Neuquén IG

Neuquén's wine story is short. The land around San Patricio del Chañar was fruit orchards until Bodega del Fin del Mundo made its first plantings in 1999. The INV now counts 1,507.6 hectares in the province across 86 vineyards, and 1,365.3 of those hectares are in Añelo department. The INV puts Neuquén's Pinot Noir at about 231 hectares, roughly double Río Negro's 114.

The vines grow on sandy and stony alluvial soils beside the Neuquén river, at around 39° south. Rain averages about 180 mm a year, so every vine is irrigated, and the wind blows most of the time. Del Fin del Mundo's view is that latitude does the work here that altitude does in Mendoza and Salta.

In 2021 five wineries made about 13 million litres from 1,350 hectares: Del Fin del Mundo (700 hectares), Familia Schroeder (140), Malma (127), Grupo Peñaflor's Patagonian winery (110) and Secreto Patagónico (60). The first thing I'll check on a bottle is which IG it shows. A winery in San Patricio del Chañar is in Añelo department, so the label could say Añelo, Neuquén or Patagonia. I'd look for Pinot Noir with enough acidity to carry its fruit and a Malbec that stays fresh.