The subcontinent South America encompasses 13 countries with 17,843,000 km², which corresponds to 12% of the Earth's land area and has 441 million inhabitants. These countries are Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador (with the Galapagos Islands), French Guiana, Guyana, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Viticulture was established here upon the arrival of the Portugal and Spain conquistadors in the early 16th century (for historical backgrounds see America, New World, and USA). However, the colonization and thus the introduction of viticulture began in Central America. The Spaniard Hernando Cortez (1485-1547) found native grape variety in Mexico in 1519, but the Aztecs were unaware of wine production from them.
![]()
wein.plus is a handy, efficient guide to a quick overview of the colourful world of wines, winegrowers and grape varieties. In Wine lexicon, the most comprehensive of its kind in the world, you will find around 26,000 keywords on the subject of grape varieties, wineries, wine-growing regions and much more.
Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)