Bolivia in south america has a long history of vine-growing but its modern wine industry is very small. Viticulture was brought to Bolivia from neighbouring peru in the 16th century by Spanish settlers and Catholic missionaries. Between 1550 and 1570 the first vineyards were established in the foothills of Sutó surrounding the recently founded Spanish city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and in the Luribay Canyon, south east of the city of La Paz. However, Bolivian viticulture really flourished two decades later, when the high valleys of the eastern slopes of the Andes were conquered. In 1595, there were vineyards in full production in the valley of the Mizque River, whence they expanded south to Tarija and east to Vallegrande by 1600, and thereafter to the districts of Tomina, Pilaya, Paspalla, Cinti, and Samaipata.
