Some recent statistics confirm that Argentine wine has firmly established itself on foreign wine shelves, especially in the United States. Sales of 222 million dollars to the Northern colossus (the only major wine producing country in the world that does not produce enough wine to satisfy domestic consumers) means Argentina has knocked its Latin America wine rival Chile from the fourth spot regarding exports to North America.
This fact is all the more remarkable when you consider that up until 2004, Chile's largest winery Concha y Toro exported more wine than the whole of Argentina. Argentina now exports 860 million dollars in total, not bad in comparison to a decade ago when Argentine wine hardly figured outside Argentina. The success is down to a combination of favorable exchange rates and a global love affair with Malbec, of which Argentina is the only significant producer. Now it only has Italy, France and Australia to beat for most favoured wine region in the States.
Other interesting statistics are that the wine industry here has a turnover of 2,625 million US dollars and employs 400,000 people. Argentina is the fifth biggest wine producing country in the World and the seventh biggest consumer. Despite the export boom, 77% of Argentine wine is still consumed at home.
