High Life

HIGH LIFE 87 G eographically as extensive as France fivefold, Argentina is the fifth or sixth largest wine-producing country by volume, trading places with China depending on vintages. Its viticultural and winemaking history is the direct consequence of the Age of Discovery, Columbian Exchange and Spanish colonization. Vines were first introduced to Argentina from Chile by colonizers and missionaries in the mid-16th century to make sacramental wine. During the 19th century, Argentina saw the arrival of millions of immigrants from Spain, Italy and France, who brought along much-needed viticultural experience andwinemaking knowledge. Thanks to its fecund land and favorable climate, Argentina became one of the top 10 richest countries by GDP per capita in the early 20th century, outpacing Australia and Canada. The locomotive of economic growth was not so much the urbanized industrial centers as it was the Pampas, home to some of the finest meat and wool in the world to this day. Representing some 70 percent of wine production nationwide, Mendoza is the vinous equivalent of the Pampas, or Argentina’s answer to America’s Napa Valley. It is located on the eastern side of the Andes, curiously closer to the Chilean capital of Santiago than to the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. A recurrent theme in Argentine wine is the continuous and ever more ambitious pursuit of elevation, which not only maximizes sun exposure and diurnal temperature variation, but also prolongs the growing season, thereby enabling grapes to fully ripen and concentrate flavors.