Question: What country was the wine that used Criolla grapes originally traced back too?
Context: The acids in wine are an important component in both winemaking and the finished product of wine.  They are present in both grapes and wine, having direct influences on the color, balance and taste of the wine as well as the growth and vitality of yeast during fermentation and protecting the wine from bacteria.  The measure of the amount of acidity in wine is known as the “titratable acidity” or “total acidity”, which refers to the test that yields the total of all acids present, while strength of acidity is measured according to pH, with most wines having a pH between 2.9 and 3.9.  Generally, the lower the pH, the higher the acidity in the wine.  However, there is no direct connection between total acidity and pH (it is possible to find wines with a high pH for wine and high acidity).  In wine tasting, the term “acidity” refers to the fresh, tart and sour attributes of the wine which are evaluated in relation to how well the acidity balances out the sweetness and bitter components of the wine such as tannins.  Three primary acids are found in wine grapes: tartaric, malic and citric acids.  During the course of winemaking and in the finished wines, acetic, butyric, lactic and succinic acids can play significant roles.  Most of the acids involved with wine are fixed acids with the notable exception of acetic acid, mostly found in vinegar, which is volatile and can contribute to the wine fault known as volatile acidity.  Sometimes, additional acids, such as ascorbic, sorbic and sulfurous acids, are used in winemaking. Mendoza Province is Argentina's most important wine region, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the country's entire wine production.  Located in the eastern foothills of the Andes, in the shadow of Mount Aconcagua, vineyards are planted at some of the highest altitudes in the world, with the average site located 600 - above sea level.  The principal wine producing areas fall into two main departments-Maipú and Luján, which includes Argentina's first delineated appellation established in 1993 in Luján de Cuyo.  The pink-skinned grapes of Criolla Grande and Cereza account for more than a quarter of all plantings but Malbec is the region's most important planting, followed closely by Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Chardonnay.  Mendoza is considered the heart of the winemaking industry in Argentina with the vast majority of large wineries located in the provincial capital of Mendoza. Argentina is the fifth largest producer of wine in the world.  Argentine wine, as with some aspects of Argentine cuisine, has its roots in Spain.  During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, vine cuttings were brought to Santiago del Estero in 1557, and the cultivation of the grape and wine production stretched first to neighboring regions, and then to other parts of the country. James Carlos "Jimmy" McNatt (December 19, 1918 – December 23, 2000) was an All-American basketball player for the Oklahoma Sooners and the AAU’s Phillips 66ers.  At Oklahoma, McNatt led his team to the first-ever NCAA Final Four in 1939, and at Phillips 66, McNatt guided the 66ers (also called the "Oilers") to four consecutive AAU national championships (1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946).  He was a two-time All-American at Oklahoma (1939, 1940) and a four-time AAU All-American for Phillips 66 (1943, 1944, 1945, 1946).  The speedy player came to be known by his nickname “Scat” McNatt, a moniker originally traced back to the term “Boy Scats” which sportswriters had used to describe McNatt’s fast-breaking, sophomore-led 1937-38 Oklahoma Sooners basketball team.  McNatt grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, attended Norman High School, and then opted to stay in his hometown to play basketball for the University of Oklahoma. Criolla is a term used in the name of several grape varieties, in particular varieties found in Argentina, the most common of which is Criolla Grande and another which is Criolla Chica. Seibel grapes are a group of wine grape varieties which originated with the work of Albert Seibel crossing European grape with American grape species to increase disease resistance.  They were planted widely in France during the 1950s but have seen decline in recent years because French wine law proscribes hybrid grapes in appellation wine.  The grapes are still commonly used as blending grapes in table wine and mass commercial wines.  New Zealand, England, and Canada also have plantings of Seibel grapes. Muscatel is a type of wine made from muscat grapes.  The term is now normally used in the United States to refer to a fortified wine made from these grapes rather than just any wine made from these grapes.  This fortified muscatel became popular in the United States when, at the end of prohibition, in order to meet the large demand for wine, some poor strains of muscat grapes (used normally for table grapes or raisins) mixed with sugar and cheap brandy were used to produce what has since become infamous as a wino wine.  This kind of fortified wine has, in the United States, damaged the reputation of all muscat-based wines and the term muscatel tends no longer to be used for these "better" wines in the United States.  In other markets the term Muscatel, or Moscatel, refers to a wide range of sweet wines based on these grapes. Criolla Grande (also known as Criolla and Criolla Grande Sanjuanina) is a red wine grape commonly found in Argentina.  It is different from the Chilean wine grape Pais, also known as "Criolla Chica", but ampelographers believe that both grapes share a common parent, and it is now listed as a crossing of Mission and Muscat of Alexandria.  As of 2006, Criolla was the third most widely planted Argentine wine grape (22,500 hectares) after Cereza (30,000 hectares) and the more widely exported Malbec (24,400 hectares).  It is primarily found in the Mendoza region.  The grape has pink skin and is more thick than its Chilean cousin, Pais, and is used to produce deeply colored white wine.  It is sometimes used to produce a light colored "rosé".  The grape is rarely exported outside of Argentina where it is used to produce massive quantities of box and jug wines. Oeil de Perdrix is a rosé wine produced in Switzerland.  The history of the wine style dates back to the Middle Ages in the Champagne region of France and from there spread to the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland where it would become a popular dry rosé made from Pinot noir.  The name "Œil de perdrix" means "eye of partridge" in French, a reference to the pale pink colour of the eye of a partridge in death throes.  Until about a century ago, it was common for vineyards to have the red and white grapes unseparated unlike today where each vineyard has a unique grape.  This gave white wine, red wine and what was called grey wine because the wine was neither white nor red.  It is also an old name for very pale rosé wine made - not by the saignée method- but by "pressurage direct", in which the juice of red grapes is drawn off and fermented with very little contact with the skins.  With the modernization of viticulture and separation of grapes the term Oeil de Perdrix disappeared in France but remained in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.  The Canton of Neuchâtel would export the Oeil de Perdix primarily to the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland but also to other cantons, namely to the cantons of Geneva, Vaud and Valais.  After the Second World War, the latter decided to start producing their own Oeil de Perdrix.  When the policy for wine of controlled origin (AOC) in Switzerland began, the Canton of Neuchâtel claimed the sole Oeil de Perdrix AOC but it was refused and the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Valais and Neuchâtel, all have the Oeil de Perdrix AOC today.  The early origins of the American wine White Zinfandel can be traced to a California winemakers attempt at making an Oeil de Perdrix style wine. A wine press is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making.  There are a number of different styles of presses that are used by wine makers but their overall functionality is the same.  Each style of press exerts controlled pressure in order to free the juice from the fruit (most often grapes).  The pressure must be controlled, especially with grapes, in order to avoid crushing the seeds and releasing a great deal of undesirable tannins into the wine.  Wine was being made at least as long ago as 6000 BC; in 2011, a wine press was unearthed in Armenia with red wine dated 6,000 years old.
Answer: Spain