Two 100 point scores: Zuccardi’s stellar new releases

The new single vineyard releases from Zuccardi are spectacular. The wines achieved two perfect 100 point scores from the critics, as well as several 99 and 98 point scores. These are quite clearly world class wines. They show just how good the best of Argentina can be today.

What is behind Zuccardi’s success? “We are not seeking to make the world’s best wines” says Sebastian Zuccardi, who seems to have done so anyway. He puts the emphasis on expression of place above all else. To this end, the Zuccardis are champions of precision viticulture, with everything in the vineyard painstakingly managed on a row by row basis.

All the single vineyard wines come from Zuccardi’s estate in the Uco Valley, the highest viticultural area in Mendoza. The pronounced diurnal temperature variation here is ideal for Malbec, giving wines with intense fruit and extraordinary freshness.

Zuccardi’s most famous vineyard is Piedra Infinita (“infinite stones”), itself now divided into several parts. The soil is here unique: it is covered in large granite stones and gravel, with some rocks weighing as much as 20 tons. The wines are entirely fermented and aged in concrete vessels, giving purity of fruit and textural detail.

The Malbecs come from 2021: a cool vintage of refined wines in Mendoza. Alongside these comes the 2023 Chardonnay, approachable earlier than the reds and also a terrific wine.

Clean, precise and focussed, these wines are a million miles away from the 1990s stereotype of heavy, oaky Argentinian wines. Don’t miss them.

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