2024 Argentina (Mendoza) Vintage

Vines went into 2024 already fragile, carrying the damage of the late spring frosts of the previous vintage. Spring in Mendoza and the rest of Cuyo was cool and dry, and significant snowfall accumulated in the Andes. That snowpack mattered later: the snowmelt swelled rivers to a degree not seen in many years, which is no small thing in a country where the majority of vineyards depend on irrigation. Then came the wind. From September the Zonda, the hot dry gale that drops off the Andes, took an unusual turn. Pablo Richardi, winemaker at Flechas de los Andes, said it was not so much the intensity as the persistence, with three days of wind while the vines were still vulnerable with tender buds and leaves, reducing the canopy, drying plant tissue and leaving the vines less productive. The weather stayed cool and dry until mid-January, when a heat wave saw temperatures hit 40 degrees and hastened ripening in vineyards around the country, with the heat intense enough in some places that vines shut down. Micro-frosts also cut yields in Las Compuertas in Luján de Cuyo, though Pablo Durigutti of Durigutti Family Winemakers reported good concentration and typicity in the Malbec there. Cool, rainy days later in the season helped ripening along. Despite the January spike, harvest did not run away: Richardi said that after the heat wave they expected an early harvest but were actually able to wait for just the right time. Di Césare put the final crop about 15 per cent below average, ahead of 2023 but still short. The fetched sources record no smoke, hail or fire exposure in Mendoza in 2024, and none is asserted here.

• Vines entered the season weakened by the late spring frosts of the 2023 vintage
• Cool, dry spring in Mendoza and Cuyo; heavy Andean snowfall later swelled rivers to levels not seen in years, easing irrigation supply
• The Zonda turned persistent from September, three days of wind on tender buds and leaves, reducing canopy and vine productivity
• Cool and dry to mid-January, then a heat wave to 40 degrees hastened ripening and shut some vines down
• Micro-frosts reduced yields in Las Compuertas, Luján de Cuyo; cool, rainy days later were good for ripening
• Harvest ran close to normal timing despite the heat spike, with growers able to wait for the right picking window
• Final crop roughly 15 per cent below average, ahead of 2023 but still short

For a hot year, 2024 produced remarkably poised wines, and the reason sits in the night-time temperatures. Alejandro Vigil, president of Wines of Argentina and winemaking director at Catena Zapata, called the harvest quite unusual: although it was hot overall, the season delivered high lows rather than extremely high highs, so the sugars that concentrated during the day were consumed overnight and acidity was retained, providing what he described as perfect balance. He found the vintage extremely encouraging and said the whites and reds from high, cool areas reminded him a lot of the extraordinary 2021 vintage. Winemakers picking in the aftermath of the January heat found the same thing in the cellar. Richardi reported that first samples showed moderate levels of alcohol and gentle, rounded, mellow tannins, and expected an excellent year of easygoing, well-rounded wines. Durigutti described silky tannins and well-defined fruit in the Malbec from Las Compuertas.

• Vigil: hot overall but with high lows rather than extreme high highs, so night-time cooling preserved acidity
• He compared the whites and reds from high, cool areas to the extraordinary 2021 vintage
• First samples showed moderate alcohol and gentle, rounded, mellow tannins
• Silky tannins and well-defined fruit reported in Luján de Cuyo Malbec

Di Césare reported that vineyards all across Mendoza were remarkably healthy, and that Uco Valley sub-regions showed their differences depending on how hard the previous season's frosts had hit them and how well the vines bounced back. The pattern he described for Mendoza as a whole was low yields but excellent concentration among the reds, which is the shape of the vintage in a sentence. Luján de Cuyo's Las Compuertas lost volume to micro-frosts but held its Malbec character. The message from the season is that 2024 rewarded growers who could read a site: fruit set had already been compromised by wind and by carryover frost damage, so what remained ripened quickly once the January heat arrived, and the decision of when to pick separated the good wines from the merely ripe ones.

• Vineyards across Mendoza were reported as remarkably healthy
• Uco Valley sub-regions varied according to prior-season frost damage and vine recovery
• Low yields with excellent concentration among the reds is the vintage summary for Mendoza
• Las Compuertas in Luján de Cuyo lost volume to micro-frosts but kept Malbec typicity

The 2024 season played out differently across Argentina's other regions, which is useful context for reading Mendoza. In the Pedernal Valley in San Juan, Paula González of Pyros Wines described a cold, dry winter followed by the wind, which hit yields but not quality, with both whites and reds, especially Malbec, looking promising. In the Calchaquí Valleys, El Esteco oenologist Alejandro Pepa reported that the changing climate and the Zonda reduced yields by about 30 per cent, while Thibaut Delmotte at Bodega Colomé said early ripening produced fresh, healthy fruit for the whites and that February and March rains ensured balanced ripening for the reds. In Patagonia, Hans Vinding-Diers of Bodega Noemía described a rainy winter and windy spring in Río Negro giving way to a roasting January and a smooth harvest, with the Pinot Noirs showing surprising elegance. Juliana del Águila at Bodega del Fin del Mundo in Neuquén reported a mild winter followed by a cool summer and really healthy fruit, with lower yields but concentrated aromas, colours and flavours and moderate to low alcohol. Writing for Decanter, Alejandro Iglesias summed the year up as once again extremely challenging, with quantities lower than hoped but quality extremely high for both whites and reds.

• San Juan's Pedernal Valley: cold, dry winter then wind cut yields but not quality
• Calchaquí Valleys: yields down about 30 per cent; February and March rains balanced red ripening at Colomé
• Patagonia: rainy winter and windy spring in Río Negro, roasting January, smooth harvest and elegant Pinot Noir
• National verdict: quantities below hopes, quality extremely high for both colours