Two Malbecs from Mendoza sit on the counter: one at 12 dollars, one at 90. Same country, same grape, same province. The importer says the difference is "altitude". A guest asks you what altitude has to do with the taste of wine, and expects a real answer.
Chile: the ocean, the Andes and the missing louse
Chile is a long strip walled off by the Andes to the east, the Pacific to the west, the Atacama desert to the north and Patagonia to the south. Those barriers, plus sandy soils, are why phylloxera never established, so many vines are ungrafted and grown on their own roots.
The climate is warm and dry, but two cooling forces cut across it: the cold Humboldt current and its morning fog rolling in from the coast, and cold air descending from the Andes at night, which gives a wide diurnal range and preserves acidity. Rainfall is low, so irrigation from meltwater is normal.
That explains Chile's newer east-west designations, which tell you more than the north-south valley name:
| Zone | Meaning | Typical style |
|---|---|---|
| Costa | Coastal, fog-influenced | Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir: high acid, restrained |
| Entre Cordilleras | Between the ranges, warmer, sheltered | Ripe, generous Merlot, Carmenere, Cabernet |
| Andes | Foothills, altitude, cool nights | Structured Cabernet with fresh acidity |
Key wines: Cabernet Sauvignon from Maipo, Carmenere (a late-ripener that tastes green and herbaceous if picked early), Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca and Leyda, and old-vine Pais and Cinsault in Itata.
Argentina: altitude is the climate
Mendoza sits at a warm latitude, but the vineyards sit at 900 to 1,500 metres and higher in the Uco Valley. Altitude does three things at once, and this is the reasoned answer to the guest:
- Cool nights. Temperature falls with elevation, so the diurnal range is huge. Grapes ripen sugar and tannin by day but retain acidity, colour and aromatic compounds overnight.
- Intense sunlight and UV. Thinner air means more radiation, and the vine responds by thickening its skins, which raises anthocyanin and tannin, giving Malbec its opaque colour.
- Cleaner, drier air. Fungal disease pressure falls, and the wines can be farmed with less intervention.
It is continental and semi-desert, so irrigation from Andean meltwater is essential, and the hazards are hail (hence netting) and the hot, dry zonda wind. Malbec is the flagship, with Cabernet Franc, Bonarda and Cabernet Sauvignon; Torrontes, aromatic and floral, comes from very high Salta; cooler Patagonia gives finer, more elegant Malbec and Pinot Noir.
What the 90 dollars buys
Higher, cooler, single-vineyard parcels in the Uco Valley; old vines and low yields; hand harvesting on difficult ground; selection; French oak. The 12-dollar bottle is machine-harvested from a warm, fertile, irrigated valley floor at high yield, and made to be drunk this year.
Onboard Notes
Argentine Malbec is a reliable crowd-pleaser but often 14.5% or more; check the alcohol before you build a long lunch around it. Chilean Sauvignon Blanc from the coastal zones is the sensible, cheaper alternative to Marlborough when the bar list needs volume.