Even though Argentina is the world’s fourth largest wine-producing country, a great majority of the wine is inexpensive and ordinary. Most of Argentina’s wine is consumed within the country, which also happens to have one of the higher per capita consumption rates. The largest growing region is in the Mendoza province, which produces 70 to 75 percent of Argentina’s wine and 85 percent of its quality wine. Mendoza has evolved the furthest in the development of recognized subregions, which include Luján de Cuyo, Maipú, San Rafael, and Uco Valley (around the village of Tupungato). Other growing regions include Agrelo, Catamaraca, Jujuy, La Rioja, Neuguén, Rio Negro, San Juan, and Salta. San Juan, the second most productive region, has three major subregions—the valley areas of Tulum, Ullum, and Zonda. A majority of the growing areas are not far from the Andes Mountains and benefit from irrigation water from melting snow. Most of Argentina’s better wines come from the high, cool mountainous areas, with red wine comprising the majority. The most widely planted red-grape variety is Criolla (MISSION), followed by MALBEC. The latter is the recognized star of the red-grape varieties. It’s the mostly widely planted quality grape here and produces rich, deepcolored wines. There are a variety of other red grapes planted in Argentina including BARBERA, BONARDA, CABERNET SAUVIGNON, MERLOT, NEBBIOLO, PINOT NOIR, SANGIOVESE, SYRAH, and TEMPRANILLO. The most popular white varieties (used mostly for FORTIFIED WINES), are PALOMINO, Torrontes, and PEDRO XIMÉNEZ. There is also acreage planted with CHARDONNAY, CHENIN BLANC, SÉMILLON, and SAUVIGNON BLANC, most of which go into higher-quality white wines, particularly from the Rio Negro area.