Zuccardi Poligonos del Valle de Uco Paraje Altamira Malbec 2018
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James
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Red color with violet hues. Expresses a great herbal character with notes of fresh red fruits. Lively acidity and subtlety of tannins in the mouth.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Named for winemaker Sebastián Zuccardi’s grandfather Alberto (Tito). Co-fermented Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Dark berries, violets and a juicy roundness meet a touch of leafiness and austerity from grainy textured tannins. Balanced and integrated, fresh, faint notes of smoke and clove.
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James Suckling
Extremely aromatic, offering crushed berries and strawberries with some flowers, such as roses. Medium body. Firm, silky tannins with a refined texture and focus at the end.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The performance of the 2018 Polígonos Paraje Altamira Malbec was superb. It seems to have gained in precision and has kept the freshness of 2016, which was a cooler year. They work with more full clusters in Altamira, as they think it gives backbone and helps polish the tannins. It's very pure aromatically, and it has a velvety, harmonious texture, though a little grainier than the one from San Pablo.
Rating: 93+
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Wine & Spirits
This isn’t your usual full-throttle malbec. Sebastián Zuccardi blends it from a parcel of vines growing in the calcareous soils of Altamira, their roots wrapping around granite stones covered in a layer of calcium carbonate. The 2018 seems to translate the brightness of those white soils in its brisk, radiant flavor. It’s super spicy, a frisky red that’s light enough to pair with grilled fish steaks topped with tapenade.
Other Vintages
2020-
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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.