Nearly 2,000 metres above sea level, wine-growers in Bolivia are continuing a centuries-old tradition started by Jesuit missionaries in a bid to capture a niche market with their unique product. In the southern Tarija department in the foothills of the Andes mountain range, the little known Bolivian vineyards find themselves dwarfed between the two regional wine-growing giants: Argentina and Chile.

Those two countries are respectively the seventh and eighth-largest wine producers in the world and share 200,000 hectares of vineyards. The 5,000 hectares of vineyards in Tarija benefit from a temperate climate with intense sunshine during the day and humidity at night, with the region protected from strong winds from the north.

“The altitude means that we have less ozone layer filtering the rays, which means there are more ultraviolet rays at higher altitudes, which produces a response from the plant,” said oenologist Nelson Sfarcich. That in turn produces thicker grape skins and a higher content of resveratrol, a chemical that is believed to help protect against cancer and heart disease.

Maria Jose Granier, owner of the artisanal Jardin Oculto vineyard, says that “the altitude allows the vines to enter dormancy in winter, sprout in summer and have a better reproductive cycle.”

Smooth and strong

Bolivian wine production is mostly concentrated between 21 and 23 degrees latitude at 1,600 to 2,000 meters altitude. But there are some crops in hot Andean areas up to 3,000 metres.

Granier says these Bolivian offerings appeal to those that like elegant wines. ”They’re wines that don’t have a very high alcohol content, but rather they have smooth aromas and flavours that are strong at the same time.”

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