NYC Culture/Style: WINES OF ARGENTINA Tasting

On October 2, 2013, Wines of Argentina arranged for a wine tasting at '3West Club'.

Wines of Argentina (WofA) is the organization that, since 1993, promotes the Argentine wine brand and image worldwide, spreading knowledge of the winemaking regions of Argentina. In addition, WofA contributes to direct the country's export strategy by studying and analyzing changing trends in consumer markets.

WofA's aim is to contribute to the consolidation of Argentina as one of the main wine exporting countries in the world and to the global success of the Argentine wine industry by enhancing its positive image in the wine trade, among opinion leaders and consumers. It currently provides services to member wineries from every Argentine wine region and helps them to promote their products around the world. It organizes numerous events such as fairs, trade shows, tastings and other activities in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Europe and elsewhere.

The production and consumption of wine in Argentina dates back to over four hundred years ago when the first specimens of Vitis vinifera were brought to the Americas by the Spanish colonizers in the early 16th century. The first vines were planted in Argentina, spreading rapidly in the central, western and northeastern areas of the country. Favored by the optimum soil and weather conditions of the Andean region, the winemaking industry experienced rapid, extensive growth.

During the XIX century, European immigrants introduced new vinegrowing techniques and grapevarieties, which found an ideal environment for their development in the Andes and the Río Colorado Valley.

In 1853, the Quinta Normal—the first school of agriculture in the country—was created in Mendoza. Michel Aimé Pouget was the first to introduce French vines in Mendoza, to promote their cultivation and to teach scientific methods to improve fruit development.

By 1873, Argentina already had 5,000 acres of vineyards, and by 1893, that area had expanded five-fold to 25,000 acres, and by the early in the 1900's, the vineyard area had reached 519,800 acres.

In the 1960's the production and elaboration system was finally complete, with large winemaking establishments, bottling plants and a solid distribution and retail network covering the main centers of consumption across the country.

In the 1970's the prevailing model, based on the production of large volumes of low quality wines geared towards the domestic market, collapsed. The sweeping entry of soft drinks and beer into the market led to a drop in the consumption of table wine from 90 liters per capita in 1970 to 55 liters per capita in 1991. Between 1982 and 1992 extensive uprooting of vineyards was undertaken, and 36% of the existing vineyards were removed.

By the end of the 1980's and the early 1990's a new era began for the Argentine wine industry. The arrival of Neoliberalism in the national economy led to the incorporation of Argentina into the global market. New local and foreign businesspeople came into the scene. They geared the industry towards the production of small volumes of top quality wines, both for export and for domestic consumption. Due to the incorporation of new technologies, growing systems, grape stock selection techniques and marketing systems, the Argentine wine industry has found its place in the international market.

*Source: "Argentina Tiempo de Cosecha". Homenaje a la vitivinicultura en el Bicentenario de la Patria. Josefina Rosner ediciones. 2010.