Criolla: 15 great buys from South America’s trailblazing family of grapes

The Criolla revolution of South America is still in its infancy – despite these being the oldest varieties on the continent.

It was only in 2007 that the first commercial export of País (also known as Criolla Chica and Mission) wine came from Chile, and momentum has slowly built since.

When I first wrote about Criolla for Decanter in 2018 (October issue, for the collectors!), it was a scramble to find enough wines to even include tasting notes.

My editor generously allowed me to feature several wines not yet available internationally – it was still a nascent revival. Seven years on, the opposite is true: narrowing the list to just 15 wines was the real challenge.

Scroll down for a selection of criolla wines

Local roots

The Criolla renaissance is real – but its survival is far from guaranteed. Despite the renewed interest, these varieties are still disappearing at a rapid pace, unable to compete commercially with the consumer recognition and ready acceptance of Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Criolla varieties are South America’s native grape family.

While still largely absent from wine education and often overlooked as too niche, as I discovered during work for my Master of Wine thesis they make up more than 18% of Chile’s vineyards (according to the country’s national agricultural service SAG) and more than 30% of Argentina’s wine varieties (INV national viticulture institute), totalling more than 82,700ha – with at least 10,000ha more in production across Bolivia and Peru.

So, not quite as niche as some would suggest…

These varieties have always been big business for South America, and they built the foundations of the wine industry.

The early Spanish settlers principally brought Moscatel de Alejandría and Listán Prieto vines; and over a period of 500 years these crossed between themselves and evolved on the continent to form the Criolla family, a group of native varieties not planted anywhere else. Yet.

Research presented last year by Chile’s agricultural research institute INIA and Argentina’s INTA national institute of agricultural technology identified more than 100 distinct Criolla varieties in Chile and Argentina alone, and that is likely just the tip of the iceberg.

The Criolla varieties have long been valued for their high yields, but today they are also prized for their hardiness in the face of a changing climate – they are typically resistant to drought and disease, and climate-resilient. Not all are suited to fine wine, but many are proving their potential (see box).

País – the original

The three Criolla grapes that have driven the current quality revival are the red grape País and white grapes Torrontés and Moscatel de Alejandría.

País, also known as Criolla Chica in Argentina, Mission (US), Negra Criolla (Peru) and Misionera (Bolivia), is Spain’s Listán Prieto.

Alongside the internationally planted Moscatel de Alejandría (Muscat of Alexandria), it was among the first Vitis vinifera varieties to arrive in South America.

While there’s some debate about calling these Spanish imports ‘native’ or Criolla, to my mind their 500-year adaptation, selection and mutation on the continent justifies the label. Most winemakers agree.

With more than 10,300ha in 2022, País is Chile’s fifth most-planted variety. Argentina, Bolivia and Peru also have small but increasingly valued plantings.

País stands out for its deeper colour and firmer tannins compared with most pink or light red Criollas. (A recent crossing with Malbec, dubbed ‘Criolla #1’, may soon rival that claim, though.)

Handled with care – treated more like Pinot Noir than Cabernet Sauvignon – País nowadays produces wines that seduce with fine tannins, light body and distinctive notes of herbs, wildflowers and bramble fruit.

Know your Criollas: Five key varieties

País

Also known as: Criolla Chica, Mission, Listán Prieto Tastes like Wild herbs, red berries, florals and bramble.

Mostly produces: Medium-bodied reds

Main regions: Secano Interior Chile (Maule, Itata, Bío Bío), plus pockets in Argentina, Peru and Bolivia

Criolla Grande

Tastes like: Subtle notes of strawberries and cherry

Mostly produces: Light-bodied pinks and light reds

Main regions: Mendoza, San Juan

Torrontés Riojano

Tastes like: Jasmine, orange blossom, lychee, citrus

Mostly produces: Light-bodied whites

Main regions: Throughout Argentina

Pedro Gimenez

Also known as: Jiménez, Ximénez (but genetically different to Spain’s PX)

Tastes like: Subtle citrus, white flowers

Mostly produces: Light-bodied whites

Main regions: Mendoza, San Juan, Elqui

Moscatel de Alejandria

Also known as: Muscat of Alexandria

Tastes like: Aromatic and floral, although more savoury, earthy notes in Chile. Dried flowers, stone fruit

Mostly produces: Medium-bodied whites

Main regions: Secano Interior Chile, Peru, Bolivia

Local natives

These are already some of the most exciting reds in South America, which is no mean feat considering the variety has only been taken seriously for less than a decade.

Unlike País, Torrontés is genuinely native – a cross of Criolla Chica and Moscatel de Alejandría, it was born in Argentina (with some plantings beyond).

The name Torrontés stands for three different varieties: Torrontés Riojano, Sanjuanino and Mendocino.

Riojano is the most lionised, with 6,867ha in 2024 (according to INV – 80% of Argentina’s Torrontés) planted throughout Argentina’s wine regions. Its floral aromatics – jasmine, orange blossom, lychee – make it Argentina’s signature white.

Sanjuanino (15% of plantings) is increasingly used for skin-contact wines in San Juan – its lighter, more savoury aromatics and fuller body suit this style. Mendocino remains underwhelming, and scarce.

What Torrontés represents to Argentina, Moscatel de Alejandría is to Chile. Accounting for 3.8% of vineyards (some 5,280ha), it’s essential for the distillation of local spirit pisco and increasingly for wine.

In Itata and Bío Bío, producers such as De Martino, Miguel Torres and Roberto Henríquez are redefining the variety with savoury, structured whites – often aged in tinajas (locally made clay amphorae) and made with some skin contact.

Chile’s old-vine Moscatel often defies global expectations of the variety, and local massal selections (vines reproduced by taking cuttings from high-quality existing vine stock) are typically earthier, showing greater volume and acidity than fruity, light-bodied Moscatels found elsewhere.

Uniting nations

Criolla field blends are also common, especially in Criolla heartlands such as eastern Mendoza in Argentina and the Secano Interior of Chile.

In Peru, too, field blends of their famous pisco varieties (all Criolla) are more frequently being vinified as still wines, often with some skin contact, flor ageing or oxidative ageing.

In Bolivia’s ancient Cinti valley, vineyards are often co-planted not just with multiple grape varieties but with fruit trees and pink peppercorn trees (molle), which give a distinctive character and aromatic profile.

The revival of interest in these native varieties echoes movements happening around the world – from Georgia to Greece – and the Criolla wines of South America could become the continent’s most authentic voice. They offer a sense of place and heritage that is uniquely, and unmistakably, South American.

The 15 wines that follow represent the front line of that movement – a quality revolution that has been hard-fought but fast-paced. In another eight years, I suspect Criolla will be playing on an entirely new level…

[Sources: SAG annual report 2022; INV 2024]

You can pre-order Amanda Barnes MW’s forthcoming book (£35) on Criolla varieties at southamerica wineguide.com/criolla-book

A continent of flavours: Barnes’ pick of 15 Criolla wines to discover

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