Winemaking arrived in the New World with Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century.
From Mexico, where viticulture was first established in the Americas, the vine spread southward through other Spanish colonies, from Peru to Chile and Argentina by 1560. The Portuguese brought the vine to Brazil as early as 1532. Whether Spanish Catholics and missionaries hold responsibility for propagation of the vine, or colonists were simply interested in preserving a staple of their old lives, viticulture flourished in most of South America. However, despite promising early origins, South American viticulture suffered under a prohibitive 17th century Spanish law that restricted wine production (unrelated to the Church) in the New World in favor of Iberian producers. While some nascent wine-producing colonies were hindered by Spanish calls to uproot their vineyards, others, such as Chile, did their best to ignore the ban on production. The matter was settled definitively as the early 1800s brought a new era of political autonomy to former colonies, and Argentina, Chile, and Brazil (South America’s three leading wine producers) gained independence, though not without a great degree of turbulence and strife. An influx of European immigration in the 19th century, along with the development of a national rail system, resulted in a rapid expansion of viticulture in Argentina. Chile also benefited from European expertise: in 1830 the Frenchman Claudio Gay set up a Chilean repository of pre-phylloxera Vitis vinifera vines at the University of Chile’s Quinta Normal department. These vine specimens served Chile well; its geographic isolation, due to the Andes, prevented phylloxera from entering the country. Today, Chile is the only major winemaking country to remain totally phylloxera-free; in the late 1800s the country was able to capitalize on Europe’s vineyard devastation
The Argentina section reads "Chenin Blanc is the principal grape in the Southern Mendoza departments of San Rafael, Argentina's other DOC, and General Alvear, although the region is not known for fine wines." however there is an intermediate quiz question "T/F: chenin blanc is the principle grape variety of San Rafael." with the correct answer being false. Is that a mistake or am I missing something?
Hey Kyoka! The quiz question reads "True or False: Gran Reserva red wines in Argentina are required to age for 2 years in oak." Yes, the wines must age for two years before release, but 2 years of oak aging is not required therefore the answer here is false.
Under Argentina, it reads: "winemakers have the option of labeling both red and white wines as Reserva or Gran Reserva. Reserva implies a minimum 6 months of aging for white wines and one year for reds; Gran Reserva indicates at least one year for whites and two for reds." but on the intermediate test for Argentina, the correct answer for the question Gran Reserva Reds recquires two years of aging, is false. Is this because the aging requirements are not strict or is this an error?
Hey Nash! Mendoza IG is broken down first by region. These are Primera Zona (Central Mendoza), North Mendoza, East Mendoza, South Mendoza, and Uco Valley IG. As you zoom in, within regions are departments and within those are districts. In your post, these are mostly departments within regions. Maipu IG and Luján de Cuyo DOC are departments within the region of Primera Zona (Central Mendoza), San Rafael DOC is a department within South Mendoza, San Martin IG is a department within East Mendoza. The Uco valley is its own region though. Feel free to read more about it here in the compendium.
Shouldn't the Mendoza subregions be Maipu, Luján de Cuyo, Uco Valley, San Rafael and East Mendoza (also known as San Martin) instead of North,East,South,West?