2026 Argentina (Mendoza) Vintage

The official record of the 2026 season is a volume and quality record rather than a weather diary, so this article stays inside what the INV and the Argentine press actually published. The shortfall was visible early. INV technicians and professionals walked the vineyards of both Mendoza and San Juan and published estimate reports on 2 February for San Juan and 9 February for Mendoza, both anticipating a smaller crop, and Los Andes noted the organisation had already flagged a reduction of around 9 per cent in the two provinces. Those estimates held up well: the final dispersion was minus 2 per cent for Mendoza and zero for San Juan. The INV said this precision lets every part of the sector make relevant decisions about processing and, in the end, adds efficiency and quality to the whole production chain. The final report landed on 19 May 2026 with a national total of 18,391,299 quintales, down 8 per cent on 2025. Mendoza carried the fall while San Juan recovered strongly. On fruit condition the INV was unambiguous: its professionals rated the health and quality of the 2026 harvest as excellent and highlighted very good polyphenolic ripeness, which it described as an essential base for producing high quality red wines. That judgement rests on more than 900 microvinifications carried out during harvest and processing by the INV's Directorate of Viticultural Studies and Development, using grapes from growing zones across the country, more than 70 per cent above the number performed for the 2025 vintage. No published source in this set records frost, hail, heat, drought or smoke events for Mendoza in 2026, nor harvest start and end dates, so none are asserted here.

• INV estimate reports published 2 February for San Juan and 9 February for Mendoza both anticipated a smaller crop
• Final results fell within 2 per cent of the Mendoza estimate and matched the San Juan estimate
• Final national report published 19 May 2026: 18,391,299 quintales, down 8 per cent on 2025
• INV professionals rated health and quality as excellent with very good polyphenolic ripeness
• More than 900 microvinifications across the country's growing zones, over 70 per cent more than in 2025
• The published record carries no frost, hail, heat, drought or smoke events for Mendoza in 2026

National volume fell from 19,908,335 quintales in 2025 to 18,391,299 in 2026, a decline of close to 7.6 per cent that the INV rounded to 8 per cent. The two Cuyo provinces did the heavy lifting as usual, accounting for more than 93 per cent of all grapes produced in the country: Mendoza at 13,147,187 quintales and San Juan at 4,097,938. The split between them is the story of the year. Los Andes reported Mendoza down 12.4 per cent year on year, well short of high-production campaigns such as 2021 when the province cleared 15.7 million quintales, while San Juan rebounded 21.1 per cent, from 3,384,240 quintales in 2025 to 4,099,662 in 2026. Within Mendoza the East took the worst of it. In the San Martín delegation the crop fell from 7.6 million quintales to 6.5 million, a 14.9 per cent decline, and the steepest fall of all was in San Rafael, down 39.7 per cent from 550,000 quintales to 331,000. Forecasters were in the right neighbourhood. Fecovita and Acovi had revised a December projection of a 5 to 8 per cent shortfall to 17 per cent in March. Fabián Ruggeri, president of Acovi, acknowledged their figure was somewhat higher than the INV's 12 per cent for Mendoza but said it was not far off, and noted that despite the end of the mandatory grape entry certificate, the great majority of wineries still reported on time, so the weekly harvest bulletins stayed close to reality.

• National crop 18,391,299 quintales, down from 19,908,335 in 2025
• Mendoza 13,147,187 quintales and San Juan 4,097,938, together over 93 per cent of national production
• Mendoza down 12.4 per cent; San Juan up 21.1 per cent from 3,384,240 to 4,099,662 quintales
• Within Mendoza, San Martín fell 14.9 per cent and San Rafael 39.7 per cent
• Fecovita and Acovi had forecast a 17 per cent Mendoza shortfall in March against the INV's final 12 per cent

Malbec once again confirmed itself as Mendoza's most important grape, with 3.24 million quintales harvested. Criolla Grande followed at 1.55 million quintales and Cereza at 1.5 million, then Bonarda at 1.33 million, Pedro Giménez at 752,000, Syrah at 628,000 and Torrontés Riojano at 497,000. San Juan's ranking runs on a different logic. There Cereza was again the dominant variety, at 1.87 million quintales, far ahead of Malbec at 222,000, with Pedro Giménez, Torrontés Sanjuanino and Syrah also strongly represented. The contrast is a useful shorthand for the two provinces: Mendoza's volume base is anchored by a fine wine variety with a large criolla tail behind it, while San Juan's is led by criolla plantings with Malbec a minor presence.

• Mendoza: Malbec 3.24 million quintales, Criolla Grande 1.55 million, Cereza 1.5 million, Bonarda 1.33 million
• Mendoza also: Pedro Giménez 752,000, Syrah 628,000, Torrontés Riojano 497,000 quintales
• San Juan: Cereza dominant at 1.87 million quintales, Malbec only 222,000
• Pedro Giménez, Torrontés Sanjuanino and Syrah also prominent in San Juan

The smaller harvest arrived in a difficult market and did not translate into better returns for growers. Vinetur reported that prices paid to producers did not rise, in several cases holding at levels similar to two campaigns earlier and in some zones falling. The winery sector attributed that to declining wine sales and low domestic consumption, running at around 15 litres per person per year. Rising production costs squeezed margins further. Eduardo Sánchez, a grape grower in San Juan, said grapes were being paid between 140 and 200 pesos per kilo, against 240 pesos in 2024 and 200 in 2025, and that those who made wine or must earned less per kilo again. He described difficulty meeting energy bills and field work costs after a summer of high consumption, and said the economic position of the primary producer remains delicate while the public debate focuses elsewhere. Los Andes offered the other side of the same coin: the smaller crop arrived alongside falling domestic consumption and an export market only beginning to show signs of recovery, so at least in principle the reduced harvest avoided surpluses that would have complicated the industry further.

• Grower prices did not rise despite the smaller crop, holding near two-campaign-old levels and falling in some zones
• Domestic wine consumption running at around 15 litres per person per year
• One San Juan grower reported 140 to 200 pesos per kilo against 240 in 2024 and 200 in 2025
• Los Andes noted the smaller crop at least avoided surpluses in a year of weak domestic demand and a slowly recovering export market

One of the notable developments of the 2026 season had nothing to do with the weather. The INV launched a new harvest statistics service delivering daily information, an online system that lets registered growers and wineries navigate a dashboard of updated indicators and harvest evolution charts by zone and grape variety on a daily basis. The institute, which designed the tool entirely in house, said very few countries have an information system with this level of data disaggregation in real time, and positioned it as a central piece for sector planning and analysis. Alongside it the INV kept publishing its traditional weekly harvest bulletins on its public website, preserving open access to weekly cumulative tonnage by INV delegation, with figures by variety and a 10-year comparison against previous harvests.

• New daily harvest statistics service launched for INV-registered growers and wineries
• Dashboard covers updated indicators and harvest evolution by zone and variety, designed in house
• Traditional weekly harvest bulletins remained publicly available
• Weekly bulletins carry cumulative tonnage by delegation, variety detail and a 10-year comparison