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It’s a wine lover’s ultimate dream: running a winery, making vintages that score 100 highly-coveted Parker points, exploring local terroir to bottle its most honest expression, then soaking up all those liquid riches over a fine dinner while the sun slowly drops behind snowy Andean peaks. This is the Zuccardi family’s reality. And because they manage it all so incredibly well, Zuccardi Valle de Uco was voted the World’s Best Vineyard 2020 for the second consecutive year.
At 1,100 metres above sea level in Paraje Altamira, at the heart of Mendoza’s trendy Uco Valley, the winery offers untainted views of the mountain range, an ever-changing picture postcard of clouds, snow, sun and peaks. There are many ways to soak up that vista: over a paired lunch at Piedra Infinita Cocina restaurant, perhaps, or from the elevated tasting room? Maybe just strolling the Malbec vineyards with a glass of violet-hued Tito Zuccardi Paraje Altamira in hand?
The Andes are responsible for the magic of this place, says oenological director Sebastián Zuccardi, the eldest of the three siblings that run the bodega. “The mountain range gives Uco Valley its identity, determining the weather, ensuring pure water sourced from Andean ice melt and creating complex and diverse alluvial soil in this elevated desert,” he says.
Photo courtesy of Familia Zuccardi
It’s from this land, known for its large limestone-covered quartz rocks, that he and his team create the likes of Zuccardi Finca Piedra Infinita 2016 (that aforementioned Parker 100 pointer), Emma Zuccardi Bonarda and José Zuccardi Malbec, bottled tributes to his grandparents and father respectively.
Zuccardi is renowned for its legendary bashes, where the wine is in full flow and the flavours are pure Mendoza. While Piedra Infinita Cocina is led by chef Matías Aldasoro, mega events might include the likes of Gastón Acurio, Germán Martitegui, Narda Lepes or Mauro Colagreco popping up in front of the burners. Either way, only good times lie ahead, given the meticulous organisation of head of hospitality, Julia Zuccardi. Her eye for detail when it comes to hosting wine tastings, paired lunches and guided estate visits is exquisite, making every one of the thousands of guests who visit the winery each year feel special. “My biggest challenge is that visitors take home a little piece of Zuccardi’s identity, the mountains and the spirit of the family, as well as that of Seba and his wines. The experience has to leave its mark on you, and make you want to return either here or to our wines,” says Julia.
The winery’s architecture perfectly complements a landscape that seems stark in autumn, but is bursting with life just a few months later at the start of summer. Designed specifically to blend into the mountainous landscape, it was built using rocks excavated to make way for vineyards, and has picked up awards for its landscaping, as well as accolades from the world’s top architectural digests for combining winemaking with tourism.
Photo courtesy of Familia Zuccardi
Though the wine is the main event, there are also some fine oils to investigate. Youngest brother Miguel Zuccardi turned his hand to olives from a young age. Today he produces 10 extra-virgin oils made from varieties such as Coratina, Picual and Arauco (this herbaceous and spicy number is his favourite), and has an enviable collection of more than 90 varieties. While the 250 hectares of groves are located at the family’s second winery, Santa Julia (named after his sister) in the eastern Maipú region, Miguel’s passion is revealed drop by drop at Zuccardi Valle de Uco. Bottles of his carefully-pressed liquid gold Zuelo (a play on the Spanish word for soil, suelo, that uses the Z from their surname) are used in each dish, and appear on every table. In her cookery book La cocina de Emma (Emma’s Kitchen), his late grandmother writes that Miguel drizzles olive oil on everything, even ice-cream. “While it’s normal to add some olive oil to a beefsteak Florentine style, it’s not so usual in Argentina. But l love to add some extra virgin to the Tomahawk steak at Piedra Infinita Cocina,” says Miguel.
Naturally, all these top-quality 100-point wines, olive oils and artful hospitality wouldn’t have been possible without the entrepreneurial flair of grandfather Alberto Zuccardi (also known as Tito), who founded the bodega in 1963. And then there’s the winemaking talent and vision of his son José Alberto, who put the family name on the world wine map in the 1980s and 1990s. And while Zuccardi Valle de Uco is one of Argentina’s most renowned bodegas and businesses, it’s still a family enterprise run by second and third generations who understand how to continue progressing together – and get along.
Photo courtesy of Familia Zuccardi
Julia adds: “Each of us found their passion in different areas, so while we work together, we have lots of autonomy. The privilege is that we all push in the same direction and the secret is communication and supporting each other. Our dad always knew how to give each of us our own space: everything happened very naturally, so working with my family isn’t a burden but a privilege.”
See our video gallery of the world's best vineyards for wine tourism 2020.
