2023 Argentina (Mendoza) Vintage

The 2023 season ran from spring 2022 through the autumn 2023 harvest. The year traces back to the early mornings of 31 October and 1 November 2022, when frosts from a polar cold front hit almost every wine-producing region in the country. The front swept through for two nights just as many vineyards were budding, plunging temperatures well below freezing for several hours. In Mendoza, frost with temperatures around 4 degrees below zero hit vineyards, and on 3 November 2022 the cooperative association ACOVI estimated damage above 50 percent on farms in different oases of the province; a General Alvear cooperative leader placed the epicentre in the General Alvear and San Rafael departments. After the frosts the spring was warm and dry, as Argentina suffered a historic drought that continued into the hottest summer in decades; the INV cited water scarcity repeating in Mendoza. Hailstorms struck in December and January and parts of Mendoza averaged 87 degrees F daily in January, and Wine Spectator cited data showing 2023 as the warmest harvest since 1961. Alejandro Eaton of Susana Balbo Wines in Agrelo described late spring frosts and hailstorms of unusual violence, in a very hot year. By February temperatures were dropping, and a very unusual frost struck on 18 February in parts of Patagonia and southern Mendoza. Some rain and milder temperatures towards the end of February let the Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc settle. Heat and smaller crops sped ripening: nationally most grapes were in the wineries by the first week of April, almost a month earlier than usual, and in Mendoza the grapes were generally harvested about three weeks earlier than normal. The INV's 17 February estimate put Mendoza's crop 23 percent below 2022.

Losses varied sharply from site to site. The INV's estimate found Mendoza oases ranging from 1 percent to 60 percent below 2022. Mendoza's higher elevations were less affected because budding was far less advanced there: central Mendoza areas such as Lujan de Cuyo saw some decline in yields but few vineyards were devastated, and the same held for Gualtallary and Los Chacayes in the Uco Valley, with their steep slopes and higher elevations, while lower sites such as Paraje Altamira, El Cepillo and La Consulta were hit hardest. The biggest fall in yields came in the East, a zone that supplies 35 percent of Mendoza's harvest volume. Producer reports in February gave the spread: Susana Balbo Wines in Agrelo put losses at 30 to 70 percent depending on zone, Mastrantonio Wines in the Uco Valley at 45 to 60 percent on the farms it works with, from frost and hail, and Familia Salas Organic Estate in Maipu lost 98 percent of the production of about 7 hectares to the very strong frost of 1 November. At the other end, Domaine Bousquet in Tupungato reported volume close to 92 percent of 2022 a few days into harvest, crediting drip irrigation and anti-hail netting.

Despite the losses, the fruit that came in was healthy: Decanter reported harvested grapes of excellent health and quality. Mastrantonio's Sebastian Bisole cited excellent health and greater concentration from few rains and small crops, while warning that heat peaks forced careful picking decisions, and Bodega Jorge Rubio's Micaela Sosa reported no humidity, pest or disease problems in General Alvear but a fair amount of coulure in some varieties. The speed of the year demanded precision. 'By the middle of February, we saw that everything was happening much earlier than usual,' said Trivento head winemaker German Di Cesare, describing small grapes with remarkable aromatic development, rising Brix and pronounced malic concentration. Gustavo Rearte, head winemaker at Achaval Ferrer, said ripening happened much earlier than usual but remarkable natural freshness was maintained, with the wines fermented at low pHs. Decanter reported that expectations for premium wines in the Uco Valley and Lujan de Cuyo remained unaffected, especially among the reds, that many were predicting reds with excellent ageing potential, and that the whites, where yields were lower, were already showing some promising Chardonnays, Semillons and Sauvignon Blancs.

• Healthy fruit: producers cited low rainfall and excellent sanitary conditions
• Di Cesare (Trivento): small grapes, remarkable aromatic development, rising Brix, harvest brought forward by the end of February
• Rearte (Achaval Ferrer): much earlier ripening with remarkable natural freshness and low pHs
• Decanter: premium expectations unaffected in the Uco Valley and Lujan de Cuyo, especially for reds

Patagonia was hit hardest by the 2022 frosts: Decanter reported average losses as high as 50 percent in Rio Negro and Neuquen, while Wine Spectator put Patagonian losses at 50 to 70 percent on average. San Juan, which accounts for 20 percent of Argentina's output, saw yields fall about 15 percent and the harvest come about 10 days early, with notable natural acidity in the cool, high-altitude Pedernal Valley. In Cafayate the harvest was cooler than usual with no significant drop in yields, though frost did cut yields in the highest valleys of Salta and Jujuy.