During her brief stay in Argentina, María Isabel Mijares, the famous winemaker known as “the wine woman”, talked about the goal of her visit.

Isabel Mijares is one of Europe’s most prominent winemakers. During her stay in Argentina, she conducted consulting work at Finca Don Diego, joined by a team comprised by Marcelo Casazza,the winery’s agronomist and Esteban Roldan, the winery’s new winemaker. Together, they outlined the new varietal and blend strategy for the winery and projected great improvements and changes, such as the incorporation of Rumanian oak, whose quality is similar to French oak. In the following interview, she talks about these issues and offers her view on Argentinian wines in the world scene.

- How do you see Argentina in the world scene?

- Argentina was asleep for years, but she has woken up feeling like walking firmly and she is showing she can do this. Her wines are not well-known yet, so I believe she should focus on making them more recognized. She has a great soil and climate potential for varieties that can produce every wine style. She must take advantage of this moment in which wine is fashionable.

The country is not really known, there is a widespread image that relates Argentina with beef, tango, soccer, but not with wine, yet. The tourism boom that Argentina is currently experiencing should be capitalized on, as many visitors come from the US, which is one of the largest markets for wineries.

Links should be highlighted connecting wine with cuisine, art, music, and communications.

One of the most harmful factors for Argentina is the socioeconomic crisis it is constantly experiencing. The country has been able to overcome crisis after crisis and knows how to position itself in the world. Yet, it is little known in world markets.

It must keep highlighting the price to quality ratio. It ought to avoid making the same mistake that other new world countries like Chile have made: trying to position its wines as cheap but lower quality.

- What is Argentina still lacking?

- The country has potential; right now public and private institutions should join forces with the aim of providing more information, of training international consumers. It should explain its wines for the world to understand what they mean, their qualities. For instance, it should highlight the features of regions like Mendoza, Salta, Patagonia, San Juan, with their own sub-regions. Argentinian wines should be promoted taking into consideration that consumers like to know the origin of wines, but if knowledge about these wines is not available, consumers won’t choose Argentinian wines on their own.

The best you can do is to conduct market research in order to have a consumer profile.

The key for this has been shown by the French wineries, which have been the leaders in terms of communications. They have become the pillars of the wine world and this is greatly due to the communication strategies they’ve used.

Moreover, you should consider that, beyond the events you’ve been organizing here, it is very important to participate in foreign events, displaying your wines…this is the only way of becoming prominent and achieving a position.

- What wine or variety would you recommend?

- I believe that there isn’t only one wine or variety; I think there is one for each hour and meal. Argentina is mainly associated with Malbec, but I’ve tasted many other varieties.

Torrontés and Bonarda are also growing in the country; they are great varieties that haven´t been exploited yet.

I also believe that beyond surprising with unexplored varieties, the country should look at the million options available for blends, which requires research. Moreover, I think that positioning varieties according to the region where they originate is a great way to enter the market.

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