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.