1995 Mendoza Vintage

The 1995 season ran from spring 1994 through the autumn 1995 harvest. No official harvest report from the period was found; this account rests on Decanter's 1995 vintage guide for South American reds, which gives the weather a single paragraph. Decanter framed that paragraph around water: it saw global warming as a possible issue for the future, with less water available from the melting snows of the Andes, and noted underground aquifers being drilled deeper to reach the water table in many regions of South America. It said the effect is most marked in Mendoza, where talk about building another dam was under way. On the season itself Decanter wrote: "Dry conditions lead to healthy grapes." The guide gives no dates for frost, hail, heat or harvest, and no yield figures.

• Weather: dry conditions and healthy grapes, per Decanter
• Water: less snowmelt from the Andes flagged as a possible future issue, most marked in Mendoza (Decanter)
• Harvest timing and yields: not reported in the one source found

Decanter rated South America's 1995 at 4 out of 5, calling it a very good vintage in Chile for drinking now or soon and Argentina superior, with some excellent wines that had still to reach their peak. The guide said the best Argentine wines still came from Mendoza, then fully into its investment programme. Beyond Mendoza, it noted interest in the white grape Torrontes from Salta and highlighted the work of Bodegas Etchart in the Cafayate Valley.

• Decanter rating for South America 1995: 4 out of 5
• Chile very good for drinking now or soon; Argentina superior, with some excellent wines still to reach their peak (Decanter)
• Best Argentine wines: still from Mendoza, per Decanter
• Salta: interest in white Torrontes, with Decanter highlighting Bodegas Etchart in the Cafayate Valley