the País. This Chilean grape was introduced into what is now Argentina where it came to be known as Criolla chica. These grapes are supposed to have originated from Spain but there is also a possibility that they originated from Italy as they resemble very much the variety Mónica grown in Sardinia as well as Spain. In the second half of the 16th century, the demand for wine among Spanish settlers caused a surge in Spanish wine exports to Mexico and Cuba. However, this was not the case for Peru, Chile, and Argentina, where cultivation of vineyards had proven to be a success and, thus, required fewer imports of Spanish wines. Relative to Peru and Chile, Spanish settlers in Mexico established very few vineyards by comparison. In the 16th and 17th century the principal winegrowing area of the Americas was in the central and southern coast of Peru, specifically in the area of Ica and Pisco. Apart from Peru and Chile Paraguay developed despite its high temperatures into a wine-making area in the 16th century. Hernando Arias de Saavedra who visited the city of Asunción in 1602 said there was 187 vineyards totalling 1.768.000 individual plants. Other sources cite 2.000.000 and 1.778.000 plants around the same time. Paraguayan wine was exported downstream to Santa Fe and from there to the Platine market. Paraguayan wine is also known to have reached Córdoba in central Argentina. Changes in the Americas and opening of South Africa In 1595 the Spanish Crown banned the establishment of new vineyards in the Americas, but this order was largely ignored. The ban sought to protect Iberian wine from competition by Peruvian wine and can be considered an example of commodity mercantilism. Moreover, the Spanish Crown banned the export of Peruvian wine to Panamá and Guatemala in 1614 and 1615 respectively. The enforcement of the restrictions on wine growth and trade in the Spanish Empire was in general lax. The only market in the Americas the Spanish Crown managedto some degreeto secure for Iberian wine was Mexico. The growth of mining in Potosí in present-day Bolivia, which became the largest city in the Americas in the 17th century, created a constant demand for wine which was supplied mainly from Peru. In Potosí part of salaries were paid with wine. Furthermore, Peruvian wine growers supplied the city of Lima, the most important political centre in South America in the