The Tulum Valley is a sub-region of the San Juan province of Argentina, it lies north of Mendoza against the Andes and Chile with the La Rioja province as its northern border. The Tulum Valley has its vineyards at the base of the Andes Mountains.
Syrah has become the dominant grape of the area and is more widely planted than Malbec, however you can find high quality wines from other varieties like Chardonnay and Viognier from the area.
Tulum Valley has unique characteristics, with higher temperatures compared to the Mendoza and Patagonia area’s but benefitting like Mendoza from its altitudes and making use of the valley and the San Juan River to cool down for the nights. This together with an abundance of sunlight with an average of more than 300 sunny days a year, and mild winters benefitting from the alluvial souls composed of sand and clay makes great circumstances for grape varieties like, Syrah, Bonarda (Charbono), Torrontes and Malbec.
With an Average elevation of 2200 feet Tulum’s Valley vineyards are sheltered from the high temperatures which are prevalent at sea level, ensuring a favourable environment for the grapes to ripen with significant day and night temperature differences while maintaining high intensity of sunlight.
With the very limited rainfall the Tulum Valley relies on the Quebrada de Ullum Dam a vital source of regulated water provided by the San Juan River, to use as irrigation for the vineyards, to provide moisture for the alluvial clay and sand, occasionally mixed with limestone soil for the ideal nutrition of the grape vines.
The Tulum Valley has been granted Geographical Indication (GI) status by the National Viticulture Institute (NVI) of Argentina, it certifies the wines are from the region limits.
