In 1885, the Buenos Aires to Mendoza railway opened, cementing the significance of this emerging wine-growing region high in the Andean foothills. One visitor to Mendoza, an English engineer called Edmund Norton, was so struck by the beauty and potential he saw there that he established a winery bearing his name and 1895 planted the first vines in Mendoza’s Luján de Cuyo district. Almost a century later, Gernot Langes-Swarovski was similarly struck by Mendoza and its vineyards; in 1989, he acquired Bodega Norton and transformed it into the world-renowned winery it is today. Both men rightly recognized the special nature of the area. The altitude moderates the temperature at 900-1,100 metres while exposing the vines to more ultraviolet light. The result is whites packed with vibrant flavour, good natural acidity, and well-structured, food-friendly reds.