Ep. 998 Map 19 Argentina | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

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Here we are in Argentina, a country that presents unique climate and growing conditions for Viticulture. Perhaps the most notable factor that contributes to Argentina's unique growing conditions is its altitude. In fact, Argentina has some of the highest vineyards in the world. This is important to keep in mind because high altitude vineyards are very important to counteract Argentina's other dominant climate feature. It's low latitude. There are vineyards planted as close to the equator as twenty four degrees latitude. That's even further north than Chile's cooking boat region. Being so close to the equator means that sunlight is intense, not to mention the very warm temperatures. So we have three main factors of Argentina break growing so far. High altitude, low altitude, or more simply put close to the equator. And lastly, we have intense sunlight that gives us warm temperatures. We'll talk about how all this might affect the grapes later in the section about Salta. Let's look at more details about Argentina's climate. Growing conditions here are very dry. This is because the Andes mountain range creates a rain shadow effect. This means that dry winds come down the eastern side of the Andes mountains and into Argentina's bit of cultural areas that are tucked right into the mountains. These winds can be very warm and harsh. But the advantage to growers is less pressure of rotten and disease and lots of opportunity for growing grapes organically. Those are some positive aspects of the dry climate in Argentina. Of course, additional water is needed to grow grapes. So growers have to use a traditional system of irrigation. They use runoff water from the andes as their source of water. This has traditionally meant having channels dug between vineyard rows so that the runoff water can be guided through the vineyard sites. This method of flood irrigation is still in use today, but more recently growers have installed drip irrigation hoses above the roots to irrigate the vines. An advantage of drip irrigation is that it uses water efficiently, but some who use the traditional system of flood irrigation say that this system waters vines more deeply and causes the vine roots to penetrate deeper into the soil. There's a traditional training method for grape vines as well. It is a pergola type system called a parallel. This training system drapes the leaf canopy across horizontally rather than upwards into the air. The thinking behind this parallel training system was to shade the bunches of grapes that hung below the canopy. And therefore protect them from the intense sunshine. However, the more modern systems of training grapes vertically is becoming more common. Growers still try to shade the bunches though by allowing the leaves to surround the fruit. Although growing conditions are generally dry, hail is a common threat to crops, especially in Mendoza. There are two main strategies used in response to this common threat of hail. First, growers acquire vineyard plots. That are spread out across a large area so that if a hailstorm damages fruit in one area, the fruit remains undamaged hopefully in other areas. This is much like taking out an insurance policy when that hopefully pays off in most years. Another strategies to use expensive netting to cover the rows of grapes and then keep the hailstones that are sometimes as big as golf balls off of the grapes. So let's talk about the grape varieties grown here. Of course Malbec is the flagship Great of Argentina. There are variations in style for Malbec here, but generally speaking, it is well known for its deep color, full body, black blue fruit profile, and its velvety tenons. A counterpoint to this common style are the more elegant wines produced from higher altitude vineyards. Bernard is the second most planted black grape here. This is not the same as any of the bananas from Italy. It has recently been discovered that it has hailed from France. And just like Malbec, it has developed its own unique expression here in Argentina. There are easy drinking styles and more structured and concentrated versions also. Cabernet sauvignon is the third most planted black variety. Followed by Sarah, Pepperneo, and Merlo. With white grape production, Toronto is well known for its intense aromas, of florals, and fruit. This is the flagship white grape for Argentina. Quality shirt and names also produced in a variety of styles can be found. The grape called Pedro Jimenez is widely grown for basic table wines that are consumed locally. Yes. This sounds like Pedro Jimenez, but it is not the same. Thank you for listening to Italian wine podcast. We know there are many of you listening out there, so we just want to interrupt for a small ask. 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This extreme location is offset by extremely high vineyards from fifteen hundred meters to three thousand meters above sea level. One of the vineyards is perched at thirty three hundred meters and claims to be the highest vineyard in the world. Toronto's production is successful here, especially in the Cafe Chate Valley. And for black varieties, Malbec is the dominant grape here with more floral aromas from the altitude. But also more body and alcohol from its northerly location. Moving South La Rioja is the next province to look at. Most of the production here is focused on the Falatina valley, turning out inexpensive high volume bottlings of Toronto Kabernet sauvignon and Malbec. The name that rioja can be confused with the rioja region of Spain. So wines here are exported with the name Falatina on the label. The Saint Juan province has the second highest wine production in Argentina. But it is still less than a third of what is produced in Mendoza each year. San Juan was known for inexpensive wine production, but is now becoming known for its quality Sarah bottlings. Now we move into Mendoza. Which accounts for two thirds of all wine production in Argentina. The main vineyard area is situated in the Mendoza River Valley area where the river supplies water for essential irrigation. This is where large production takes place. But vineyards are increasingly found in higher areas and even into the Andes foothills. As we can imagine, the closer the vineyard sites are to the andes, the higher they will be. Within Mendoza, The Luhan Dekujo department is around a thousand meters in altitude and has significant plantings of Old Vai and Malbec. Next, we have the Maipu department. It is slightly east of Mendoza, so we're moving further away from the Andes mountains. Vineyard sites get lower in altitude the further east we go. So it is in the eastern my poo vineyard sites that we can get intensely free email back with higher alcohol, but my poo also has higher quality bottlings in the higher sites near its western edge. And we move to the Uko Valley, an area tucked in closer to the Andes. And as we remember, the closer we are to the Andes, the higher the altitude will be. So following that logic here in the Uko Valley, We have the highest vineyards in the Mendoza province. Producers are keen to capitalize on altitude here because the higher the vineyard site, the cooler the temperatures are at night, wines from higher plantings in the Uko valley can present with more elegance and even floral notes. Let's move now into Southern Mendoza. And as we move south, we can also note that we are moving further away from the warm equator and towards the cool south of the of Argentina. So in Southern Mendoza, We have the Sun Rafael. This department is lower in altitude, around four hundred and fifty to eight hundred and fifty meters above sea level, but Sun Rafael benefits from slightly cooler temperatures due to its elderly location as we just mentioned. The typical reds of Malbec, Cabernet sauvignon, and Bernarda are made here. But in the white category, Shannon is the signature grape here. Now let's move to the region of Patagonia. There are a few factors that make this region unique to the rest of Argentina. Firstly, vineyards are planted further east than the rest of the country. And as mentioned before, the further we are away from the Andes, the lower we get in altitude. This puts vineyards in Patagonia. At about two hundred meters above sea level. This would be considered a low altitude in such a warm country. However, being this far south means that temperatures here are actually relatively low. Vineyards in Patagonia are also subject to a strong desert wind. Which we mentioned earlier. But a benefit of this wind is that it helps to prevent disease, but growers often plant rows of trees to act as wind barriers to dampen the force of the wind. The region of Patagonia is capable of high quality wine production with premium wines coming from the Rio Negro province and unique to Argentina. This is also the source of some quality pinot noir production. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast brought to you by Italian wine Academy, offering WSET levels one, two, and three in English. Visit our website at italian wine academy dot org for more information and sign up today to start your personal adventure in global wine education right here in the heart of verona. Remember to subscribe and like Italian wine podcast and catch us on SoundCloud, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. You can also find our entire back catalog of episodes at Italian wine podcast dot com. Changinging. Hi, guys. 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