We’ve updated our South America map. It’s a fairly extensive revision made with the help of Brian Ravitsky, a top South American wine importer and partner in Brazos Wines, as well as with a group of highly respected winemakers in Argentina and Chile. Many thanks to Brian and the winemakers who he got to help: Derek Mossman Knapp of Garage Wines; Sebastian Zuccardi of Familia Zuccardi; Rafael Tirado of Rafael Tirado Wines; Leonardo Erazo of Revolver, Rogue Vine and Altos Las Hormigas; José Lovaglio of Vaglio Wines and David Marcel of Viña Maitia
Brian was also the impetus for this revision. He and his sales team have been using our map for a while but the first version needed some updating especially given recent developments in Mendoza and the official recognition of the Secano Interior region in Chile.
The official trade groups for Chile and Argentina wines used to make good maps but both have scaled back their efforts in the past years. I can understand why – this is the most challenging map of all the maps we make. Since the laws of both Chile and Argentina define most wine regions by political boundaries, the maps would just look like political maps. To make them more relevant to the wine world, we use satellite imagery to determine the vineyards and potential vineyard areas within each region. Here's an example of how one region, Maule in Chile, is constructed:
Looking at the map, it becomes obvious that if we just went by the official specification, a large part of Maule would be in the Andes!
Summary of the update:
Chile:
- added detailed Huasco and Copiapó in Atacama
- added Secano Interior region
- revised Leyda boundaries
Argentina:
- Clarification of official and non-official regions. There are many unoffical regions that are important to the industry and need to be included. They are indicated on the map in ITALICS.
- Mendoza is now more detailed.
Official regions added to Mendoza: Distrito Medrano, Los Chacayes, - Unofficial regions added to Mendoza: Chacras de Coria, Cruz de Piedra, Anchoris, La Carrera, San Jose, Villa Bastias, La Arboleda, El Zampal, Cordón del Plata, San Pablo, Villa Seca, Las Pintadas, Los Chacayes, Los Sauces, Colonia Las Rosas, Campo de los Andes, Los Indios, El Cepillo, Chilecito, Pareditas.
- Chibut, Jujuy, Cordoba and Buenos Aires added to key map.
- Added Valles de Famatina subregions
Brazil:
- Added Vales da Uva Goethe, Vale do Rio Thucas, Altos Montes, and Farroupilha
- Removed Missões Uruguay
Uruguay:
- no changes
