Did those first vines produce grapes? It would have been a close call, as La Isabela was abandoned after three years because of disease, hurricanes and hunger. And if so, what were they? Listán Prieto (aka País, Criolla Chica and Mission) brought from Castilla-La Mancha and set to become the most planted grape in the Americas by the middle of the 16th century? Moscatel de Alejandría? Or some other grape, sourced perhaps from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, Columbus’ last port of call to take on provisions before crossing the Atlantic? In the absence of archaeological finds, we don’t know.
What we do know is that wine moved south with settlement and conquest. Everywhere they went, the conquistadors planted vines, in Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and finally Argentina, partly for religious purposes, but more often for secular ones: medicine, food and pleasure. As early as 1519, the merchant vintners of Seville made sure that every ship leaving for the Americas carried cuttings or seeds as part of their diverse cargo. By the mid-16th century, Peru was the centre of the Latin American wine trade; within 25 years of planting its first vineyard (in 1539), the country had 40,000ha. The Portuguese too brought vines from Europe – probably Madeira – to Brazil in 1532. Only Uruguay was late to the vinous party, waiting until the arrival of Jesuit missionaries with their vines in the 1620s.
Planting restrictions
Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de Decanter.
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