Most Argentine wines hitting our shores are Malbecs from the Mendoza district, but this is a terrific value from San Juan just north of Mendoza. San Juan is the second most prolific wine growing region in Argentina, and viticulture is its leading economic crop. Its most important wine region, the Valle de Tulum, has a dry and mild climate, not unlike that of Mendoza. Due to the high altitude and low humidity, the vineyards rarely face the insects, fungi, molds, and other grape diseases that affect vineyards in other countries, so little or no pesticides are used.

Bodegas Callia is situated in the Tulum Valley nestled between the Pie de Palo hills to the north and the Cerro Chico Del Zonsa to the south. At 2135 feet above sea level, the vineyards are blessed by temperate climate, low rainfall, and rich, sandy alluvial and clay loam soil; the vines can be cropped for relatively large yields (thus low prices), yet still make flavorful wines. Drip irrigated with snowmelt runoff from the Andes is used, and the grapes are harvested and sorted by hand before destemming. After a three-day cold soak, fermentation takes place at 24C for ten days. The wine is then aged in stainless steel tanks for five months before bottling. The result is a wine with surprising depth of flavor for its price as well as clean, spicy fruit. Serve it with a hearty meat dish such as Beef Stew.

Bodegas Callia is named for a young woman who arrived in San Juan many years ago. She wrote to her family describing San Juan as a paradise that, despite its desert landscape, was endowed with abundant fruit. Her name was Callia and, for the people of Argentina today, Callia is synonymous with hope, endurance, and success.

Viticulture was introduced to Argentina during the Spanish colonization and later by Christian missionaries. In 1541 Vitis vinifera vines were brought from Spain and planted along the Río de la Plata by the Atlantic coast (near what is now Buenos Aires). The vines did not thrive in the humid subtropical climate, and viticultural activity there was eventually abandoned. In 1542 dried grape seeds taken from vines in Peru were planted near what is now the Salta Province east of the Andes. Eight years later another expedition from Peru brought cuttings, and in 1556 cuttings from Chile's Central Valley were brought to what is now San Juan and Mendoza. This firmly established viticulture in Argentina. Ampelographers suspect that one of those cuttings was the ancestor grape of the Chile's Pais and California's Mission grapes. This grape was also the forerunner of the Criolla Chica variety that would be the backbone of the Argentine wine industry for the next 300 years until French agronomist Miguel Aimé Pouget brought Malbec and other cuttings from France in the 1850s.