Uco Valley Wine Guide: Grapes, Appellations & Producers

Gualtallary (Tupungato)

Chalk & altitude

Soil: Stony, calcareous (chalk) soils at extreme altitude — up to ~1,500m.
Style: Tense, mineral, fresh, age-worthy Malbec with real precision and lift.
Top sites: The cult high-altitude sub-zone driving Argentina's fine-wine revolution.
Vintages: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021
Producers: Catena (Adrianna)Per SeMatías Riccitelli

Tip · Gualtallary's chalk and extreme altitude make a leaner, more mineral, Burgundian-feeling Malbec — the frontier of Argentine fine wine.

Value pick

Zuccardi 'Q' Malbec · ~$22

A fresh, stony, high-altitude Uco Malbec from a leading family — modern Argentine precision at a fair price.

Collector pick

Per Se 'La Craie' (Gualtallary) · ~$110 · 2019

A chalk-grown single-vineyard Malbec from a cult micro-producer — among Argentina's most sought-after bottles.

Paraje Altamira

Stones & limestone

Soil: Alluvial stones over calcareous deposits ('caliche') on an old riverbed.
Style: Perfumed, mineral, structured Malbec with a distinctive stony freshness.
Top sites: A celebrated GI (Geographic Indication) in the southern Uco.
Vintages: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021
Producers

Tip · Paraje Altamira's stony, limestone-rich soils give Malbec a mineral, almost saline freshness — proof Argentine wine is now all about specific terroir.

Value pick

Zuccardi 'Concreto' Malbec · ~$35

Concrete-raised, unoaked Altamira Malbec — pure, stony and mineral; a window into the terroir for the money.

Collector pick

Aleanna 'Gran Enemigo' Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc · ~$130 · 2018

Argentina's most acclaimed Cabernet Franc, from Uco limestone — a benchmark, age-worthy collectible.