Bodega Piedra Negra is François Lurton’s winery in Argentina, in the Los Chacayes region of the Uco Valley. With both Malbec and Cot planted, the majority of the production at Piedra Negra winery is red wine however it is also worth hunting down their Sauvignon Vert-based white blend. The estate has 200 hectares (99 of which are planted and managed by organic and biodynamic farming). François Lurton also owns Hacienda Araucano in Chile.
Looking for some solid statistics on South American wine production? Here are the most recent reports on South American wine production. Currently, Argentina is the biggest wine producer in South America, followed by Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia. Here’s the latest South American wine production numbers
Argentina wine production statistics, 2021
Argentina wine production statistics, 2020
Argentina wine production statistics, 2019
Mendoza overview by Wines of Argentina
Uco Valley: Wine production statistics (INV, 2019) & the INV’s Special Report on Uco Valley 2019
Eastern Mendoza: Wine production statistics (INV, 2019)
Central Mendoza (Luján de Cuyo, Maipú, Guaymallen, Godoy Cruz): Wine production statistics, INV 2019
North Mendoza (Lavalle, Las Heras): Wine production statistics (INV, 2019) & the INV’s Special Report on North Mendoza 2019
South Mendoza (San Rafael, General Alvear): Wine production statistics (INV, 2019) & the INV’s Special Report on Southern Mendoza 2019
Northern Argentina (La Rioja, Salta, Catamarca, Tucumán, Jujuy): Wine production statistics, INV 2018
Southern Argentina (Río Negro, Neuquén, La Pampa, Chubut): Wine production statistics, INV 2018
Rest of Argentina: Wine production statistics, INV 2019
Chile wine production statistics, 2021
Chile wine production statistics, 2020
Uruguay wine production statistics, 2021
Uruguay wine production statistics, 2020
Uruguay wine production statistics, 2019
Rio Grande do Sol: Wine production 2013-2015
Bolivia: Wine production statistics 2014
Over 70% of the grapevines in Bolivia are Muscat (mainly used for Singani production). However of wine grapes used for wine production:
Read more on wine production and the history of wine in Bolivia.
Wine consumption per capita in Argentina was at 18.9 litres in 2018
Take a look at the historical statistics here: Wine consumption per capita in Argentina 1962 till 2018.
Are you interested in the latest world wine production statistics too? Take a look over 80 Harvests where we have the latest world wine production data
This year’s Argentina Wine Awards (organised annually by Wines of Argentina) was a bumper year for trophies with 17 of the top Trophy accolades going to producers across Argentina, as well as 30 gold awards and hundreds of silver and bronze awards.
The top three awards are the regional trophies which this year went to:
This year’s panel for the Argentina Wine Awards came from a mixture of wine critics and journalists from the UK, China and the USA, and the theme for the tasting was “Breaking New Ground”, to reflect the innovations in the industry at the moment.
Other notable trophy winners at the Argentina Wine Awards were:
The complete list of Trophies, Gold Argentina Wine Awards, Silver Argentina Wine Awards and Bronze Argentina Wine Awards is available here:
What do you think? Are any of the winners your favourite? Or do you have any favourite wines that you would like to see take top position at the next Argentina Wine Awards? Share your favourites in the comments section below!
International Malbec Day, or Malbec World Day, on 17th April is a great excuse to open a couple of bottles of your favourite Argentine variety. Although Malbec became internationally famous for its boom in Mendoza, Argentina, at the turn of the decade, Malbec’s story stretches much further back in history. In our guide to the history of Malbec, we explore French Malbec as well as Argentine Malbec, and how and why we celebrate Malbec Day.
Malbec is a French variety that was widely planted throughout the Middle Ages in different regions in France, where it was so common that it had over 1,000 synonyms. Local growers would give Malbec a local name – Auxerrois, Pressac, Doux Noir, Quercy and Plant du Lot were just a few.
In its heyday, Malbec was known as the ‘black wine’ of France and favoured by Russian Tsars and French aristocracy. Eleanor of Aquitaine was rumoured to be a fan of Malbec, opting to serve it at her lavish parties.
However, with time those names, that fame and those vines disappeared. Malbec was problematic, it was too sensitive to the wet and cold weather of much of France’s wine regions and was relegated to the bottom of the pile. When phylloxera swept across Europe, most growers never replanted Malbec – they opted for more hardy varieties instead.
In Bordeaux, where Malbec once had a stronghold, it has almost disappeared entirely. Malbec remains one of the official five red grapes of Bordeaux, but is, in fact, one of the least planted. Along with Carmenère, Malbec makes up less than 1% of Bordeaux’s red grape vineyards.
The only region that kept Malbec as its flagship variety was Cahors, where it went by the name of Côt. There, in South West France, Malbec remained King. Known for its particular character, Cahors wines were an incredibly dark colour with tight acidity; they were wines that required a few years to loosen up.