Top 100 red wines of San Juan
Discover the top 100 best red wines of San Juan as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the red wines that are popular of San Juan and the best vintages to taste in this region.
Discovering the wine region of San Juan
San Juan is an important Argentinean wine-producing area, producing wines of increasing quality using traditional European Grape varieties. The wine region of San Juan covers the administrative area of the same name in the north-western corner of Argentina. The province sits between Mendoza and La Rioja, and is almost entirely contained within the mountainous foothills of the Andes.
In terms of production Volume, San Juan is Argentina's second-largest wine region after Mendoza.
It accounts for 17 percent of the national Vineyard">Vineyard area with 32,274 hectares (79,752 acres) recorded by the National Viticulture Institute in 2019. About half of the province's agricultural land is devoted to vineyards.
Vineyards lie in a series of valleys across the center-west of San Juan. The most important area of production is the Tulum Valley.
Other subregions include the Zonda Valley and the high-quality Pedernal Valley.
San Juan Grape Varieties
Syrah and the ever-present Malbec are the foremost varieties in terms of prestige. In terms of vineyard area, red grapes account for just under 38 percent of the total, with white grapes at 26 percent.
The 2019 Annual Surface Report of the National Viticulture Institute recorded the main varieties.
Discover the grape variety: Cabernet franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.
Food and wine pairing with a red wine of San Juan
red wines from the region of San Juan go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or spicy food such as recipes of tournedos rossini with port sauce, tajine of beef balls and merguez or macaroonade from sète.
News from the vineyard of San Juan
English wines made by two MWs set for charity sale
Bottles of three different wines made by the two Masters of Wine in partnership with English producers will be part of the special charity sale this week, beginning on Thursday (25 November). All profits will go to the Marine Conservation Society, a charity that works to protect and restore the sea and its ecosystem, said Barrie and Richards. ‘We’re proud to be working with the Marine Conservation Society,’ said Susie Barrie MW. ‘English wine may have benefited in some regards from climate chang ...
Walls: Tasting Hermitage 2001 20 years on
In 2001, George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. Meanwhile in the UK, Tony Blair led the Labour Party to its second landslide victory. A lot can change over the course of 20 years. According to many Rhône winemakers and wine collectors, this is how long a bottle of Hermitage should lay undisturbed until you open it. Is it really worth the wait? I recently tasted 11 Hermitage 2001s – seven red, two white, two sweet – to test the 20 year hypothesis and see how these ...
Walls: Gigondas 2013 and 2014 – time to drink up?
I clearly remember the summer of 2014 in the Rhône. We were there on holiday, staying not far from the hill of Hermitage. It rained incessantly, I got tonsillitis and we had to rush our two-year-old son to hospital with a severed thumb. It wasn’t the best holiday we’ve ever had. That wet summer of 2014 also made an indelible impression on the wines. The 2013 vintage wasn’t without its challenges either – it was certainly unlucky for some. Positioned between the excellent 2012 and 2015, the 2013s ...