Argentina formally adopts official methods for wine and must analysis
Resolution 8/2026 gives the National Institute of Viticulture’s analytical compendium formal standing, establishing a common technical reference for laboratories, regulatory controls and the wine trade.
A single official technical reference
Argentina’s National Institute of Viticulture (INV) has formally adopted the Compendium of Methods of Analysis of Wines and Musts as the official technical reference for testing wine-sector products. Issued in Mendoza on November 5 through Resolution 8/2026 and published in the Official Gazette on November 6, the measure establishes the document as an institutional reference within the regulator’s authority and the country’s existing wine rules.1
The compendium will underpin the INV’s supervision of viticultural products under Argentina’s General Wine Law and related regulations. The institute said this work requires reliable, harmonized analytical methods so that laboratory findings are consistent and traceable.1
OIV references and Argentine methods
The INV’s Directorate of Viticulture Studies and Development prepared the compendium using technical references from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) alongside methods previously made official by the Argentine regulator. Its purpose is to unify analytical procedures and keep them aligned with scientific and technological developments.1
The institute also connected the update with the requirements of domestic and international markets, placing laboratory harmonization within a wider framework of regulatory compliance and trade. Experience from official and private interlaboratory enology testing under a national program had reinforced the need for a shared technical foundation to improve analytical quality, encourage continuous improvement and make results more comparable throughout the wine chain.1
Formal status and practical implications
The resolution goes beyond treating the compendium as non-binding guidance: its formal approval makes it the reference document for wine and must analysis within the INV’s jurisdiction. Must is freshly pressed grape juice before fermentation is complete and may still contain skins, seeds or stems.1
For wineries, laboratories and exporters, a common official reference could limit differences between facilities’ sample-testing practices, make regulatory controls more consistent and improve the comparability of results used in compliance and commercial transactions. The effects may extend to shipment approvals, product verification and disputes over analytical findings, particularly in export markets where consistent documentation is closely examined.1
Publication and legal basis
The resolution instructs the INV to publish the updated compendium on its website. The annex containing the document is also to be made available through the online edition of Argentina’s Official Gazette.1
Carlos Raul Tizio Mayer, president of the National Institute of Viticulture, signed the measure. The decision relies on powers granted by Argentina’s wine and appellation legislation and a 2025 presidential decree, and the institute’s legal affairs unit reviewed it before issuance. By formally combining INV methods with OIV references, Argentina is seeking closer alignment between public and private testing in a field where laboratory methods can affect market access, classification, tax treatment and export documentation.1
Sources
Written by the Dionysus editors from the sources above.
