Four hectares at a time: How precisely Mendoza is mapping its wine regions

Mendoza is one of the best-known wine origins in the world. The region has been studied, described and divided into different areas of origin for decades. With the new scientific characterisation of Argentina’s wine regions published in 2026, this existing knowledge now rests on a shared data foundation and a significantly higher level of spatial resolution.

The underlying work was supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Corporación Vitivinícola Argentina (COVIAR). For Mendoza, climate, soil and terrain data were systematically brought together. For the statistical zoning, researchers placed a grid over the studied wine-growing areas measuring 200 × 200 metres – exactly four hectares per cell. Climate and terrain variables are combined for each cell to identify statistically similar climatic clusters; soil data are then added within those areas to delineate homogeneous zones with shared environmental characteristics.

Four hectares is the scale at which the analysis begins.

That number shows just how precisely differences within an origin can now be captured. A major name such as Mendoza gains increasingly detailed geographical definition.

Four wine-growing areas, major differences

The climatic characterisation works with four major wine-growing areas in Mendoza: Oasis Río Mendoza, Tunuyán Superior, Tunuyán Inferior and the southern area along the Atuel and Diamante rivers.

Clear differences already emerge at this level:

• Oasis Río Mendoza: Very warm on average (Winkler V). Within the same area, however, Perdriel and Agrelo differ significantly and fall into the more temperate Region III.
• Tunuyán Superior / Valle de Uco: Region III on average. The extremes occur within a relatively small area: in the higher parts of Tupungato, the scale reaches the cool Region I, while areas around San Carlos reach Region IV.
• Tunuyán Inferior: Predominantly very warm (Region V), with a smaller, somewhat cooler area (Region IV) in the west.
• Atuel and Diamante: Region IV on average, with a smaller area classified as Region III.

The Winkler scale classifies wine-growing areas according to the amount of heat available during the growing season, from Region I for cool conditions to Region V for very warm conditions.

Within Mendoza, the climatic range extends from the coolest to the warmest Winkler category.

For an international market, this range matters. “Mendoza” provides orientation. The data underneath that name show how different the growing conditions within this large origin actually are.

What high-resolution zoning can reveal

The statistical zoning overlays climate, terrain and soils at a very fine spatial scale. This makes it possible to see which areas share similar conditions and which characteristics most clearly define individual zones.

These include heat accumulation, night-time temperatures and precipitation, as well as soil depth, salinity, limestone, water-storage capacity, drainage and texture.

The analysis therefore links geographical names with specific site conditions.

An origin gains a measurable physical profile.

For Agrelo, Gualtallary, Paraje Altamira and other smaller origins, this adds further substance: climate, altitude, soil and landscape can be geographically located and compared.

This also strengthens differentiation within an internationally recognised wine region.

The smaller the geographical unit, the more precisely the characteristics of that place can be described.

Why this matters for the market

Importers and buyers need to classify differences between wines, explain them and translate them into an assortment. Precise origin data give them additional substance to work with.

Mendoza has a major advantage: the name already provides international orientation. The finer characterisation adds detail to the levels beneath it.

A wine from Mendoza can be placed more precisely within Valle de Uco. Within Valle de Uco, a specific zone can in turn show its own climatic and soil characteristics. For individual wines, the vineyard itself can ultimately become the relevant geographical unit.

This creates a clear geographical hierarchy within an already recognised origin.

For producers, this provides more material to explain where their wine sits within Mendoza and which characteristics define that place. Importers, sommeliers and buyers gain more concrete reference points to classify smaller origins and make them understandable in the market.

The more precisely an origin can be backed by data, the more weight it carries in a sales conversation.

The scientific characterisation therefore provides material on which precise positioning can be built.

From a name to a profile

Mendoza already has strong international recognition. As geographical differentiation becomes more precise, the next level becomes increasingly important: which Mendoza is in the bottle.

The new level of detail gives producers a more precise basis for identifying the relevant differences of their place of origin and supporting them with data.

Climate, soil, altitude and landscape together form a geographically defined profile that can be compared with other areas within Mendoza.

Origin becomes a verifiable profile rather than just a geographical name.

This brings us back to the scale of the study. Differences within one of Argentina’s best-known wine regions can now be analysed at a resolution fine enough to distinguish environmental patterns across individual grid cells.

Mendoza is becoming more precisely readable, four hectares at a time.

Sources

[1] Flores Cáceres, María Laura et al. (2026): Caracterización de las regiones vitivinícolas argentinas. Inter-American Development Bank / COVIAR / CFI. Published February 2026. DOI: 10.18235/0013945.
Official publication: https://publications.iadb.org/es/caracterizacion-de-las-regiones-vitivinicolas-argentinas

[2] Cavagnaro, Martín; Pappalardo, Carla; Dalmasso, Julieta: Caracterización climática de regiones vitivinícolas argentinas – Provincia Mendoza. IDB / COVIAR, Programa de Vitivinicultura Inteligente AR-T1243. Climate and bioclimatic characterisation of Oasis Río Mendoza, Tunuyán Superior, Tunuyán Inferior and Atuel–Diamante.

[3] Balzarini, Mónica; Córdoba, Mariano et al. (2023): Zonificación estadística de regiones vitivinícolas de Mendoza, San Juan, Salta y Tucumán basada en datos de suelo y clima. 9 January 2023. Statistical zoning methodology, including the 200 × 200 metre / four-hectare analytical grid and the delineation of homogeneous climatic and soil zones.

[4] Di Cenzi, Celina; Fioretti, Sonia et al.: Caracterización del paisaje de regiones vitivinícolas argentinas – Provincia de Mendoza. IDB / COVIAR. Landscape characterisation of Mendoza’s wine-growing areas, including Agrelo, Paraje Altamira, Gualtallary and other selected sites.

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