Zuccardi, 2022 Polígonos del Valle de Uco, Cabernet Franc, Paraja Altamira, Mendoza, Argentina
For three generations the Zuccardi family has been among the great pioneers in viticulture and winemaking in Argentina. In 1963, Alberto Zuccardi planted the family's first vineyard to showcase the new irrigation system he had invented, an innovation that would go on to reshape the viticultural landscape of Mendoza. Today, the winery is led by 3rd generation Sebastian Zuccardi - one of the leading winemakers of his generation - who deeply committed, curious, and passionate about the terroirs of the Uco Valley. And Sebastian is supported by viticulturalist Martin Di Stefano and head winemaker Laura Principiano. Zuccardi's work with Cabernet Franc began in about 10 to 15 years ago, and today they are farming about 23 hectares of Cabernet Franc in the regions of Paraje Altamira, San Pablo and Gualtallary in the Uco Valley, as well as sourcing a bit of Cab Franc from other growers, and they are producing several expressions of single varietal Cabernet Franc, including 3 in the Poligonos or 'village' range - wines that are intended to reflect the diversity of the terroirs across the Uco Valley.
Before I get into some of the details about today's wine, I wanted to provide a bit of an overview of the Cabernet Franc picture in Argentina - because currently there is nowhere else in the world where Cabernet Franc is seeing such momentum and growth. As of 2024, there was 2,008 hectares of Cabernet Franc vines planted in Argentina. While this still represents about 1% of the area under vine in the country, since 2010 nearly 1400 hectares of Cabernet Franc has been planted in Argentina, and just in the last five years about 750 hectares have been planted.
If you imagine that it typically takes 3 to 5 years for a vine to really start producing fruit from a qualitative perspective, and probably another 5 to 10 years more to truly start to see the merits of the vineyard and wine, we are only just seeing the tip of the iceberg of what Argentina is capable of as a producer of Cabernet Franc. What's more is that 92% of the Cabernet Franc produced in the country is being made into single varietal wines, not blends. So Argentinian producers are proudly putting their Cabernet Franc front and centre, as opposed to it being an accessory variety, which is what we typically see in most regions. So while the world will never see Argentinian Cabernet Franc reach the same level of popularity as Malbec, I predict we will be seeing a lot more Cabernet Franc from Argentina gracing store shelves and on wine lists in the years and decades to come.
Today's wine is taking us to the Uco Valley in Mendoza, and more specifically the Paraje Altamira GI. The Uco Valley is the most important region for Cabernet Franc in Argentina. With a total of about 944 hectares planted, this represents about 47% of the plantings in Argentina and about 60% of the Cabernet Franc planted in Mendoza. And the Uco Valley has represented the majority of the growth in Cabernet Franc plantings in Mendoza since 2015.
Located in the sub-region of San Carlos, which is the furthest south of the Uco Valley's three sub-regions, the Paraje Altamira GI was officially established in 2013, though its prestigious viticultural history can be traced back over 100 years. In terms of Argentina's modern viticultural history, Paraja Altamira was one of the first sub-regions in Mendoza that began appearing on the labels of premium wines in the early 2000s, and today this region is arguably one of the country's great "grand crus." What makes this region particularly unique is it was the first GI in Argentina to be established based on terroir factors rather than political borders, most important of which being altitude and soil. The region is located in the westernmost part of San Carlos, and vineyards are at the highest elevation in San Carlos, which ranges from around 1000 to 1200m above sea level. This elevation contributes to the wider diurnal range in temperatures, so cold nights to offset the warmer days, helping to slow down ripening. In terms of soil, the region is situated on the first part of a large alluvial cone from the Tunuyan River. So these soils are made up of eroded materials from the Andes that were carried down by the Tunuyan River between 2.5 million and 12000 years ago, and because of Paraje Altamira's location, what soils got deposited here were from when the river was at its fastest after the glaciers melted, so the subsoil is made up of very large granite stones that have a thick layer of calcium carbonate coating them, which is said to contribute to the freshness and elegance of the region's wines.
So drilling down to today's wine, the Poligonos Paraje Altamira is coming from around 5.2 hectares of vines from 3 parcels, two of which are part of Zuccardi's estate vineyards. One parcel is from their Finca Piedra Infinita vineyard, and the vines were planted in 2009 by massale selection and are ungrafted. The second parcel is from their Finca Los Membrillos vineyard, about 1500m east of Finca Piedra Infinita, was planted in 2014 with clone 214. Both parcels are relatively flat, and are at an altitude of 1081m and 1060m respectively.
In terms of soil, the soil texture is sandy to sandy-loam, with the topsoil depth ranging from 20cm to 200cm, with the Cabernet Franc block at Piedra Infinita being a touch deeper, followed by the subsoil of large granite rocks that are covered in a layer of calcium carbonate that made this region so desirable viticulturally. In terms of viticultural practices, they will do shoot thinning to achieve the desired yields and yield-canopy balance, but they don't need to do any leaf removal or green harvesting in their Cabernet Franc blocks, and as with most vineyards across Argentina, drip irrigation is installed.
When I asked Martin Di Stefano about their work with Cabernet Franc in Paraje Altamira versus Gualtallary or San Pablo, he noted that because of the stony, calcareous nature of the soils in their vineyards in Paraje Altamira, the yields and vigour for Cabernet Franc tend to be much lower, and as a result, it ripens faster than in the other regions, and their typically picking about a week before they pick in Gualtallary and 2 to 3 weeks before they pick in San Pablo.
In terms of winemaking, the fruit is hand harvested and 100% destemmed. Fermentation is in concrete with indigenous yeast, and the fermentation temperature ranges between 25 and 28C. The time on skins is about 20 days total, and they will do a combination of remontage and pigeage during the first 6 days, and then a gentle wetting of the cap with buckets for the duration of the maceration. The finished cuvée is only free run wine, and the aging takes place in 25hL oak foudres for about 12 months.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Zuccardi
Region: Mendoza
Sub-Region: Uco Valley (San Carlos)
Appellation: Paraje Altamira GI
Vineyards: Finca Piedra Infinita, Finca Los Membrillos
Soil: Sandy-silt loam topsoil (20-200cm), subsoil of large granite stones with calcium carbonate coating
Alcohol: 14.0%
