San Juan IG

San Juan had 38,703 hectares of vines at the end of 2025, 19.7% of the country and second only to Mendoza. The mix is unusual. In the INV's 2024 breakdown Cereza, a pink grape that mainly becomes grape must, is the most planted variety at 24.6% of the vines. Flame Seedless, a raisin grape, is second at 12.4%. Malbec is third at 7.2% and Syrah fourth at 4.9%, about 1,900 hectares. Wine and must grapes cover 70.4% of the area and table and raisin grapes the rest. The province lost 7,711 hectares in ten years, and Syrah alone is down 1,012 hectares since 2015 while Malbec is up 775.

It's a dry place. Estimates of annual rainfall run from about 100 to about 150 millimetres, so every vine depends on irrigation. Summer highs reach about 35°C with nights near 19°C. The Zonda, a hot dry wind off the Andes, blows through the province and helps keep mildew away. The altitude does the rest of the work. The big Tulum valley floor sits at roughly 600 to 650 metres and gives ripe, approachable wines. Zonda, Ullum and Calingasta have their own IGs, and Pedernal, at 1,300 metres and up, is where the cooler Malbec comes from.

When I open a bottle labelled just San Juan I'm looking at Syrah first. I want the ripeness to come with some freshness and a bit of pepper. If the label says Pedernal or one of the other valleys, that tells me more than the province name does.