Argentina is one of the best wine producing countries in the world when it comes to values and high quality wines as well. I have been stating "you can't find a better Bordeaux style blend for under $15 that what you can find in Argentina and to some extent neighboring Chile.

We have seen a number of outside investors come to Argentina over the last few decades but one of the first winemakers from Bordeaux to see the potential of Mendoza and its many wine regions is Michele Rolland. He came to Medoza in the late 1980's to help Arnaldo Etchart and has been consulting for wineries as well as starting his own projects ever since. One of his first joint partnership was with Arnaldo Etchart in 1995 they started San Pedro de Yacochuya winery.

A bit of info about San Pedro de Yacochuya:

The Etchart family, on the maternal side, has been in the wine business since 1850: its ancestors in Cafayate are the family of Flavio Lema Niño, whose clay wine storage jars still survive to this day.

Arnaldo Benito Etchart bought the property and winery "La Florida" in the first half of the 20th century and it is his son Arnaldo who developed the "Etchart" brand with great success in Argentina and abroad. This winery was sold to the Pernod Ricard group in 1996, and a year prior, Arnaldo already had in the works the wines of the new undertaking: San Pedro de Yacochuya.

Chronology:

1988: Arnaldo Etchart enlists Michel Rolland to help develop the red wines of the Etchart winery--the beginning of a professional and personal relationship with one of the best oenologists in the world. This was one of the first of Rolland's consulting projects outside of France.

1989: Wine Spectator magazine features Rolland on one of that year's covers, elevating his prestige to a worldwide scale.

1990: Arnaldo Etchart and Michel Rolland release one of the first premium wines of Argentina: Arnaldo B. Etchart Cosecha 1989.

1995: The first wines of San Pedro de Yacochuya (white and red) enter the domestic market.

1998: The labors of the new winery in Yacochuya begin, resulting in the first harvest in February of 1999.

2001: The San Pedro de Yacochuya winery begins to export its first premium wine (Yacochuya M. Rolland Cosecha 1999), while still meeting the needs of the local market. San Pedro de Yacochuya is located at more than 6,500 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest viti-vinicultural sites in the world. The property is 39.5 acres: 22 acres of Malbec, 10 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 2.5 acres of Tannat and 5 acres of Torrontés. The winery has a capacity of 90,000 liters, and is equipped with the most recent modern technology.