ARGENTINA: Winegrowers hope to expand their exports as foreign markets develop a taste for their well-priced and well-regarded New World wines

Record ID: 447356

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Winegrowers hope to expand their exports as foreign markets develop a taste for their well-priced and well-regarded New World wines
  • Date: 21st March 2009
  • Summary: NEUQUEN, ARGENTINA (RECENT) (REUTERS) SEMI-DESERT BORDER ON VINEYARDS OF THE BODEGA DEL FIN DEL MUNDO WINERY VARIOUS OF ENTRANCE SIGN TO WINERY AND DUST WINERY SURROUND BY VINES ROWS OF GRAPE VINES VARIOUS OF WINERY DIRECTOR JULIO VIOLA WALKING THROUGH VINEYARD CLOSE-UP OF GRAPES WINERY SURROUNDED BY VINES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) WINERY DIRECTOR, JULIO VIOLA, SAYING "Argentine wines have an excellent price to quality ratio, and with the current global economic situation the consumer is very picky about their purchases and they want to make their money go further. They aren't going to stop drinking wine, but they are going to move towards wines that are lighter on their wallets. And I think that Argentine wine is extremely competitive from this point of view at an international level." VARIOUS OF WORKERS HARVESTING GRAPES WORKERS LOADING BUCKETS OF GRAPES ON TRACTOR WORKERS WALKING WITH EMPTY BUCKETS VARIOUS OF GENERAL VIEWS OF VINEYARD DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM GRAPES VARIOUS OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENTIST SERGIO ARTO STANDING AT WATER IRRIGATION PUMPS WATER CANAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) AGRICULTURAL SCIENTIST SERGIO ARTO, SAYING: "There are other regions where the vineyard is watered just by rain and the problem with that is it depends a lot on chance, because one year you might have a lot of rain and there is an excess of humidity, which bring fungal infections and all the knock-on effects from that, and another year it is dry and the plants don't have enough water to develop the harvest well. For us on the other hand, we have that variable completely under our control."
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA5F1Z0NHIB0IREWTJ5NSFX4W9S
  • Story Text: In the windy, arid plains of Argentina's southern semi-deserts, an oasis has sprung out of the ground ready to pounce on the world's wine market.
    With wine lovers' wallets hit by the economic crisis, the well-priced bottles being produced out of vineyards like this one in the province of Neuquen have already started making their mark on the wine export market.
    Despite tumbling wine prices in 2008, exports of Argentine wines rose by 34 percent in volume over 2007.
    The director of the Bodega del Fin del Mundo winery ('Winery at the End of the World'), Julio Viola, told Reuters he expects Argentine wines to become even more competitive on the international market.

    "Argentine wines have an excellent price to quality ratio, and with the current global economic situation the consumer is very picky about their purchases and they want to make their money go further. They aren't going to stop drinking wine, but they are going to move towards wines that are lighter on their wallets. And I think that Argentine wine is extremely competitive from this point of view at an international level," Viola said, while sitting amongst his vineyards in San Patricio del Chañar, some 55km from Neuquen city.
    Wines from Argentina, along with those from Chile, Australia, South Africa and the United States, are known as "New World" wines whose prices are generally lower than brands produced in Italy, France and Spain.
    But the wines produced in this region of Argentina are not just relatively cheap, but also of spectacular quality.
    Just a decade ago there were no vine plantations here at all, but these sunny, dry flats make perfect grape growing conditions.
    Wine grapes thrive on sun, and with no mountains around they get 180 degrees of rays each day to mature in. They also benefit from sharp temperature changes, and after a scorching day here the thermometer can plunge down to below zero (degrees Celsius) during growing season.
    Winds also keep insects away, while snow-melt irrigation is also a major factor, as the vineyard's agricultural engineer Sergio Arto explains.

    "There are other regions where the vineyard is watered just by rain and the problem with that is it depends a lot on chance, because one year you might have a lot of rain and there is an excess of humidity, which bring fungal infections and all the knock-on effects from that, and another year it is dry and the plants don't have enough water to develop the harvest well. For us on the other hand, we have that variable completely under our control," Arto said.
    The Bodega del Fin del Mundo put down their first vines in 1999, and made their first experimental crop in 2002 to great success, bagging a number of local and international medals.
    In 2009 they are planning to produce 6.5 million bottles of primarily red wines like malbec, cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
    Argentina is especially renowned for its malbec wine, and chief winemaker Marcelo Miras says the wines made in Neuquen have a particularly deep, rich color.

    "We have a very good intensity in our red shades. This is produced naturally from the effect of the wind, in which the skin of the grapes become thicker and rougher, and we know that the natural colorants accumulated in the red skins. So with a higher concentration of color in the skins and skins that are thicker, by applying proper viticulture practices we can obtain wines that have a very good concentration of color," Miras said.
    Only 40 percent of this vineyard's wine is currently exported, primarily to the United States, Canada and northern Europe, but with each year they are hoping to send more bottles overseas.
    Nationally, winemakers are also confident the country's exports will keep growing next year, even though their main export markets are in the throes of economic turmoil.
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