By Gwynne Hogan for Wine-Republic.comEveryone associates Mendoza with its wineries and great viniculture, but over the years the bodegas have moved further and further away from the local culture and community. Gwynne Hogan looks into the past, present and future relationship between the local wineries and the local people.
For over a century wineries and wine consumption have been an integral part of Mendocinian life, however, the role that this industry plays is one that has changed dramatically over time. The first European immigrants to Mendoza brought with them generations of grape growing and wine making tradition and saw the land and climate Mendoza provided perfect for viniculture.
From 1887 to 1910, the amount of land dedicated to grape growing increased by 600% reaching than 30,000 hectors. Much of the 20th century was characterized by huge production of wine for domestic consumption. The possibility of exporting that product came as an afterthought, if of course, there was any wine left over.
Due to this history, it goes without saying that wine drinking and wineries have long been a powerful engine influencing local culture and economy. The harvest provided jobs for anyone in need and the queen of the harvest (Vendimia) was chosen among the pickers as the most industrious in the fields. Wine snuggled its way into the drinking habits of everyday life accompanying lunch and dinner, and the national religion of weekend asados (barbeques) demanded a big, busty Malbec to complement it.
But within the last ten years the face of wine culture has altered dramatically. An economic collapse in the early 2000's inspired winemakers from countries all over to take interest in Mendoza for the rock-bottom land and labour prices it offered. Foreign capital flowed in and elaborate new wineries popped up all over, often more extravagant than their older siblings. These new wineries employed international staff and winemakers, and tend to gear their products and services towards an international market. While transforming Mendoza into a global wine producer and tourism hotspot, it appears also to have distanced the local population from the heart of the industry. Winemaking, which had been 100% local—pickers, agronomists, winemakers, vineyard owners, caretakers, and of course, consumers — now found itself spiralling away from these roots. One concrete result is that many younger Mendocinians, have almost all but abandoned wine, preferring nationally produced (and terribly mediocre) beer, or the potent and medicinal liquor Fernet.
Besides changing the drinking habits of the younger generation, international focus on Mendoza has dug itself into the very heart of Mendocinan culture, highlighting the dramatic difference between haves and have-nots. Tourists and those earning in foreign currency on Argentine soil enjoy the 'divide by four' (or five, or six) equation that makes gourmet dining and outstanding wines daily commodities. A slur of top restaurants and pricy hotels are a testament to this fact. This lavish reality enjoyed by the passers-through hovers eminently above a less comfortable one that is lived daily by the grand majority of the local population, who struggle with the skyrocketing prices of basic items, who patch, rebuild and fix rather than buy, and whose humble savings every day feels like it is worth less and less. Popular graffiti offers a biting critique of these dual realities in which a butler bent over a suitcase is caught in a Kama-Sutra like pose with the suitcase's owner behind him.
Despite this divide, several small initiatives are underway that aim to (at least symbolically) combat it. The winery where I work, for example, recently provided a tour and tasting guided by the winemaker for a group of men working in the...Read full article
