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The regions · Argentina

Mendoza: the Malbec that drinks Andean snowmelt

Mendoza is the main address of Argentine wine: 71.7% of the country's vineyard area is there, according to the INV, Argentina's official wine institute. It's a desert at the foot of the Andes, where the vine lives on snowmelt and Malbec became the face of the country.

468 of the house's labels come from here329 reds · 96 whites · 19 sparkling · 16 rosés · 8 dessert or PortOn the Trips mapTravel itinerary

Where it is and what the place is like

Mendoza is in west-central Argentina, right up against the Andes, which there hold Aconcagua, at 6,961 meters (6,960.8 in the official 2012 measurement), the highest peak in the Americas. The mountains block the moisture coming from the Pacific, and the result is a dry climate: on average it rains 220 millimeters a year. Bordeaux, in France, gets about 850.

With so little rain, the vine depends on the water that comes down from the mountains when the snow melts. It reaches the vineyards through irrigation channels, the acequias, and also through drip irrigation. And the vineyards climb: they range from 430 to 2,000 meters in altitude.

The snowy Andes in the background, a desert with rows of vines and a water channel coming down from the mountain.
fig. 1Mendoza: a desert at the foot of the Andes, with 220 mm of rain a year; the vine drinks snowmelt, which arrives through the acequias.

The region's grapes

The queen is Malbec, with 28.3% of the province's vineyards, according to the INV (2025 data). More than 8 in 10 hectares of Argentina's Malbec are in Mendoza. Next come Bonarda, Cereza, Criolla Grande and Cabernet Sauvignon. Cereza and Criolla Grande are criolla grapes, with pink skins.

Malbec is French by birth, from the Cahors region in southwestern France. It arrived in Mendoza in 1853 with the French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget, hired to run the province's Quinta Agronómica. That's why Malbec World Day is April 17: it was on that day, in 1853, that the project for the Quinta was presented to the Mendoza legislature.

Among the whites, the ones that show up most are Pedro Giménez, Chardonnay and Torrontés Riojano.

What wine comes from there

Mendoza is red wine country: 65% of the wine grape area is red grapes, according to the INV. Malbec from here usually has a very dark color and lots of fruit, and it comes in several versions: young and unoaked, to drink now; with time in a barrel, fuller-bodied and with the stamina to age; and in a blend with Cabernet Sauvignon, Bonarda or Syrah.

What the label says

In Argentina, the origin on the label follows Law 25.163. The GI (Geographical Indication) says where the wine comes from. It can be the whole province (“Mendoza”), a department (“Luján de Cuyo”, “Tupungato”) or a small place, like “Paraje Altamira” or “Los Chacayes”. The Valle de Uco (Uco Valley) has been a GI since 2002.

The step above is the DOC (Controlled Denomination of Origin), with rules on grapes and production. There are only two in the country, and both are in Mendoza: Luján de Cuyo, recognized by the INV in 2005, and San Rafael, in 2007.

The Luján de Cuyo DOC was born from producers' wish to protect old Malbec vineyards, and the first wines bearing the name came out in 1991. The rules call for vines over 10 years old, at most 10 tonnes of grapes per hectare and at least one year in barrel, with two years of waiting before sale.

What it pairs with

Malbec and beef are old friends: picanha, flank steak, beef ribs, burgers. It also goes well with calabresa sausage pizza, lasagna bolognese and feijão tropeiro (beans with sausage, bacon and cassava flour). A lighter, unoaked Malbec can even handle Friday night's mozzarella pizza. Mendoza Chardonnay is great with roast chicken and fish moqueca, the Brazilian stew. Pairing is a suggestion: the best match is the one you like.

The five Mendozas

Wines of Argentina divides the province into five large zones. They're worth knowing, because many of these names are GIs and show up on the label:

  • Primera Zona (Luján de Cuyo and Maipú): next to the city of Mendoza, from 680 to 1,170 meters.
  • Valle de Uco (Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos): high and cool, from 900 to 1,700 meters. It was the only corner of the province where vineyard area didn't shrink over the last ten years.
  • East (San Martín, Rivadavia, Junín, Santa Rosa and La Paz): lower and warmer, from 550 to 700 meters. San Martín is the department with the most vineyard in Mendoza.
  • South (San Rafael, General Alvear and Malargüe): home of the San Rafael DOC, whose vineyards sit between 600 and 800 meters.
  • North (Lavalle and Las Heras).

The grapes in the labels from here

Across the house's 468 Mendoza labels, the grapes that show up most. The number is how many labels use each one.

Malbec 280Cabernet Sauvignon 72Chardonnay 72Cabernet Franc 26Pinot Noir 25Bonarda 20Sauvignon Blanc 18Merlot 17

To start with: Mendoza wines by price range

The price range the house saw at big stores in Brazil, in the month shown. The price changes; the range tends to stay.

Throwing a party? How many bottles to buy →

Top rated from Mendoza

Average rating from the people who drank it (X-Wines), from 1 to 5. Tap to see the wine's page.

See the Mendoza labels in the search →

The no-fuss summary: Mendoza is a desert turned vineyard by snow water. Taste a simple Malbec and then one from the Valle de Uco, side by side, and notice what altitude changes in your glass.

Sources for this page

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