Mendoza wines: altitude, sub-regions and styles
83 bottles from the province, from €9.40 to €330Almost all exported Argentine wine comes from a single province, and almost everything there hinges on one factor: the height at which the vines are planted. Between the riverside vineyards and the plateaus of Tupungato lie eight hundred metres of elevation, around ten degrees of difference at night, and wines that no longer have much in common.
This page acts as a signpost. It locates each area, explains what altitude, meltwater and the Zonda wind do to the grapes, then points you to the section that matches the style you are looking for.
Jardin de Hormigas - Meteora 2021
A vibrant, taut and mineral high-altitude Malbec. The purity of Altamira in a precise, deep style.
Altos las Hormigas - Malbec Reserva 2020
A terroir Malbec, precise and vibrant. Limestone freshness frames deep fruit.
Catena Zapata - Adrianna White Stones 2023
A great Argentinian high-altitude Chardonnay, precise, mineral, and with remarkable tension.
Catena - Alta Cabernet Sauvigon 2019
An Argentinian high-altitude Cabernet, combining aromatic intensity, Andean freshness, and an elegant structure.
Catena Zapata - Nicasia 2020
A high-altitude Malbec from Catena Zapata, combining aromatic intensity, Andean freshness, and textural depth.
Altos las Hormigas - Malbec Terroir Lujan de Cuyo 2022
A precise and vibrant terroir Malbec, where Andean freshness enhances the purity of the fruit.
Catena Zapata - Adrianna Fortuna Terrae 2022
A high-altitude Malbec of great finesse, where Andean freshness meets the depth of Gualtallary's limestone soils.
Catena Zapata - Adrianna White Bones 2023
A great high-altitude Argentinian Chardonnay, taut, mineral, and deeply marked by its Gualtallary limestone terroir.
Altos las Hormigas - Malbec Terroir Valle de Uco 2022
A precise and juicy high-altitude Malbec, where the freshness of the Uco Valley enhances the expression of the limestone terroir.
Reserva de Los Andes - Malbec Blanco 2025
A white-vinified Malbec that makes this wine unique and original
Catena Zapata - Adrianna River 2022
A high-altitude Malbec, precise and profound, that brilliantly expresses the unique minerality of the Adrianna vineyard.
Catena Zapata - Adrianna Mundus Bacillus Terrae 2021
A high-altitude Malbec, with rare mineral precision, that finely expresses the uniqueness of the Adrianna vineyard.
Garganta del Diablo - Malbec 2024
A high-altitude Argentinian Malbec, combining intense fruit, Andean freshness and silky tannins.
Luca Wines - Beso de Dante 2019
An Argentinian red from high altitudes, combining Andean intensity, freshness and Bordeaux elegance.
Domaine Nico - Le Paradis Pinot Noir 2018
An Argentinian high-altitude Pinot Noir combining aromatic finesse, freshness and elegant texture.
Domaine Nico - Grand Père Pinot Noir 2022
An Argentinian Pinot Noir from high altitudes, combining freshness, finesse and aromatic intensity.
Domaine Nico - La Savante Pinot Noir 2022
An Argentinian high-altitude Pinot Noir that combines finesse, freshness and aromatic depth.
Domaine Nico - Grand Mere Pinot Noir 2022
An Argentinian high-altitude Pinot Noir that combines finesse, freshness and aromatic depth.
Domaine Nico - Histoire d'A Pinot Noir 2022
A fine and precise Argentinian high-altitude Pinot Noir, where Andean freshness meets Burgundian elegance.
Caelum - Eclat Extra Brut- 2017
A refined high-altitude sparkling wine, combining freshness, complexity and elegance in an ethereal harmony
Caelum - Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2019
An intense, structured and elegant Argentinian Cabernet, with deep aromas of black fruits and spices.
Caelum - Terroir Fiano 2024
A 100% fresh, mineral Fiano enhanced by the purity of the high altitudes of Mendoza.
Doña Paula - Los Cardos Chardonnay 2020
Lively Chardonnay from Mendoza, citrus and exotic fruit, to drink well chilled.
La Rural - Rutini Antologia LIII 2018
A blend of the best grapes of the vintage, from a selection of 3 exceptional terroirs
Sub-regions: soils, altitudes and grape varieties
The province stretches three hundred kilometres from north to south, but it is the vertical axis that decides everything. Moving up towards the cordillera, the temperature drops by half a degree every hundred metres, the soils shift from deep silt to limestone pebbles, and the same grape variety produces two unrelated wines.
| Sub-region | Altitude and soils | Grape varieties | What it changes in the glass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valle de UcoTupungato, San Carlos, Gualtallary, Altamira | 1,000 to 1,700 m, stony alluvium and pockets of limestone, poor soils | Malbec, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc | Fine, tight tannin, high natural acidity, taut rather than jammy red fruit, saline finishes |
| Luján de CuyoUgarteche, Agrelo, Perdriel, Vistalba | 900 to 1,100 m, deep clay-limestone on the alluvial fan of the Río Mendoza | Historic Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Fiano | More flesh and roundness, coated tannin, ripe black fruit, barrel ageing better absorbed |
| Maipú | 700 to 900 m, sandy and silty soils, close to the river and the city | Malbec, Torrontés, Bonarda | Supple, aromatic wines, ready early. The cradle of the vineyard, but barely represented in our selection |
| San Rafael | 450 to 800 m, the south of the province, terraces of the Diamante and the Atuel | Chenin, Malbec, Bonarda | A windier climate more exposed to hail, straight, tangy wines. An area not currently in the section |
| East Mendoza | 600 to 750 m, irrigated plain of Rivadavia and Santa Rosa, deep, fertile soils | Bonarda, Criolla, volume Malbec | The province's breadbasket: high yields, light wines, rarely exported under their own name |
The two areas that account for most of our selection have their own sections: Valle de Uco and Luján de Cuyo. To look beyond the province, see Salta and Patagonia, or head back to our section on Argentina.
Altitude, level by level
Height does not act on its own; it acts through the cold of the night and the radiation of the day. At 1,400 m, the thermometer drops by fifteen degrees between afternoon and dawn: the plant stops burning its acids, the skins thicken, and the tannins ripen without the sugar running away.
| Altitude | What happens in the vineyard | What you find in the glass | Examples in our cellar |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600 to 800 m | Strong summer heat, fast ripening, acidity drops and harvest comes early | Ripe fruit, supple tannin, an easy-drinking wine, alcohol quickly high | Barely present here: our first bottle, the Turno de Noche, already grows higher up, €9.90 |
| 900 to 1,100 m | Luján de Cuyo and upper Maipú, a fifteen-degree difference between day and night | Ripe black fruit, coated tannin, round substance that handles oak well | Caelum Terroir Cabernet Sauvignon, €14.90. Doña Paula Estate Black Edition, 1,050 m, €15.50 |
| 1,100 to 1,400 m | The heart of the Valle de Uco, cold nights, a growing cycle three weeks longer | Higher acidity, straight tannin, red fruit and a saline sensation | Doña Paula Altitude Series 1100 and 1350, €24 each. Bousquet Gran Malbec, €24.90 |
| Above 1,500 m | Upper Gualtallary and La Carrera, spring frost, low yields, intense ultraviolet light | Tension, lively acidity, restrained alcohol, a cool-climate profile | Riccitelli Viñedos de Montaña Chardonnay, La Carrera, 1,700 m, €46. Adrianna White Bones, €122 |
A grape variety always reads through its altitude: a Malbec from 1,000 m and a Malbec from 1,400 m are nothing alike. The same gap applies to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
The water does not fall from the sky; it comes down from the Andes
The province gets around two hundred millimetres of rain a year, a semi-desert regime. Without the cordillera, there would not be a single vine. The whole vineyard lives on snowmelt, captured in the Río Mendoza, the Tunuyán and the Diamante, then distributed through a network of canals inherited from the Huarpe people.
Each parcel has a water right attached to its title deed, counted in hours of irrigation. Newer estates have replaced flood irrigation with drip irrigation: poor, steep soils can be planted, and water stress is managed rather than simply endured.
The Zonda, the wind that decides the harvest
From August to November, a wind comes down from the cordillera, compressing and warming as it goes: thirty-five degrees, ten per cent humidity, violent gusts. It scorches young shoots and jeopardises flowering when it arrives at the wrong moment. The rest of the year, this dry air is a blessing, keeping almost all vine diseases at bay.
The Wine Wanderer Team
What we are asked about Mendoza
What is the difference between a Malbec from the Valle de Uco and a Malbec from Luján de Cuyo?
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.
At what budget does an interesting Mendoza wine start?
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.
Why are Mendoza's vineyards irrigated?
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.
What is the Zonda wind?
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.
What does the day-night temperature range actually do?
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.
Does Mendoza produce anything other than Malbec?
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.
Are these wines for laying down?
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.
At what temperature should a Mendoza Malbec be served?
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.
Can I order a single bottle?
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.