very high international standards. El Valle del Cauca, south of Bogotá, is also a well known winery area. Wines in Colombia tend to be sweeter due to the climate of the Andes, hot weather and constant rain. Mexico Mexico is the oldest wine-making region in the Americas. In 1549, Spanish explorers and settlers came across a fertile valley in the present-day state of Coahuila where they encountered native vines and founded the Mission of Santa María de las Parras or "Holy Mary of the Vines". In 1597, the Hacienda de San Lorenzo was established by the Spanish settler Don Lorenzo García, where he founded, along with other Spanish missionaries, Casa Maderothe oldest winery house in the Americas. Many of the vines from Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila and other places in Mexico were the first to be exported and cultivated in what is now California, as well as other provinces in Northern New Spain and other Spanish colonies in South America. In 1699, the King of Spainalarmed by competition from the New Worldprohibited wine production in New Spain, with the exception of wines for the church. The prohibition lasted until the Mexico's independence from Spain in 1810. As of the 2013, about 90% of Mexican wine is produced in the northwestern state of Baja California, neighboring the wine-producing region of California in the U.S., particularly in the Valley of Guadalupe, Ensenada Municipality. New Zealand The New Zealand viticulture industry was started in a small way by Croatian immigrants at the end of the 19th century, but it was not until the 1970s that it began to flourish. Several factors came together at that time - Britain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 ended favourable terms of agricultural trade, while New Zealanders themselves developed a taste for wine as local alcohol licensing laws changed and cheap air travel exposed them to different cultures. Various grapes were tried in the early years, but it was in the 1980s that New Zealand developed the distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc that became its trademark. Since then the Burgundy grapes of Chardonnay and Pinot noir have been developed in cooler, more southerly vineyards, with considerable success. More recently there has been increasing popularity for the 'aromatic' white varieties such as Gewürztraminer and Riesling, with Auslese styles also being attempted. Peru The first grapevines were brought to Peru shortly after its conquest by Spain.