Tulum Valley is a wine-growing sub-region of San Juan, Argentina. Vineyards surround the city of San Juan in the east of the province of the same name at the foot of the Andes Mountains.
Syrah is fast becoming the region's flagship Grape variety, producing Dense, peppery red wines with Rich fruit characters. High quality red and white wines are also being produced in the region from grape varieties such as Malbec, Chardonnay and Viognier.
In the past the Tulum Valley has been seen as the workhorse region of San Juan. The latter has a similar reputation and wines made here are often destined to become a component of more regional blends, but this is changing.
The valley can be found between the western slopes of the Andes and the much lower Pie de Palo hills 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the east. The San Juan River curves through the Tulum Valley on its way toward the ocean, and the city of San Juan provides a gateway of sorts for Tulum Valley's embryonic wine tourism industry.
The Zonda Valley sits directly to the west of Tulum Valley, in the foothills of the Andes themselves.
The Tulum Valley sits at a latitude of 31°S, and viticulture is only possible because of the water supplied by the San Juan River and the region's topography. Most regions at this latitude are desert or semi-desert (Northern Egypt is the same distance from the Equator, to the north) and are prohibitively hot.
However, the average altitude of Tulum's vineyards, at 650m (2200ft), moderates the high temperatures and promotes healthy grape development by ensuring greater duration and intensity of sunlight.
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.
A ‘very promising’ vintage is expected, said the regional wine council (CIVB), as the Bordeaux 2022 harvest gets underway for reds. It’s still too early to judge fully and yields will be lower in some cases following heat, drought and also hailstorms during the growing season, yet the CIVB cited ‘attractive but small berries’ and healthy vineyard conditions during the crucial flowering period and for harvest. Europe has seen early starts to wine harvests in 2022 and the C ...
Rampant inflation, the global fuel crisis, recession fears and fiscal tightening from central banks have caused equities and bonds to tank over the past few months. Fine wine has significantly outperformed global equities and most commodities, but market momentum has been ‘much more subdued’ in the second quarter of 2022, said Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. The Liv-ex 1000 – which tracks the performance of 1,000 leading fine wines – increased by 3.6% year-on-year in ster ...
In the face of rising temperatures and more frequent droughts, what can wine producers do to adapt their viticultural practices? Catalan producer Torres, which has emerged during the past decade as one of the global wine sector’s leading pioneers in tackling climate change, is experimenting with a range of creative ideas. Planting vines at higher altitudes is one option. The company is investing in cooler vineyards high in the mountains of the region. They have planted vines in Tremp at 950m in ...
