The Global Life: Tierra del Vino

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Argentina was forced to redefine its domestic wine industry when its citizens started drinking less wine a decade ago. Argentine producers--who make more wine than Chileans but export only 15%--had a choice: export or go bust. "We had to differentiate ourselves," says Bernardo Hoffmann, marketing director for the Wines of Argentina export association. Hence the rebirth of Malbec, a French migrant long dissed as merely a blending grape. Enologists found the grape to be a more complex varietal than once thought, especially in Mendoza's dryer, Andean conditions. Today, Malbecs like Catena's, from $10 to $50, score high with U.S. critics for their exuberant, fruity and floral styles. "We're aiming for the 25-to-40-year-old market," says Catena in his state-of-the-art winery, built like a Maya pyramid. "It's more aligned with the New World trend." Helped by the Argentine peso's 2001 devaluation, Catena now exports 85% of its wine, half of that to the U.S., and its once negligible exports are nearing $10 million.

More exports have brought more wine tourists: their numbers in Argentina's Mendoza have been up 35% in the past two years. Guided by enologists hired via Argentine travel agencies for $40 a day, tourists are descending on Mendoza's sprawling plain, where winemakers like Catena have polo teams to entertain wine tasters, and many bed-and-breakfasts sport spectacular views of the snowcapped Andes. At the Familia Zuccardi vineyard, guests at asados (meat-grilling parties) are treated to tango shows. The influx has also shone a spotlight on Mendoza institutions like 1884, which Restaurant magazine recently rated the world's seventh best restaurant, and the Park Hyatt, which offers wine-tasting salons as earnestly as other hotels advertise Internet service.

Chilean tourism is still affected by the image of the 1973-90 Pinochet dictatorship. But as part of the push to trumpet its newer, higher-quality winemaking, Chile is turning to wine tourism as a means of selling a brighter national identity. Colchagua now has a Ruta del Vino (Wine Route), with train service, tastings on decks built high into vineyard hills, horseback excursions and rodeos performed by huasos (cowboys). Four-star Spanish-colonial-style hotels like the Santa Cruz Plaza are sprouting up, and festivals like the Vendimia (grape harvest) are drawing new crowds of foreigners. At the bottom of the world these days, the wine future looks all bottoms up. --With reporting by Cristobal Edwards/the Colchagua Valley and Uki Goni/Mendoza