La Rioja

La Rioja - not to be confused with the region of the same name in northern Spain, is an Argentine wine region. It is much smaller than its heavyweight neighbors to the south, Mendoza and San Juan. Despite being the longest-established of Argentina's wine regions, La Rioja now produces less than a tenth of the volume achieved by Mendoza.

Because it is far hotter and drier than the more southerly regions (summer temperatures of 110F/43C are not uncommon), La Rioja's wine-producing areas are strictly governed by access to water. As a result, vineyard distribution is rather scattered. There is a single main production area in the Famatina Valley, which sits in the mesoclimate formed by the Sierra Velasco and the Sierra Famatina.