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Although Criolla Chica was one of the first grape varieties to be planted in Argentina and South America, up until this month it was not recognised by Argentina’s National Viticulture Institute (the INV) as a quality wine grape. In a major coup for producers of Criolla wines in Argentina and around the continent, the grape variety has finally been recognised by the INV as a ‘vino de calidad’ — enabling producers to now bottle the variety under the same regulation as other recognised grape varieties, like Malbec.
Despite being one of the oldest and most important grape varieties historically for the country, Criolla Chica (also known as Listán Prieto in Spain, where it originates) has long been overlooked by the wine industry at large as inferior in quality. The previous lack of recognition, not figuring on the list of 48 (now 49) approved varieties by the INV, meant that producers could not bottle Criolla Chica with any regional appellation.
It also meant the red grape variety Criolla Chica was only previously recognised as pink — therefore only capable of making rosé wines, bottled as vino rosado, despite being vinified as a red wine and made with red (or black) grapes. You can often find Criolla Chica wines erroneously placed on wine lists in Argentina as rosé wines, and this anomaly has caused much frustration for producers trying to export their red wines of Criolla Chica which had to be legally registered as rosé.
“Commercially this is going to be really important in terms of being able to talk about the place, and to sell it as a red wine,” explains Pancho Bugallo, winemaker at Cara Sur which has been one of the leading wineries to make premium Criolla wines and export Criolla grape varieties worldwide. He and Sebastian Zuccardi make Criolla Chica wines which can now be labelled under the Geographical Indication for Barreal, in the Calingasta Valley of San Juan. “It will also give more value to this variety which has such an important history in Argentina, and is a variety which deserves to be on the list.”
Other Criolla grape varieties that appear on the INV’s list include Torrontés Riojano, Pedro Giménez and Moscatel de Alejandría. However, with over 60 Criolla varieties identified in Argentina alone, this addition is still only the tip of the iceberg in terms of legitimising and recognising premium wine production of Criolla varieties today.
Read more on the 100 Criolla grape varieties in South America
Bugallo was instrumental in getting Criolla Chica approved by the INV, a process which he started at the INV of San Juan. Bugallo sent grape samples this year to be tested with microvinifications for the variety’s quality potential. He also sent Torrontés Sanjuanino, and is hoping the INV will recognise it in the near future.
