# South America After Malbec: The Regions and Grapes to Discover Next > Source: https://wineguide101.com/south-american-wine-beyond-malbec/ > Author: Damon Segal > Published: 2026-09-14T12:07:32+00:00 > Modified: 2026-09-14T12:07:32+00:00 Discover South American wine beyond Malbec, from Criolla and Itata Cinsault to coastal Syrah, Cabernet Franc and modern Tannat. **South American wine is far more exciting than the familiar wall of Mendoza Malbec and dependable Chilean Cabernet might suggest. From high-altitude Criolla and Cabernet Franc to old-vine Cinsault, coastal Syrah and modern Tannat, the continent is producing fresher, more distinctive wines with a real sense of place. Here are the names worth learning before everyone else catches on.** For years, the UK wine shelf offered a wonderfully uncomplicated version of South America. Argentina meant Malbec, usually with a steak somewhere in the vicinity. Chile meant Cabernet Sauvignon, dependable enough to invite to dinner but rarely expected to start an argument. Those wines built the continent's export success. The trouble begins when they become the entire story. It is rather like describing French wine as Bordeaux and supermarket rosé: not entirely false, but spectacularly incomplete. South America's most interesting producers are now mapping individual parcels, reviving old bush vines, planting at extreme altitude and moving closer to cold coastlines. The result is a new generation of wines built around freshness, texture and provenance rather than sheer fruit and firepower. As I work through WSET Level 3, tasting how climate, altitude and soil change a familiar grape is where the textbook earns its keep. My marketing brain is equally interested. South America doesn't have a quality problem. It has a perception problem, because consumers still see increasingly specific wines through two very broad brand filters. ## Which Mendoza regions should wine drinkers know? Mendoza is not one enormous sun-baked vineyard producing a single style of Malbec. Its modern story is increasingly about altitude, soils and named sub-regions. In Luján de Cuyo, the historic heartland of Argentine Malbec, districts such as Las Compuertas, Vistalba, Perdriel and Agrelo are developing clearer identities. Las Compuertas sits at roughly 950 to 1,050 metres, where cool nights and alluvial soils help produce fragrant Malbec with violet notes, fresh red fruit and fine tannins. Lower Agrelo and Perdriel tend to give broader wines with darker fruit and softer texture. Further south, the Uco Valley pushes altitude even harder. Paraje Altamira, Gualtallary and San Pablo contain vineyards between roughly 1,050 and 1,600 metres. Strong ultraviolet light encourages thicker skins, cold nights preserve acidity and stony, caliche-coated soils can give the wines a chalky grip and herbal lift. Put simply, Luján de Cuyo can offer perfume and polish; the highest Uco Valley sites often bring more linear structure, freshness and mineral texture. Wine language becomes suspiciously geological at this point, but the difference in the glass is real. For an accessible introduction, look for Durigutti Proyecto Las Compuertas Malbec or Nieto Senetiner Patrimonial DOC Luján de Cuyo Malbec, generally around £15 to £18. Zuccardi Aluvional Paraje Altamira, at around £65 to £75, is a more ambitious cellar choice. **Bottom Line:** Don't abandon Malbec. Upgrade the question from “Do I like Malbec?” to “Which part of Mendoza does this Malbec come from?” That one habit will make the shelf considerably more interesting. ## Which South American grapes should you try after Malbec? Criolla Chica may be the most revealing place to start. Known as Listán Prieto in Spain, Mission in California and País in Chile, it arrived in the Americas with Spanish missionaries and became a workhorse grape for everyday wine. In Argentina it was long treated as a source of bulk wine or pale rosé, hardly the sort of thing given flattering lighting and its own sommelier speech. That reputation is changing. In August 2024, Argentina's Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura granted Criolla Chica official quality-red status. From old, often ungrafted vines at altitude, it can make translucent reds with bright acidity, pomegranate, hibiscus, bitter orange and dried herbs. At around 11.5% to 12.8% alcohol, it suits drinkers who enjoy Gamay, Poulsard or lighter Nebbiolo. Cabernet Franc is another Argentine success. At high-altitude sites such as Gualtallary and San Carlos, the best examples combine redcurrant, graphite, pepper and firm acidity without becoming aggressively green. El Enemigo Gran Enemigo Gualtallary is a benchmark, although its roughly £75 to £90 price confirms that South America has also discovered the fine-wine invoice. Pinot Noir is finding convincing homes in Patagonia's Río Negro and Chile's coastal Leyda, producing pale, energetic wines with cranberry fruit, earthy complexity and alcohol around 12% to 13%. Cara Sur Pérgolas Criollas Tintas from San Juan's Calingasta Valley, typically £19 to £22, offers a lively introduction to Argentina's heritage grapes. ## Why are Itata and Maule attracting so much attention? Southern Chile contains one of the continent's most persuasive counternarratives to industrial wine. In Itata, Maule and Biobío, ancient, ungrafted bush vines survive without irrigation in the Secano Interior, or dry interior. Some are between 70 and more than 150 years old, rooted in decomposed granite and red volcanic clay. In Itata, Cinsault and País can produce fragrant reds with cherry, spice and mineral tension. Producers including Pedro Parra, Leonardo Erazo and De Martino show these aren't rustic curiosities rescued for a good back-label story, but precise wines in their own right. Maule's VIGNO collective has done something similarly valuable for old-vine Carignan. VIGNO wines contain at least 85% Carignan from dry-farmed bush vines aged 30 years or more, and spend a minimum of two years ageing. Expect dark bramble fruit, high acidity and savoury tannins. Many producers now favour ambient yeasts, gentle extraction and neutral vessels such as concrete, amphorae and large old vats. These aren't automatically proof of quality, despite the occasional tendency to treat a concrete egg as a religious object. At their best, they let old vines and distinctive soils speak without a loud chorus of vanilla oak. Undurraga Candelabro Itata Cinsault, around £10 to £12, is an affordable doorway into the style. Pedro Parra's single-site Cinsaults and De Martino VIGNO Carignan, broadly £30 to £42, offer a more serious next step. ## Where do South America's freshest wines come from? Freshness comes from several directions: altitude in Argentina, old dry-farmed vines in southern Chile, Pacific fog along Chile's coast and Atlantic breezes in Uruguay. In Leyda and Limarí, the cold Humboldt Current and dense morning Camanchaca fog slow ripening and preserve acidity. Limarí's calcareous soils add another layer of tension to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The Syrah can be especially distinctive, favouring black olive, pepper and dried herbs over sweet, jammy fruit. Uruguay is also refining its signature Tannat, once associated with formidable colour, stern tannins and enough oak to furnish a small boardroom. Coastal Maldonado producers including Bodega Garzón, Bouza and Familia Deicas use Atlantic-influenced vineyards and gentler cellar techniques to retain Tannat's dark fruit while adding fresher acidity and finer tannins. Bodega Garzón Estate or Reserva Tannat and Pisano Cisplatino Tannat, usually around £12 to £17, are sensible introductions. Garzón's Single Vineyard Tannat or Familia Deicas Cerro Guazuvirá move into more layered, cellar-worthy territory. Lighter Criolla, País and Cinsault deserve to be served at around 12°C to 14°C. They work beautifully with poultry, charcuterie, grilled vegetables and the increasingly common dinner where nobody asked whether the main course was technically red-wine food. ## How do you find better South American wine in the UK? Labels offer useful clues once you know the language: - **Secano Interior** points to Chile's non-irrigated coastal drylands and often to old, dry-farmed vines. - **VIGNO** identifies certified old-vine Maule Carignan made under the collective's rules. - **DOC Luján de Cuyo** signals Malbec from the historic appellation under defined origin and production requirements. - **IG** or **Paraje** names a more tightly delimited Argentine area, such as Paraje Altamira, San Pablo or Las Compuertas. - **Pie Franco** means the vines are ungrafted or on their own roots. - **Tinaja** or **Hormigón** indicates clay amphora or concrete, usually suggesting less obvious oak influence. The Wine Society is reliable for district-level Argentina, Itata Cinsault and Uruguayan Tannat. Les Caves de Pyrene is strong on ancestral and lower-intervention wines, while Liberty Wines, Berry Bros. & Rudd and Hedonism offer more ambitious single-site bottles. Prices and availability will move, so treat these figures as guidance rather than a solemn promise from the wine gods. The branding challenge is obvious. “Malbec from Argentina” is easy. “Criolla Chica from pergola-trained vines at 1,500 metres in Calingasta” asks rather more of a shopper at 6.20pm. Producers and merchants must make place exciting without turning every label into a geology exam. **Bottom Line:** Buy one familiar bottle and one disruptive bottle. Try a named-site Malbec alongside Criolla, Itata Cinsault, VIGNO Carignan, coastal Syrah or Uruguayan Tannat. Comparison is often the quickest route from wine knowledge to actual understanding. ## South America after Malbec: what comes next? Malbec isn't being replaced, nor should it be. It remains one of the world's great grape-and-place success stories. What is changing is the idea that it should carry an entire continent's identity on its purple shoulders. The wines worth watching now are higher, cooler, older, closer to the sea or rooted in varieties commercial fashion ignored. They offer freshness, provenance and plenty of bottles that don't require a Burgundy-shaped budget. So keep buying the Malbec you enjoy. Just leave room in the rack for Criolla, Cinsault, Carignan, Cabernet Franc, coastal Syrah and modern Tannat. South America hasn't suddenly become interesting. We have simply become better at noticing.