world wines to the production of new-world ones gained momentum in the early 1990s, culminating in the entrance of large foreign wineries to this market toward the end of the decade. The dynamic growth of this industry from the 1990s to the present can largely be attributed to producers who successfully made this transition. The increase in the number of vineyards dedicated to the production of fine wines is evidence of a shift from growing grapes for oldworld wines, to growing them specifically for the production of new-world wines. In 1990, only 20 percent of vineyards were growing grapes for the latter category, but by 2001 this number increased to 43 percent. The real surge in the industry occurred after the publication of an article in the January 1996 edition of the Wine Spectator (the most prestigious trade magazine in this field in the United States), which claimed that there were only 10 good wineries in South America: 9 in Chile and 1 in Argentina. This one winery was Catena. By the end of the 1990s, Argentine wines began gaining recognition as more of them were being evaluated by the Wine Spectator. As can be seen in Figure III.4 above, exports in this industry began to grow rapidly after the crisis of 2001/2002. Wineries that had upgraded their manufacturing equipment during the 1990s now had the opportunity to introduce their products to international markets, enjoying the advantage of a favorable exchange rate. After this crisis, a substantial number of Argentine wineries began to travel abroad to trade fairs and international wine tastings. Some of these producers even started placing advertisements in the Wine Spectator. Nevertheless, by the beginning of the twenty-first century, there were still a large number of wineries that had not made the transition to the production of new-world wines. In order to address the lack of quality wines available for export, top producers—together with researchers from the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA)—formed a strategic plan for the industry in 2000 to develop a systematic approach for analyzing international and domestic markets and a strategy for helping lower-quality producers to upgrade their products to meet new-world standards. Most of the large new-world exporters in this industry are constantly experimenting with new techniques in new regions. Recently, there seems to be a trend for grape producers to move to higher altitudes. Changes in altitude normally produce dramatically different results. Much still has to be discovered as to how such grapes grow under different conditions. Many producers are actually experimenting with traditional Malbec grapes at different altitudes. Such
90