Winemaker Notes
Intense purple color. The nose is extremely complex and progressively displays aromas of red and black fruits, herbs and notes of graphite and roses. In the palate, it shows good juiciness and concentration. Very fresh, with fine tannins, a delicate chalk texture, focused flavours and very persistent finish.
Blend: 100% Malbec
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
What a nose, garnering complexity and depth. A wide spectrum of aromas that range from blackberries and blueberries to graphite, tree bark and wet earth. A medium-to full-bodied red, showing so much fleshy fruit and powerful, chalky tannins. But never imposing nor flattering. Impeccable poise, with a long, tight finish. This is the kind of wine that you can drink now or lay down for two decades. Better from 2025.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Finca Canal Uco comes from the historical part of Altamira only across the street from their Piedra Infinita vineyard, where the soils are slightly deeper and with a little less limestone and the grapes achieve more ripeness and deliver slightly more generous wines. They planted this vineyard 12 years ago—it was previously planted to apple trees. They have subdivided this 50-hectare vineyard into 40 different plots. The soils are heterogeneous, and they don't use the stonier soil and also avoid the deeper soils; so, they do a selection, ferment with some stems by plot and then do the blend of some 15 different parts of the vineyard. In Sebastian Zuccardi's words, they deconstruct the vineyard and then build the wines from the block. This has a combination of the characteristics that are juicier and make you salivate and the limestone, trying to take the best from both worlds. It has some flowers and also iron and blood and is medium to full-bodied, with good ripeness and the house style of seriousness, balance and elegance within the natural power and intensity of the place. This also matured exclusively in concrete without epoxy coating, raw concrete.
Rating: 96+ -
Wine Spectator
Beautifully aromatic, showing blood orange and perfumed plum aromas that fold over onto the creamy and velvety palate, with a hint of smoke lying beneath the core of lively plum and Rainer cherry. Ends with firming tannins and a hint of verbena and chalky minerality. Drink now through 2032.
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.