These days, Mendoza is a known commodity world-wide for its fine wines and dramatic setting facing the Andes. As visitors journey to the Argentine city and province of the same name, they will find that the 700-square-mile Uco Valley to the southwest of the city is now overflowing with many of the region’s most dynamic and mod wineries and lodges.
As the name implies, the Familia Zuccardi's new Piedra Infinita winery is all stone and concrete.
Particularly with many professional and newly-minted hobby vintners arriving from abroad in recent years, the Uco Valley scene is still changing rapidly. Herewith is a sample of valley experiences to pursue, whether you arrive between late-February and mid-April for the upcoming grape harvest period or during any season.
You would be wise to chug plenty of water and wear sunscreen on your visit. With the Andes to the west blocking Pacific moisture, little rain falls here in the Uco Valley whose high desert elevations that range between 3,000-5,000 feet account for crazy amounts of sunshine. But it’s those conditions, along with vast alluvial deposits from the Andes, that make this a hotspot for not only the once-ubiquitous malbec, but also pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, chardonnay and more varieties.
In a 3,600-foot-high parcel within the fairly new geographical indication of Paraje Altamira that lies in the Uco Valley’s San Carlos subregion, Piedra Infinita is a four-year-old Familia Zuccardi facility, its name in reference to all the stones all about, for sure, but more directly borrowed from the title of the signature work by Mendocenean poet Jorge Enrique Ramponi. With a silver-metallic cupola shimmering in the sun, the all-concrete and-stone winery structure with a refreshing water basin in front has somewhat the form of a space movie battleship or the look of a James Bondish lair perhaps.
Now in its third generation, the family operation has been a major force in Argentine wine over the last half century, ever since Alberto Zuccardi first got started in Maipú district. If ever you wanted a geology lesson on Mendoza and the Uco Valley, Zuccardi is your place.
And vineyard manager Martín di Stéfano is your man if you can catch him. When di Stéfano spreads out an Uco Valley map and places different rocks on it which represent local soils, he can explain with great precision and enthusiasm facts such as: That the Uco Valley looks at the Cordillera Frontal portion of the Andes out of which dozens of alluvial fans were laid down millions of years ago, each with different compositions and displaying disparate microclimates at different elevations; that 98% of Argentine wine is related to the Andes, even for terroir that is far away; and, that the closer to the mountains, the more exciting and challenging wine becomes.
The Andes sunset at The Vines Resort & Spa draws oohs and aahs daily.
And di Stéfano is just getting started. He’ll even lead you to a parcel out front and jump into a big hole for a hands-on demonstration of soil layers. Around the Piedra Infinita finca, soils can change composition within a ten or twenty foot span. For the most part, a sandy top soil lies over round lime-covered rocks, while tiny bits of clay hold moisture and help vine roots absorb minerals from the lime.
Having scanned these soils for electromagnetic conductivity and employed precise high-tech mapping to figure out soil layers and patterns, the Zuccardi team today doesn’t harvest by parcel, but rather by following charts that depict various soil areas in swirling colors that look like abstract paintings.
Now that you’re an expert on the Uco Valley, it’s time to go inside for a Piedra Infinita cellar visit and to move along a stone ramp between high, skewed walls and to enter concrete halls filled with concrete amphora tanks. An upper-floor tasting room has stunning Andes views through panoramic windows. So too does the ground-floor Piedra Infinita Cocina restaurant which falls into that category of worth traveling for in and of itself. In addition to an array of savory grilled meats you’d expect, lunch in the restaurant with a Scandinavian-ish wood look will surprise with items such as carob crackers and eggplant baked in a clay oven.
One of the Siete Fuegos restaurant fire pits at The Vines Resort & Spa.
By traveling some twenty miles north of Zuccardi, you can step through the lobby of The Vines Resort and Spa and find those Andes once again perfectly poised just beyond the shimmering pool and vineyards beyond. In just a few short years, the 1,500-acre property has become the go to spot for private vintners who have bought into its Vines of Mendoza private winemaking and villa ownership program. All with decks set in front of duck ponds and featuring those same mountain views, those villas of various sizes can be yours too as Leading Hotels of the World rooms through a Vines Resort booking.
You are welcome to just pass through for drinks in the Cava bar at sunset and to put yourself in the hands of the Vines wine director Mariana Onofri, who also produces her own labels such as Alma Gemela under her Onofri Wines. A chat with Onofri, a strong promoter of the growing trend of women winemakers in Argentina, is always a lucky plus.
But, stay longer so you don’t miss the celebrated chef Francis Mallmann’s Siete Fuegos experience. Those “seven fires” refer literally to the number of different kinds of open-flame cooking his team employs in this outdoor restaurant, from plancha style grilling to a clay oven stove called infiernillo (little hell) for fish and anything with skin. Cooking in a curanto pit can take six hours, after which, say beef, llama or chicken, is covered in sand for six more hours to slowly turn smoky and tender. It’s all about simple science that produces complex flavors, and you can watch it all happen through the open kitchen.
The outdoor tasting pergola at Ernesto Catena sits right in front of their duck pond and the Andes.
If you love vintage motorbikes, old typewriters, vinyl music albums and antique wine record books, you’ll enjoy seeing the eclectic collection of such stuff in the Mayan-themed buildings that flank a Mayan ball court at the quirky Ernesto Catena winery at Vista Flores, a project by a son from the celebrated Catena Zapata wine family.
Step out back and you’ll delight in llamas and horses and a moon-themed labyrinth laid out on the earth. Over its twenty year existence, Catena projects have even included planting a soothing small forest that attracts the ants that used to attack new growth wines.
Facing the property’s enormous duck pond with the mountains beyond, the outdoor sheltered tasting area is the kind of enchanting place where they might shoot a TV commercial of the good life. It’s here that you can sample and enjoy biodynamic wines from Ernesto Catena vineyards with earthy names such as Ánimal and Tikal, the latter in homage to the famous Mayan temple site in Guatemala.
No matter where you are in the Uco Valley, those Andes always look so close that you think you could touch them. Actually, you can by booking a horseback or a fly fishing adventure, or just simply biking and hiking through manageable portions. Of course, you’ll find no end of opportunities to toast your efforts afterward over the wine of your choice.
Getting There: Flights from Buenos Aires to Mendoza take two hours; the drive from the airport to the Uco Valley generally takes ninety minutes.
This year, the huge annual Mendoza Harvest Festival will take place all over the province from March 1-9, 2o20.
For much more Mendoza background, along with fine maps, the Wines of Argentina promotional group publishes detailed information on individual vineyards and suggests select vintages.
