Warm, dry summers; clear skies; poor, alluvial soils; and pure water for irrigation is a promising combination for viticulture. The drop in domestic sales in the 1970s and 1980s led to a search for new areas more suitable for the production of better-quality wine and since the 1990s Argentine viticulture has been transformed, with better irrigation techniques, canopy management, methods and timing of harvest, incorporation of technology, clonal and mass selections, and studies of the impact of microbial terroir and ultraviolet radiation, for example.