures
In 2007, the province produced 20.2 million metric tonnes of grapes and must, of which about 4.0 million were white grapes, about 8.6 million for red, and 7.6 million for rosé.
Mendoza Province's production accounts for about 68% of Argentina's total wine production, and more that 84% of the country's wine exports. With almost 150,000 hectares under vine, it contains more than two thirds of the country's wine-producing land.
edit History
The most important development in Mendoza's agricultural history was the development of irrigation. The local Huarpe people had used irrigation to farm crops in the region for many years before the arrival of Europeans. As an Inca satellite culture, they'd benefited from that empire's development of irrigation techniques.
The province's wine history dates to the 1560's, when the province's capital, Mendoza, was founded. Tradition attributes the planting of the first vines in the region to Padre Cidrón, a Chilean friar, who brought cuttings from Chile to the area.
Wine as a major industry, and the region's importance on the international scale, had to wait for the late-19th-century surge of European immigration to Argentina. Immigrants from France, Italy, and Spain brought the Old World's traditional production techniques to Argentina's mountainous west.
edit Geography
The province's western region includes 7000m-high Aconcagua mountain, but the majority of the province lies between 600-1400m. Dividing the province in about its centre is the Precordillera range, which provides the pleasant slopes needed for wine production.
Wine production clusters around the several rivers that cut through the province. In the North, a region around the Mendoza River running from 600-700m altitude produces white wines, such as Chardonnay and Torrontés. The rolling hills of the east provide larger planting areas and more variability.
The most historic region is centered around Mendoza city proper, also around the Mendoza River. Its most unique region is the Uco Valley, where productive vines grow at up to 1400m above sea level. Finally, the Southern region, 450-800m, can produce some of the best Chenin Blanc in the country.
edit Climate
Mendoza's climate is sunny and dry for most of the year. Summers are warm, but the winters can be crisp. It has a tiny level of precipitation -- only 150-300mm per year, on average. However, hail is not unusual and can be destructive to the area's vines.
The low humidity and lack of precipitation makes typical vine pests like fungi and insects almost unknown. Argentines can grow pesticide-free or organic wines in this area.
edit Viniculture
Like many New World wine centres, Mendoza's success has depended on borrowing from Old World traditions and putting a unique spin on them.
edit See also
- Mendoza from Wikitravel
- Mendoza Province from Wikipedia
