2023 Zuccardi Chardonnay Fosil Uco Valley 750 ml

Sebastián Zuccardi is one of the most inspiring winemakers in the world.

Few others are blessed with his talent and drive, but it's his creativity and vision that set him apart from his peers: Unlike great winemakers in Europe, Sebastián is forging a new path for his region, producing world-class, collectible bottles from terroirs that were nearly unexplored a few decades ago.

A winemaker with an incredibly contagious passion for terroir, Zuccardi is so obsessed with the region that he constructed his winery from the stones of his vineyards—a feat that earned the winery "World's Best Vineyard" from CNN in 2019. His mad-scientist-level attention to detail also recently granted him a spot on Decanter's list of South America's Top 10 winemakers.

We had the pleasure to recently host Sebastián at our offices for a video interview, and were absolutely blown away by the 2023 Chardonnay Fósil. "We make mountain wines," Sebastián explained, "everything that happens with our wines is in relationship with the mountains." San Pablo, where this bottle comes from, is at extreme altitude—over 4,500 feet above sea level—and that makes for cold overnight temperatures and rocky soils.

"I believe Chardonnay is the grape that has the best adaptation of this place," he continued, citing the limestone in the soil that helps provide definition and tension in the bottle—and gives Fósil its name.

He ferments and ages this entirely in concrete and avoids malolactic fermentation: Brightness and purity are the name of the game here, a stark rejoinder to the opulent, soft Chardonnays that dominated Argentina's efforts in the 90s. We'll be drinking a six-pack over the next seven to ten years—anyone who loves complex, mineral-driven whites, should as well.