🍇 Torrontés Riojano

Torrontés Riojano is a white wine grape variety (Vitis vinifera subsp. sativa) grown in Argentina, where the national wine institute INV recognises three distinct Torrontés varieties: Riojano, Sanjuanino and Mendocino. In the VIVC passport (variety number 15162) it has white berry skin, hermaphrodite flowers, fully formed seeds and a muscat taste, and it is used as a wine grape.

According to VIVC, its parents are Listán Prieto (País) and Muscat of Alexandria; the pedigree is confirmed by microsatellite (SSR) markers, and the same entry earlier gave Criolla Chica × Muscat of Alexandria. The INV explains that DNA analysis showed Torrontés Riojano and Torrontés Sanjuanino to be offspring of Muscat of Alexandria and Criolla Chica, that Torrontés Mendocino is probably also a Muscat of Alexandria offspring, and that Criolla Chica was later matched with Listán Prieto. The three cultivars differ from each other, and attempts to link them to Spanish varieties called Torrontés failed.

VIVC lists four synonyms, among them Torrontel and Torrontel Riojano, and holdings in collections in Spain (ESP074) and France (FRA139); it gives no country of origin.

The INV report on Torrontés (September 2024) states that all Torrontés together covered 8,845 ha in Argentina in 2024, or 4.4% of the country's vineyards, 18.1% less than in 2015. Torrontés Riojano makes up 80% of this area (Sanjuanino 14.8%, Mendocino 5.2%); with 7,075 ha it ranks second among white wine varieties in Argentina. Of the Riojano area, 3,245 ha are in Mendoza, 1,783 ha in La Rioja and 859 ha in Salta. The INV describes it as an aromatic white grape that gives a dry wine with distinctive terpene aromas. VIVC area statistics give 8,691.71 ha for 1991 and 8,443 ha for 2009.

In the European Union a variety name may appear on a wine label if at least 85% of the wine comes from that variety (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33).