Winemaker Notes
#36 Jeb Dunnuck Top 100 of 2025
Red color with violet hues. It expresses a great herbal character with notes of red fruits. In the mouth is long and with a distinctive mineral texture. A wine of great structure and acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Fermented 100% whole-cluster, then fermented and aged one year in concrete, the 2023 Malbec Concreto was the first wine made in the modern-day Zuccardi winery, a wine that changed winemaker Sebastian Zuccardi's philosophy of winemaking. Forgoing oak and sweet fruit, he seeks first and foremost to express freshness in his wines, finding a strong sense of place through stony minerality and a touch of wild herb. Thick and richly concentrated, it is a testament to his dedication to concrete fermentation and aging, the 100% varietal wine fermenting entirely in concrete amphorae before spending 11 months in 100% concrete tank. The wine is duly textured, complex, and lively, retaining freshness amidst a plush structure with plenty of length. Drink now through 2038.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As ever, the 2023 Concreto Malbec represents the Zuccardi style and philosophy as efficiently as possible at an aggressively reasonable price point. A blend of fruit from calcareous soils in Altamira and Gualtallary, it leads with a simmering, contained bouquet of black and blue fruits, purple flowers and desert herbs, followed by a dense, oily and tensile palate. It concludes with an intense, inky yet elegant finish lifted by focused minerality and streaks of salinity.
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Vinous
The 2023 Malbec Concreto is sourced from Paraje Altamira and Gualtallary. True to its name—this purple-hued wine is bottled right after a winter in concrete vats, with no oak aging. It reveals aromas of violet and blueberry, with a touch of cherry in its deeper layers. The palate is compact and juicy, with underlying tension and a lingering chalky texture. Born in a warm vintage, the 2023 is rich yet balanced, offering a well-calibrated sip that highlights the fruit.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant, vibrant and youthful package built around violet, pineapple, guava and fresh berry aromas that join the palate. Cherry, orange and slate details swell around the fresh acidity and drive the finish, with cocoa bean and orange peel details and caressing tannins. Drink now through 2036.
A few years before 1950, Ing. Alberto Zuccardi reaches Mendoza from his homeland in Tucuman where their great-grandparents had settled upon arriving in the Italian region of AveIino. In 1963, Alberto implanted a vineyard in the region of Maipu not knowing that it would begin the great passion of his life, the wine industry. In 1990, his son, Jose Alberto Zuccardi, assumed the General Director of the company.
In 2005, Sebastian Zuccardi, third generation of the family, lead the development of the new stage of the wines of the winery expansion into the Uco Valley. On his initiative, since 2008 the winery has an area of Research and Development dedicated to the study of the terroir and the different variables that affect wine production. In 2013 the construction of the new Zuccardi winery in the Uco Valley began. It opened in March 2016 with the premise of producing wines with identity, through the continuous exploration of the different terroirs of the Uco Valley.
The Zuccardi family’s approach to sustainability starts with the environment and people before any product. They’re dedicated to producing the highest quality wines through sustainable practices such as a focus on nurturing biodiversity, organic farming, efficient irrigation practices, composting, water treatment, comprehensive waste and recycling efforts, and the use of solar energy. The winery itself is designed to be naturally energy efficient by maximizing natural light and minimizing electricity consumption. Its concrete walls fulfill the function of a thermal insulator, the movements of liquid are caused by gravity and the concrete-designed vessels allow for a natural control of the temperature of the wine. As a third generation family-owned winery, the Zuccardi’s take seriously their responsibility to protect the environment, support the land, the farmers and uplift the local community. Through building schools, offering free education, fostering equality, banning child labor, and subsidizing health care, they’re not only elevating their wines and the Uco Valley as a world class wine region, but also giving the people who have contributed to their success a path forward and upward mobility for their own families.
Celebrated for its bold flavors and supple texture, Malbec has enjoyed runaway success in Argentina since the late 20th century. The grape originated in Bordeaux, France, where it historically contributed color and tannin to blends. A French agronomist, who saw great potential for the variety in Mendoza’s hot, high-altitude landscape, brought Malbec to Argentina in 1868. Somm Secret—If you’re trying to please a crowd, Malbec is generally a safe bet with its combination of dense fruit and soft tannins.
With a winning combination of cool weather, high elevation and well-draining alluvial soils, it is no surprise that Mendoza’s Uco Valley is one of the most exciting up-and-coming wine regions in Argentina. Healthy, easy-to-manage vines produce low yields of high-quality fruit, which in turn create flavorful, full-bodied wines with generous acidity.
This is the source of some of the best Malbec in Mendoza, which can range from value-priced to ultra-premium. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay also perform well here.