Old Vines

Why They Matter

Argentina is a global reservoir of old, genetically diverse, and own-rooted (ungrafted) vineyards, a key factor in the quality and character of its wines. The mission to preserve Mendoza’s old vines rests on three fundamental pillars that transcend the technical aspects of agriculture.

Sentimental
and ethical

An old vine is a complete ecosystem, a community of insects, birds, fungi, and microbes that have coexisted for years.

Like a seasoned artisan, it may produce less fruit, but it is a living being of irreplaceable character, containing the accumulated knowledge of the soil, the climate, and the hands that have cared for it over decades.

Cultural

Mendoza’s old vineyards are a snapshot of pre-industrial viniculture.

They contain pre-phylloxeric massale selections that are living links to our shared heritage. Maintaining them is crucial for preserving a history that, once uprooted, is lost forever.

Genetic

The genetic diversity preserved in these old vines is an essential bank for the future of viticulture.

In a world where modern vineyards are increasingly uniform, biodiversity is a critical resource. Most of Argentina’s old-vine vineyards are planted with massale selections, not uniform clones—resulting in high genetic diversity among the vines. As climates shift, genes that allow vines to ripen later or withstand drought may prove vital. In the words of South African viticulture researcher Etienne Neethling, when it comes to preserving the genetic wealth of wine, “the New World could save the Old World.”

The Legacy of Malbec

Malbec’s fate was rewritten in Argentina

Malbec is today the flagship variety in Argentina, revered the world over for its deep color and tannins. For centuries this native of Cahors, France, was a key grape in Bordeaux winemaking, the stuff of First Growth vintages of impeccable quality. But Malbec often struggled in its homeland of France with disease and inconsistent ripening. A devastating phylloxera plague in the 1860s nearly eradicated it. By attacking the vulnerable roots of Vitis vinifera vines, the phylloxera pest destroyed millions of hectares, forcing the global wine industry to graft its vines onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks to recover.
Luckily, in 1853, before the plague hit Europe’s viticultural regions, French agronomist Michel Aimé Pouget had introduced pre-phylloxera Malbec cuttings to Mendoza, Argentina. At elevations between 900 and 1,500 meters, the vines flourished under 300 days of sun, producing berries that were smaller but bursting with intense flavor, something that was difficult to achieve consistently in France.

These vines were planted at a pivotal moment in history, right before the phylloxera epidemic. Mendoza’s high altitude and dry climate suited them perfectly.

— Laura Catena

Despite its success in its new environment, Malbec faced a second threat of extinction, this time in Argentina. Wineries, chasing market trends, were uprooting old, low-yielding Malbec vineyards to plant more productive varieties. By the 1990s, national plantings had fallen by a whopping 80% from their peak in the 1960s. It was during this period that visionaries like Nicolás Catena Zapata began using the remaining pre-phylloxera vines to craft world class wines, paving the way for Malbec’s global revival.
The true legacy of Malbec in Argentina resides in the old, ungrafted vineyards preserved for generations by small growers. Unlike modern clonal or polyclonal vineyards, which are genetically uniform, most of Argentina’s old vineyards are populated by genetically diverse massale selections. The vine-to-vine variability in ripening times, cluster sizes, and sun exposure is the key to producing wines with layered textures, profound complexity, and exceptional aging potential. These massale selections extend beyond Malbec to include historic Cabernet Sauvignon, Bonarda, and Torrontés vines. They contain immense genetic diversity, a vital resource for the future of viticulture.

These selections are a living link to Malbec’s pre-industrial past, offering a taste of place that cannot be replicated.

—

At LUCA, preserving the legacy of these old vines for future generations involves safeguarding the irreplaceable genetic heritage within our ancient vines and cultivating the rich biodiverse ecosystem that surrounds them. At the Catena Institute, this plant material is being actively preserved in a proprietary collection that includes 135 unique Malbec cuttings from historic sites like the Angélica Vineyard. Through initiatives like the “Old Vineyard and Genetic Preservation Project,” Catena Institute researchers are working to catalog hundreds of unique Malbec genotypes from century-old plots. Many of the vineyards being preserved belong to the group of LUCA old vine growers.

Old Vines by the Numbers

Argentina contains what is believed to be the largest area of ungrafted massale plantings in the world. The singularity of Argentina’s viticultural heritage, built over a century, is best illustrated by the data, which quantifies the scale of this historic resource when compared with the rest of the wine world. In fact, as Decanter magazine reported, the country could contain more than 150,000 hectares of ungrafted massale plantings.

Vines planted
before 1970

  • Argentina: 25,564 ha

  • Rest of the world:
    Data varies

Massale (non-clonal)
vineyards

  • Argentina: 89.8%

  • Rest of the world:
    < 5% (approx.)

Ungrafted
vineyards

  • Argentina: 92%

  • Rest of the world:
    Significantly less

Old Vines Q&A

An old vine is like a seasoned artisan; it may produce less fruit, but its work contributes irreplaceable character. - Laura Catena

An old vine is generally defined as one older than 25 to 50 years, depending on who you ask. A vine that has lived that long in one place reaches a level of balance with its environment that is essential for crafting wines of the highest quality.

A traditional way of preserving the genetic heritage of old vineyards by selecting diverse cuttings from the healthiest and most exceptional individuals.

The slightly staggered ripening that results from massale selection provides the vineyard with greater resilience against frost and other extreme weather events. The vine-to-vine variability in ripening times, cluster sizes, and sun exposure is the key to producing wines with layered textures, profound complexity, an exceptional aging potential. It is no surpise that our best Malbec, Cabernet Savignon, and Bonarda wines come from ungrafted massale vineyards.

This refers to Vitis vinifera plants that are grown on their own roots and not grafted onto American rootstocks. Ungrafted old vines have demonstrated a longer lifespan and lower susceptibility to certain viruses.

Genetic diversity creates natural, vine-to-vine variability in ripening times and cluster sizes within the same parcel, a key element in producing wines with greater flavor complexity and layered textures. In difficult vintages LUCA’s genetically diverse massale plantings are the most resilient, because a spring frost will result in less damage to vines if they are different stages of ripening.

It’s true that old vines typically yield 50% less fruit than their modern counterparts, averaging just 3 to 4 tons per hectare. The berries are smaller, but that only creates a higher skin-to-pulp ratio. This natural concentration results in wines with more intense flavors, higher levels of tannins, and balanced acidity, all of which contribute to complex textures and outstanding aging capacity and, of course, a taste of terroir.

Over the years, the permanent structures of a vine—trunk, arms, and roots—thicken, increasing its capacity for storing energy reserves. These critical reserves provide energy for budburst and help the vine ripen its fruit during stressful events like drought or heatwaves. This internal resilience is complemented by an extensive root system that can stretch 3 to 6 meters deep, accessing water and nutrients from far below the surface. A 2022 study on Zinfandel in California, for example, confirmed that old vines displayed greater effective rooting depths than young vines. Together, these factors give old vines a profound natural balance, allowing them to produce low, concentrated yields without needing human intervention like green harvesting.

In Mendoza, traditional flood irrigation floods river water into vineyards through a complex network of canals, encouraging deep root systems. Drip irrigation delivers water straight to the plant roots.

Polyculture replicates nature’s ecosystems in the planting of different crops together to promote biodiversity and sustainability.