Written for Wine Republic, October 2013

San Juan is a city in a wild landscape of bare mountains and flat plains two hours north of Mendoza City. You’ll see a few tumbleweeds roll past on a Sunday afternoon in San Juan and that’s not just because of its dusty surroundings and sleepy lifestyle but also because San Juan is characterised by its winds.

If you have been in Argentina for long you will have heard about the infamous ‘Zonda’. It sounds like a caped fox from a Spanish cartoon, but the Zonda is a wind so fierce it can run at 40km per hour, and so hot it can reach 45 degrees Celsius. It is a wind of biblical proportions at times – especially those that last 3 days and tear apart roofs of houses – and if you go to the village of Zonda and it’s surroundings you’ll see how this wind has shaped the lands into dramatic clay sculptures. The best example of how the Zonda has shaped the landscape over the years is the outstanding Valle de la Luna, Ischigualasto Park, 250kms further north.

The most popular tourist route near San Juan is the Quedabra del Zonda, a mountainous setting near the Ullum dam where you’ll find beautiful nature walks, and outdoors activities like dirt biking, cycling, kayaking, paragliding and windsurfing. The winds that blow across the dams in the area make it one of the top windsurfing and kitesurfing spots in South America, especially in the nearby dam called Cuesta del Viento.

Although in the winter the landscape might look like an ancient crater where a dinosaur dropped an A bomb a few millenia ago, in the summer it transforms into fertile valleys and resplendent vineyards producing some of Argentina’s top Syrah. When it isn’t blowing a Zonda gale – which fortunately is only a dozen times a year and usually in the less critical winter months – San Juan is impeccably sunny and dry with almost no rainfall and perfect sunshine. This gives its wines a unique character.

Some Serious Syrah

“San Juan has some of the clearest and most unpolluted skies, with over 300 days of sun so it gives a longer maturity and UV exposure which produces more antioxidants and makes the tannins much sweeter,” says winemaker Gustavo Daroni about the easy-to-drink style of San Juan wines. The antioxidant levels also give you a great excuse to drink more as they are proven to reduce risk of cancer.

Hot sun isn’t ideal for all grapes and summer temperatures can soar to an overwhelming 46 degrees Celsius. The varietal that’s really made its home here, is Syrah. More heat resilient than other varieties, it continues working and producing even on the hottest days. You’ll also find good Torrontes, Cabernet Franc and Malbec in these parts, amongst others. The vineyards near Zonda village are in fact considered some of the best quality for their high altitude and there’s an old sparkling wine cava built into the mountains nearby too (Cavas del Zonda, Ruta 12, Km 15).

Continue reading “San Juan: A sanctuary in the desert”