2015 Argentina (Mendoza) Vintage

The year in Mendoza began hot, with a typical Mendoza summer, and soon turned rainy and cool, and several vineyards in high-production zones saw their yields fall. Record rain fell in some production zones in mid-March, along with humidity and high temperatures. In Lujan de Cuyo, 230 to 250 mm fell in only the first three months of the year, when the annual average is 180 mm, and 70 mm fell between one Sunday night and the Monday, more than the soils could absorb. Hail hit vineyards in the best zones of the Uco Valley. The rain, humidity and high temperatures left strong outbreaks of peronospora (downy mildew) and botrytis; a normal year needs about three or four treatments, and this one had taken about 9 by March. Conditions balanced out from February, and preventive vineyard work became a priority as El Nino advanced over the region. The harvest ran early: about 25% was picked, 365,703,465 kg, by 8 March, against 301,761,171 kg at the same point in 2014. INV figures from July put the 2015 harvest about 8% below the previous year's, mainly because of rain, hail and other weather events.

• Lujan de Cuyo: 230 to 250 mm in the first three months of 2015 against an annual average of 180 mm
• Uco Valley: hail affected vineyards in the best zones
• Peronospora and botrytis outbreaks; about 9 treatments by March against three or four in a normal year
• Harvest ahead of 2014: about 25% picked by 8 March

The damage was uneven. Lujan de Cuyo, mainly Agrelo and Perdriel, where a large share of the province's quality grapes is concentrated, was one of the zones most hurt by the rains; its soils are clayey with no slope, so water pools, and in the low parts of Agrelo tractors sank, so work against botrytis and peronospora was done on foot. Bodega Rutini's Mariano Di Paola put the contrast with Tupungato this way, translated: "In Tupungato, being piedmont, the soils have more slope and let water run off. Also, they are sandy and absorb more." He added that the mountain breeze dries the soils faster. The East was also affected, with clay soils of low absorption as in Agrelo. In Maipu, the harvest came forward and the grapes were picked before the damage set in; Rutini's winemaker called the quality of reds and whites optimal.

• Lujan de Cuyo (Agrelo, Perdriel): among the zones most hurt; flat clay soils left standing water
• Tupungato (Uco Valley): sloping, sandy piedmont soils and a mountain breeze helped
• East Mendoza: also affected, on clay soils of low absorption
• Maipu: an earlier harvest beat the damage

Other provinces had different years. San Juan had a dry, hot vintage that began in the last days of December with some whites, with good production and impeccable quality. In the Valles Calchaquies, a somewhat hotter than usual year brought the harvest forward by up to three weeks in some zones without affecting quality. In Patagonia the vintage went without setbacks, with very good results in both Rio Negro and Neuquen.

• San Juan: dry and hot, picking from the last days of December, good production
• Valles Calchaquies: up to three weeks early in some zones, quality unaffected
• San Juan supplied 21% of the national grape harvest, with more than 566 million kilos

Views on quality split during the harvest. In mid-March Los Andes expected less concentrated, fruitier wines with lower alcohol potential, a very good year for winemakers working at 13 to 14 degrees of alcohol. Vina Cobos' Luis Barraud warned, translated, that "this will not be a great harvest in terms of quality," while Catena Zapata's Alejandro Vigil, whose team harvested in time, said, translated, "this will be a great harvest," with musts showing good balance of acidity and moderate alcohol. Looking back, Wines of Argentina's review says the campaign finished with wines of good quality and concentration, and in July INV technicians highlighted the good sanitary quality of the grapes harvested in all Argentine producing regions.

• Mid-March: less concentrated, fruitier wines with lower alcohol potential expected
• A favorable campaign overall, finishing with wines of good quality and concentration
• Good sanitary quality of the grapes in all producing regions