San Rafael IG

San Rafael had 10,739.1 hectares in 2025. The INV counted 14,279.47 hectares in 2016, so the vineyard has shrunk. It's lower and warmer than the Valle de Uco even though it lies further south. Soils are predominantly sandy, and the INV describes the southern area's soils as alluvial with a lot of limestone and often a stony subsoil. Many vineyards sit under anti-hail netting. In 2015 the department had 97 registered wineries, and 60 of them made wine.

Bodegas Bianchi is the biggest name. Valentín Bianchi founded it in 1928, and it buys grapes from hundreds of local growers. Its Enzo Bianchi Gran Corte comes from Finca Asti, where the vines are over 50 years old at about 740 metres. Alfredo Roca makes old-vine wines under the Parcelas Originales label. Finca Las Payas makes natural wines from uncommon varieties, and Leo Borsi makes wine partly from cooler vineyards at 900 metres in 25 de Mayo.

Silvio Alberto, Bianchi's winemaker, says the wines run from concentrated, age-worthy styles in the west to fruitier, younger ones toward the Diamante and Atuel rivers in the east. When I open a San Rafael red I'm looking for that softer tannin and enough fruit to make a case for the place.