Mendoza wines: altitude, sub-regions and styles

It comes down to altitude and soil. Luján de Cuyo, at around 1,000 m on deep clay-limestone, gives a fleshy Malbec with coated tannin. The Valle de Uco, between 1,100 and 1,700 m on pebbles and limestone, tightens the tannin, keeps the acidity and steers the wine towards red fruit and a saline finish.

The first worthwhile step is around €10, with Caselles & Guillaume Letang's Turno de Noche at €9.90 or Doña Paula's Los Cardos Malbec at €9.50. Between €20 and €30, the single-parcel cuvées of the Valle de Uco. Above €100, Catena Zapata's Adrianna vineyards.

Because barely two hundred millimetres of rain fall each year, a semi-desert regime. The water comes from Andean snowmelt, captured in the rivers and then distributed through a network of canals several centuries old. Each parcel has a water right attached to its title deed, now delivered by drip irrigation.

A foehn-type wind that crosses the cordillera, compresses as it loses altitude and arrives hot and very dry over the vineyards, sometimes at thirty-five degrees with ten per cent humidity. It damages flowering when it blows in the southern spring, but the dry air it brings greatly limits downy and powdery mildew.

By day, the sun builds sugars and ripens the tannins. At night, the cold slows the plant's respiration, so it stops consuming its own acids. A difference of around fifteen degrees between afternoon and dawn produces grapes that are both ripe and acidic, hence the freshness of wines that are nonetheless very sunny.

Very much so. In our selection, Cabernet Sauvignon comes just behind Malbec, followed by Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which is very much at home on the heights of the Valle de Uco. You will also find Cabernet Franc, Fiano, Bonarda and a little Torrontés.

The entry-level cuvées are drunk within three years, for their fruit. The reservas from Luján de Cuyo last five to ten years thanks to their concentration. The high-altitude Malbecs of the Valle de Uco, more acidic and more tannic, need two to three years in the cellar before opening up, then evolve over a decade.

Between sixteen and seventeen degrees, slightly cooler than people instinctively serve them. Above eighteen, the alcohol stands out and the fruit flattens. The whites from Gualtallary are served at around eleven degrees, but they benefit from warming up in the glass. Half an hour in a decanter helps young vintages.

It depends on the cuvée. Part of the section is sold individually in 750 ml, the rest goes in sets of two or three or in cases of six, sometimes in magnum. The format on offer and its price are shown on the product page, and the contact page lets you check before ordering.

This province offers the widest range, from weekday wines to collector's parcels. Salta climbs much higher, to around 1,700–1,800 m, with wilder Malbecs and Torrontés for white. Patagonia loses altitude but gains latitude: taut Pinot Noirs and old-vine Malbecs.