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South America: History

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

The late-15th-century European voyages of discovery, notably to the Americas, were followed by migrations of European settlers there, associated with substantial movement of animals and plants between the two continents. Although indigenous varieties of vine grew in Central America (see vitis), there is no evidence that the Aztecs made wine from them, and it was thus with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century that vine cultivation and winemaking were first introduced to the region. Mexico was the first part of the continent to witness the introduction of European vinifera vines, and as early as 1522 Cortés is recorded as having sent for vine cuttings from Spain. Moreover, by 1524 the planting of vines was a condition of repartimiento grants, through which the Spaniards were granted land and labour on the foundation of Mexico City. From Mexico, the spread of viticulture followed swiftly on the heels of Spanish conquests.

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