Mendoza

Mendoza is the province with the largest vineyard area in Argentina: 71.7 percent of the national total was planted there at 31 December 2025, against 19.7 percent in San Juan. Mendoza and San Juan together make up the INV's Centro-Oeste wine region, between 29.5 and 36 degrees south. The province's vineyards grow in important oases in Andean valleys and also extend to lower land toward the east and north, at about 600 meters to around 1,500 meters above sea level. By department, San Martín had the most vines in 2025, with 18.1 percent of the provincial area, followed by Luján de Cuyo (10.8 percent) and Rivadavia (9.7 percent). The wine country lies at the foot of the snowcapped Andes, and visitors can make a side trip to Aconcagua, the highest point in the southern hemisphere.

• 71.7% of Argentina's vineyard area (140,682 ha) was in Mendoza at 31 December 2025; San Juan followed with 19.7%
• Centro-Oeste wine region: Mendoza and San Juan, between 29.5 and 36 degrees south
• Oases in Andean valleys plus lower land to the east and north, from about 600 m to around 1,500 m above sea level
• Largest departments by vine area in 2025: San Martín 18.1%, Luján de Cuyo 10.8%, Rivadavia 9.7%

On 17 April 1853 a project was presented to the Mendoza provincial legislature to found a Quinta Normal and a School of Agriculture. The French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget, charged with organising it, introduced several European varieties including Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Semillon, and that date is why 17 April became World Malbec Day. The introduction of Malbec is also linked to Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who promoted the import of European knowledge and plant material. Argentina's vineyard area grew in the early 20th century on the country's great wave of immigration and European immigrants' habit of drinking wine daily, and the railway's arrival in Mendoza in 1884 carried wine to the most populated part of the country. Among the families of that era, Leoncio Arizu arrived in Mendoza in 1890 and founded Bodega Luigi Bosca in Luján de Cuyo in 1901, and Nicola Catena sailed from Italy to Argentina in 1898 and planted his first Malbec vineyard in Mendoza in 1902. Nationally, Malbec reached 58,577 hectares in 1962, 22.5 percent of Argentina's vines; 83 percent of that area was then uprooted, largely for more productive varieties, until it hit its low of 9,746 hectares in 1995. In 1988 Law 23.550 banned new plantings of grapes for common wine for five years and paid growers who uprooted or converted such vineyards.

• 17 April 1853: project presented to the Mendoza legislature for a Quinta Normal and School of Agriculture; Michel Aimé Pouget introduced Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Semillon; 17 April is World Malbec Day
• Railway reached Mendoza in 1884; early-20th-century immigration drove vineyard expansion
• Luigi Bosca founded in 1901 in Luján de Cuyo by Leoncio Arizu; Nicola Catena planted his first Malbec vineyard in Mendoza in 1902
• Argentine Malbec: 58,577 ha in 1962 (22.5% of vines), 9,746 ha in 1995 after 83% was uprooted; Law 23.550 of 1988 barred common-wine plantings for five years

Mendoza's climate is semi-desert, ranging from warm-temperate to cool-temperate, and snowmelt water, supplemented by groundwater, allows different varieties to be grown in different parts of the province. The Uco Valley has harsh winters and warm summers, with mild days and very cold nights giving a daily thermal amplitude of about 15°C. That swing favours a high colour index and tannin production in red grapes, allowing wines of high oenological quality. Vistalba and Las Compuertas, in Luján de Cuyo, owe the cold breezes that bathe their vineyards to their altitude and proximity to the mountains; Decanter's Patricio Tapia finds that Andean influence in the firm acidity of their Malbecs, and Zorzal winemaker Juan Pablo Michelini credits Gualtallary with rich natural acidity. Higher up the Andes the average temperature falls and the day-night amplitude grows: at Catena Zapata's Adrianna Vineyard summer nights stay only a few degrees above freezing, and the night-day difference runs between 15 and 20 degrees. Frost, hail and the zonda wind frequently cause significant crop losses in the Uco Valley. Agrelo, in Luján de Cuyo, gets barely 200mm of rainfall a year.

• Semi-desert climate, warm-temperate to cool-temperate; snowmelt irrigation supplemented by groundwater
• Uco Valley daily thermal amplitude of about 15°C, favouring colour and tannin in red grapes
• Night-day difference of 15 to 20 degrees at Catena Zapata's Adrianna Vineyard
• Frost, hail and the zonda wind frequently cause significant losses in the Uco Valley; Agrelo gets barely 200mm of rain a year

Mendoza's 16 wine departments fall into five INV zones: Norte (Lavalle, Las Heras), Centro (Godoy Cruz, Guaymallén, Luján de Cuyo, Maipú), Este (Junín, Rivadavia, San Martín, Santa Rosa, La Paz), Valle de Uco (Tupungato, Tunuyán, San Carlos) and Sur (San Rafael, General Alvear). In 2018 the Este held the largest area, 42.4 percent of the provincial total, while the Uco Valley had grown 117 percent since 2000 to rise from fifth to second place by area. Between 2016 and 2025 every department lost vineyard area except in the Uco Valley, where Tunuyán gained 1,124 hectares, Tupungato 944 hectares and San Carlos held steady. The Uco Valley is formed by the Cordillera Frontal and the Huayquerías and irrigated by the Tunuyán and Tupungato rivers; its steep upper zones have stony, low-fertility soils, and its soils are generally very permeable. The valley is 40km wide and 70km long, with vineyards at between 1,000m and 1,500m. In Luján de Cuyo, Vistalba and Las Compuertas share alluvial soils rich in sand and stones dragged down from the Andes by the Mendoza River, and Agrelo is a hillside of sandy, rocky soils ranging from 780m to 1,100m. In the Uco Valley, Gualtallary occupies the highest zone of Tupungato, up to 1,600m with most vineyards at 1,300m, on sandy, rocky, chalk-rich soils, and Altamira lies on an alluvial cone at 1,000m to 1,100m, rich in sand, stones and limestone. The INV register lists the Luján de Cuyo DOC (Resolución INV C.15/2005) and the San Rafael DOC (Resolución INV C.31/2007), a Valle de Uco IG covering the departments of San Carlos, Tunuyán and Tupungato, and district IGs including Agrelo, Las Compuertas and Vistalba in Luján de Cuyo, Paraje Altamira (Resolución INV C.44/2013) and Pampa el Cepillo (2019) in San Carlos, and Los Chacayes (2017) and San Pablo (2019) in Tunuyán.

• Five INV zones across 16 departments: Norte, Centro, Este, Valle de Uco, Sur
• Este held 42.4% of Mendoza's vines in 2018; the Uco Valley grew 117% from 2000 to rank second
• Uco Valley upper-zone soils stony and low in fertility, generally very permeable; 40km by 70km, with vineyards at 1,000m to 1,500m
• DOCs: Luján de Cuyo (Resolución INV C.15/2005) and San Rafael (Resolución INV C.31/2007); district IGs include Agrelo, Las Compuertas, Vistalba, Paraje Altamira, Pampa el Cepillo, Los Chacayes and San Pablo

Malbec is the most planted variety in Mendoza, at 28.3 percent of the province's vineyard area in 2025, followed by Bonarda (9.8 percent), Cereza (8.9 percent), Criolla Grande (7.8 percent) and Cabernet Sauvignon (6.8 percent). Over the past decade Malbec gained 5,099 hectares in the province and Cabernet Franc 1,188 hectares, while Criolla Grande (down 4,171 hectares) and Cereza (down 3,570 hectares) fell most between 2016 and 2025. Red varieties made up 65.0 percent of Mendoza's wine-grape area in 2025, pink-skinned varieties 20.4 percent and whites 14.6 percent. Mendoza held 39,771 hectares of Malbec in 2025, 84.8 percent of the national total; Luján de Cuyo (22.3 percent) and San Carlos (14.5 percent) had the largest shares of the province's Malbec, and the three Uco Valley departments together held 41.7 percent. Argentine Malbec typically combines good structure, balanced acidity, intense violet colours and marked fruit (plums, blackberries and cherries) with floral notes, particularly violets. Style shifts from one sub-zone to the next: Norton winemaker Jorge Riccitelli credits Agrelo Malbec with intense colour and black-fruit aromas, especially figs; Decanter's Patricio Tapia finds some of Mendoza's freshest Malbecs in Gualtallary; and Santiago Achaval of Achaval-Ferrer calls Altamira Malbecs "perfumed with violets and lavender and bright red fruits". Catena Zapata grows Chardonnay in its Adrianna Vineyard, where the White Bones parcel sits at 1,450m on soils layered with calcareous deposits, limestone and fossilised animal bones.

• Malbec: the most planted variety, 28.3% of Mendoza's vineyard area in 2025; Maipú held 7.6% of the province's vines in 2025, and Luján de Cuyo 22.3% of its Malbec
• Mendoza's 2025 top five by area: Malbec 28.3%, Bonarda 9.8%, Cereza 8.9%, Criolla Grande 7.8%, Cabernet Sauvignon 6.8%
• Mendoza's Malbec: 39,771 ha in 2025, 84.8% of Argentina's; Luján de Cuyo 22.3% and San Carlos 14.5% of the province's Malbec
• 2016 to 2025: Malbec +5,099 ha and Cabernet Franc +1,188 ha; Criolla Grande -4,171 ha and Cereza -3,570 ha

Bodega Catena Zapata dates its founding to 1902, when Nicola Catena planted his first Malbec vineyard in Mendoza. In 1992 his grandson Nicolás Catena Zapata settled on Gualtallary Alto, which the winery calls the highest and westernmost spot in Tupungato, at 5,000 feet, for a vineyard he named Adrianna after his youngest daughter. The winery's wines now come from six estate vineyards: Angélica, La Pirámide, Nicasia, Domingo, Adrianna and Angélica Sur. Laura Catena is Managing Director and founder of the Catena Institute of Wine, which works with the University of California Davis and the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Familia Zuccardi dates its start to 1963, when engineer Alberto "Tito" Zuccardi planted the family's first vineyard to demonstrate an irrigation system of his own invention; his son José Alberto took charge in 1985, and grandson Sebastián led the move to the Uco Valley, where the family planted Finca Canal Uco in Paraje Altamira in 2007 and opened the Zuccardi Valle de Uco winery in 2016. Luigi Bosca, founded in 1901 by Leoncio Arizu in Luján de Cuyo, has vineyards in Luján de Cuyo, Maipú and the Uco Valley, and counts itself a founding member and driving force behind the creation of Argentina's first D.O.C., in Luján de Cuyo, in 1989.

• Catena Zapata: founded 1902; Adrianna Vineyard chosen in 1992 at Gualtallary Alto, Tupungato; six estate vineyards
• Laura Catena: Managing Director and founder of the Catena Institute of Wine, which works with UC Davis and the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo
• Familia Zuccardi: first vineyard 1963 (Alberto "Tito" Zuccardi); Finca Canal Uco in Paraje Altamira planted 2007; Zuccardi Valle de Uco winery opened 2016 (producer's site)
• Luigi Bosca: founded 1901 by Leoncio Arizu in Luján de Cuyo; counts itself a founding member of the Luján de Cuyo D.O.C. of 1989

The Fiesta de la Vendimia, Mendoza's annual harvest festival, takes over the city for 10 days at the beginning of March, with traditional foods, folkloric concerts and a parade and pageant to crown the queen of the festival. The nearest major airport is Mendoza El Plumerillo, 8km from Mendoza. The Uco Valley has become one of the main destinations for international tourists, and traditional producers such as Catena and Familia Zuccardi have invested there.

• Fiesta de la Vendimia: 10 days at the beginning of March, with a parade and pageant crowning the festival queen
• Mendoza El Plumerillo airport, 8km from Mendoza
• Uco Valley: one of the main destinations for international tourists

Primary sources (the Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura, hosted at argentina.gob.ar, and producers' own sites for their own history and wines): https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/2018/10/anuario_superficie_2025.pdf, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/2018/10/anuario_cosecha_y_elaboracion_2025.pdf, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/2018/10/informe_malbec_2025.pdf, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/malbec_historia_y_presente_1.pdf, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/2022/04/i.g._y_d.o.c._de_la_republica_argentina.pdf, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/2018/10/valle_de_uco_0.pdf, https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/evolucion_de_superficie_x_oasis_mza_0.pdf, https://catenazapata.com/since-1902/, https://catenazapata.com/wines/, https://catenazapata.com/white-bones-2023, https://catenazapata.com/adrianna-vineyard/, https://zuccardiwines.com/es/historia/, https://zuccardiwines.com/en/fincas/, https://zuccardiwines.com/en/vinos/vinos-de-finca/, https://luigibosca.com/en/about-us/, https://catenazapata.com/family/, https://catenazapata.com/catena-institute/. Secondary: https://www.decanter.com/features/malbec-mendoza-sub-zones-259670/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/south-america/wine-trails-mendoza-travel-guide-280786/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/south-america/uco-valley-travel-guide-30396/. Last verified 2026-10-05