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Argentina Features

Your insider’s guide to wine, travel and culture in Argentina. Read all about the wine regions, wines and winemakers of Argentina in the ultimate Argentina Wine Guide.

Argentina’s Michelin star restaurants in Mendoza and Buenos Aires announced

by Amanda Barnes November 26, 2023

written by Amanda Barnes

The long awaited list of Argentina’s Michelin star restaurants is out! Seven restaurants between Buenos Aires and Mendoza were awarded a Michelin star, including Aramburo which gained two Michelin stars.

Argentina’s Michelin star restaurants in Mendoza and Buenos Aires

Aramburo, Buenos Aires – Two Michelin stars ⭐⭐
arambururesto.com.ar

Azafrán, Mendoza – One Michelin star ⭐
azafranresto.com

Brindillas, Mendoza – One Michelin star ⭐
brindillas.com

Casa Vigil, Mendoza – One Michelin star ⭐
instagram.com/casavigil

Don Julio, Buenos Aires – One Michelin star ⭐
parrilladonjulio.com

Trescha, Buenos Aires – One Michelin star ⭐
trescharestaurant.com

Zonda Cocina de Paisaje, Mendoza – One Michelin star ⭐
lagarde.com.ar

While the Michelin gold star is the bar that everyone is looking to achieve, there are a number of other stars and recommendations that the Michelin guide gives out.

Seven restaurants were awarded a green star, which is given to establishments making an important effort in sustainability. “Green Stars are much more than a simple distinction; they recognise the endeavours of those restaurants which incorporate sustainable practices into their daily work,” explains the Guide. |These establishments demonstrate an ethical commitment to their surroundings, employing every effort to ensure that the ingredients they work with – many from their own organic gardens – reach customers with the smallest possible carbon footprint and maximum traceability.”

Green Michelin star restaurants in Argentina

Anchoita, Buenos Aires – green star
anchoita.com.ar

Casa Vigil, Mendoza – green star
instagram.com/casavigil

Crizia, Buenos Aires – green star
crizia.com.ar

Don Julio, Buenos Aires – green star
parrilladonjulio.com

El Preferido de Palermo, Buenos Aires – green star
instagram.com/elpreferidodepalermo

Riccitelli Bistro, Mendoza – green star
matiasriccitelli.com

Zonda Cocina de Paisaje – green star
lagarde.com.ar

Another award given by the guide as the Bib Gourmand awards, which are given to restaurants with a very good price – quality ratio. The seven Bib Gourmand awards all went to restaurants in the capital city.

Bib Gourmand awards for Argentina

Bis Bistró, Buenos Aires – Bib Gourmand

Reliquia, Buenos Aires – Bib Gourmand

Anafe, Buenos Aires – Bib Gourmand

República del Fuego, Buenos Aires – Bib Gourmand

Caseros, Buenos Aires – Bib Gourmand

Mengano, Buenos Aires – Bib Gourmand

La Alacena Trattoria, Buenos Aires – Bib Gourmand

There were another 57 restaurants (42 in Buenos Aires and 15 in Mendoza) which were given a Michelin guide recommendation.

In addition Martín Bruno was awarded as Sommelier 2024, while Tomás Treschanski was awarded Young Chef 2024.

What do we make of the Michelin awards in Argentina?

The arrival of the Michelin guide to Argentina hit the news earlier this year with speculation of which restaurants would be awarded. The country’s national tourism agency — Inprotur — invested no less than $620,000 USD to bring the guide and their inspectors to Argentina (or more precisely, Mendoza and Buenos Aires). It is no minor investment for a country suffering with over 150% annual inflation…

I can understand the attraction, however. There’s no doubt that Argentina will gain more press and hopefully more tourism and income as a result. The awards have also, most interestingly of all, put Mendoza on an equal, if not higher, playing field as Buenos Aires.

November 26, 2023 0 comment

Pedernal wine region guide in San Juan Argentina. Video guide to the wine regions of Argentina and South America with Amanda Barnes, author of The South America Wine Guide.

San Juan & La Rioja Featured Posts Argentina Wine Guide Argentina Features Argentina Videos Wine Region Guides Wine

Pedernal in San Juan: Video & wine guide

by Amanda Barnes April 3, 2023

written by Amanda Barnes

Pedernal is one of the most exciting sub-regions for wine in San Juan. A wine region of high altitude, with a unique mountain microclimate and with distinctive chalky soils, Pedernal has become the source of some of the best wines in San Juan. Find out why in our video guide as Amanda Barnes visits the vineyard of Pyros with winemaker Paula González.

Wine region video guide to Pedernal Valley in San Juan

Pedernal is an isolated wine region in the southern end of San Juan, right on the border with Mendoza. Despite the challenges of making wine here in this remote mountain region (so remote we actually got lost trying to find it!), Pedernal offers a unique microclimate at high altitude surrounded by different mountain chains which is what has made it well worth investing in.

It isn’t only the arid mountain climate which makes the wines distinct, but also the calcareous-rich soils. The combination of soils, sunshine and the mountain breezes and more extreme diurnal range all impact the resulting wines.

It’s a relatively small appellation, with around 850 hectares of vines planted, but it really is making a mark on the wines of the region. I consider it one of the ‘grand crus’ of San Juan and Argentina in fact.

I took a visit to the region recently to taste with Paula Gonzalez, the winemaker at one of the key wineries there — Pyros. Pyros is one of the leaders of making high quality wines in the region, and I think Paula’s work in recent vintages really exemplifies the freshness and tension you can get in the red wines of the region.

April 3, 2023 0 comment

The ultimate guide to Syrah wines in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay

Brazil Features Chile Features Argentina Wine Guide Argentina Features Chile Wine Guide Brazil Wine Guide

The ultimate guide to Syrah in South America

by Amanda Barnes February 15, 2023

written by Amanda Barnes

Syrah is one of the ultimate terroir hunting grapes, and has made a home in several distinctive terroirs in South America. As we celebrate Syrah Day this 16th February, we wanted to bring you the ultimate guide to Syrah in South America and the best wines to try from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil.

Ever since its introduction into the continent over a hundred years ago, it has found a home and quite unique expressions in the coastal regions of Chile, the Andes and mountainous wine regions of Argentina and Chile, and also in the coastal wine regions of Uruguay and some new high-altitude expressions in Brazil.

Guide to Syrah in Chile

Hectares planted: 7,400 hectares

Key descriptors

Deep ruby/violet colour. Aromas of black olives, violets, black pepper & cassis. Dry with lively acidity (high), fine, spicy tannins (medium +), and full body.

Best Syrah wines in South America — Viñedos de Alcohuaz in Elqui, one of the best Chilean Syrah producers

Chilean Syrah can be incredibly exciting. It comes from widely diverse wine regions, so you can taste cool-coast Syrah with tightrope acidity and meaty, black olive flavours from the likes of Limarí or Leyda, or plush Syrah filled to the brim with juicy black fruit from the warmth of the central valleys such as Apalta, or spicy mountain Syrah from the heights of the Andes in Elqui and Aconcagua. As a variety that really transmits terroir, Syrah in Chile can offer a thrilling journey through its wine regions.

Being incredibly versatile as a variety means that Syrah is widely planted around the different wine regions and, of course, there are some less exciting Syrah wines at the lower end — often blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon — but it always offers great value at every price point. An emerging trend of Mediterranean-style blends with Garnacha, Mourvèdre and Petite Sirah is also very exciting. If you taste some of the wines at the top end, you get some wonderfully diverse expressions from the different regions.

See our favourite Chilean Syrah wines below!

Favourite Chilean Syrah producers

Matetic, Villard, Polkura, Lapostolle Collection, Viñedos de Alcohuaz, San Pedro 1865, Tabalí, Montes, Errázuriz, Falernia, Kingston, Casa Marín, Leyda, Undurraga TH

February 15, 2023 0 comment

Featured Argentina Argentina Wine Guide Argentina Features

Guide to the wine regions of Argentina

by Amanda Barnes January 14, 2023

written by Amanda Barnes

Check out our ultimate Argentina wine guide and get to know everything about the terroir and the wine regions of Argentina.

Guide to wine regions of Argentina

Facts on Argentine wine

Northern Argentina wine regions: Salta, Catamarca & Jujuy

Cuyo wine regions: Mendoza, San Juan, San Rafael, La Rioja

Patagonia wine regions: Neuquen, Rio Negro & Chubut

Central & Atlantic Argentina wine regions

Map of Argentina’s wine regions

Most of Argentina’s wine regions are located along the western edge of the country, in the foothills of the Andes mountains that form a natural frontier with Chile. The foothills offer the ideal natural landscape for vineyards to be able to thrive in the desert, as they slope gently downwards and are irrigated by the rivers carrying snowmelt from the Andes down to the arid plains below.

From Río Negro in the south to Salta and Jujuy in the far north, most of Argentina’s wine regions share this dry, warm and sunny mountain climate and gradually sloping alluvial soils. However in recent years we’ve seen a steady growth and diversification of Argentina’s wine regions, expanding further south into Patagonia as well as eastwards into the Pampa and Buenos Aires.

The wine regions of Argentina: Salta, Cafayate, Caclhaqui valleys, Maipu, Lujan de Cuyo, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Patagonia, Buenos Aires — Colomé vineyard in Salta. Photo by Stephane Rampon

Key Facts on Argentine wine

Hectares planted: 197,965
Producers: <900 wineries; 23,699 vineyards
Production: 1.1 billion litres of wine (2020)
Wine regions: Jujuy (42 ha); Calchaquí Valleys (4,468 ha); Catamarca Valleys (1,721 ha); La Rioja (6,539 ha); San Juan (31,960 ha); Mendoza (149,002 ha); San Luis (107 ha); Neuquén (1,764 ha); Río Negro (1,526 ha); Chubut (87 ha); La Pampa (279 ha); Córdoba (261 ha); Buenos Aires (148 ha); Entre Rios (49 ha); Misiones (12 ha); Santiago del Estero (1 ha)
Most-planted varieties: Malbec, Cereza, Bonarda, Cabernet Sauvignon, Criolla Grande, Syrah, Torrontés, Pedro Giménez, Chardonnay, Tempranillo

The wine regions of Argentina

Northern Argentina

Jujuy

At the northernmost tip of Argentina, Jujuy is, in a word, extreme. Bordering southern Bolivia and the edge of Chile’s Atacama region, Jujuy has both jungle and desert salt flats but it is largely dominated by the high plateau of the altiplano which scales up to altitudes of over 5,000 metres.

The wine regions and vineyards of Jujuy are mainly in the narrow 80 km-long mountain valley and canyon of Quebrada de Humahuaca and the warmer valleys in the south known as the Valles Templados. Although there aren’t many vineyards in Jujuy (the region has just 42 hectares to date), Jujuy claims some of the highest-altitude vineyards in the world.

Calchaquí Valleys

The Calchaquí Valleys is one of Argentina’s most extraordinary wine regions and it has, remarkably, been producing wine for hundreds of years, despite the challenges of its high altitude and remote nature.

Old vines can be found throughout this string of mountain valleys which runs north to south, spanning over 270 km and three of Argentina’s provinces: Salta, Tucumán and Catamarca. The Calchaquí Valleys may only represent 2% of the country’s vineyards, but it claims a disproportionate share of Argentina’s wine awards — and with good reason, I say. High-altitude viticulture can be hard work, but it certainly reaps the benefits of distinctive personality and I never fail to be impressed by the incredible value and quality of Calchaquí wines.

Read more in our Guide to the Calchaquí Valleys wine region

Valleys of Catamarca

With over three-quarters of the province covered by mountains, Catamarca’s wine regions are unsurprisingly defined by their mountains and moderated by their altitude. Although Catamarca’s vineyard area is impressive in size, the wines are sadly less so. The province is a major producer of juice – so you won’t find as much wine coming out of Catamarca as you might expect – and also jug wine. Some of the better known wine regions of Catamarca are within the Calchaqui Valleys.

January 14, 2023 0 comment

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