Bolivia

A 2010 zoning study describes the Central Valley of Tarija as a region with more than 400 years of wine tradition. Bolivia's legal framework is recent. Law 1334 of 4 May 1992 on denominations of origin is the basis of the singani definition, and Supreme Decree 24777 of 31 July 1997 regulated wine production, the certification of denominations of origin and quality, and turned the Tarija wine centre in Avilés province into the Centro Nacional Vitivinícola (CENAVIT). Law 774 of January 2016 declared singani and the Vinos de Altura Bolivianos cultural heritage of the state and grapes, singani and wines of strategic interest. Supreme Decree 3528 of 11 April 2018 defined Vinos de Altura by altitude. A ministry bulletin records wine output rising from 4.65 million litres in 2008 to 7.93 million in 2012. The departmental Centro Vitivinícola Tarija describes itself as the national reference for research and as promoter of high-altitude viticulture.

The Ministry of Productive Development's bulletin, using ministry data to December 2012, puts Bolivia's grape area above 4,452 ha, 80% in Tarija, 14% in Chuquisaca and 6% in Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Two zones dominate: the Central Valley of Tarija and the Cinti valleys of Chuquisaca. About 33% of the area was table grapes, 29% wine grapes and 37% grapes for singani. A 2010 study found vineyards in the Central Valley between 1,660 and 2,300 m, 91,000 ha of high potential in that band, and eight climate types under the CCM Geoviticulture system. A 2022 survey of 29 growers in three high valleys of southern Bolivia found small farms (2.2 ha on average, 85% of vineyards under 1 ha), traditional vines often staked on molle and other native trees, and growers who value the trees mainly as protection against hail, frost and flood.

Bolivia defines its quality wine category by altitude rather than by a described taste: Vinos de Altura must come from grapes harvested between 1,600 and 2,850 m. The Centro Vitivinícola Tarija analyses industrial and phenolic ripeness of the region's grapes and characterises wines through micro-vinifications, but publishes no regional sensory profile. The 2022 agroforestry survey states that the link between the high-valley terroir and the specific character of the wines and spirits made there remains to be explored.

Supreme Decree 3528 separates Vinos de Altura from Vinos Bolivianos, wines from grapes below 1,600 m or not certified as Vinos de Altura. It defines singani as an exclusively Bolivian product distilled from natural wines of Moscatel de Alejandría, produced, distilled and bottled in the zones of origin. Under Supreme Decree 24777, singani may use the controlled denomination of origin only if made entirely from Moscatel de Alejandría; wine may use it only if made from authorised vinification varieties, and table wine blended from criolla and table grapes may not use it or the terms 'Vino Fino' or 'Vino Varietal'. Law 774 gives the research centre CEMIVIT, with the intellectual property office SENAPI, the task of controlling these denominations. The 2022 survey names Negra Criolla, Moscatel de Alejandría and Vicchoqueña as traditional varieties. More than 99% of Bolivian wine was sold at home in 2012, 60% of it in Santa Cruz.