2024 Zuccardi Chardonnay Botanico Gualtallary Valle de Uco Mendoza 750 ml

In August of last year, the staff at Vinous blurted out something savvy white-wine lovers (and Wine Access fans) have known for years: 

Argentina makes some of the finest white wines on the planet—and they’re steals for the quality. 

From an all-time member-favorite winemaker, a site located at 4,000+ feet of elevation, and a winery bedecked with “World’s Best Vineyard” honors—and just featured in the Robb Report as “The Argentine Winery That Can’t Stop Making 100-Point Bottles”—this is an aromatic, creamy yet precise Chardonnay that competes with the crème de la crème of New World.

Vinous ripped the lid off in an article titled “Argentina’s Best-Kept Secret: Continental White Wines.”. They wrote: “When vineyards are managed well and the grapes are harvested at the right moment, the results can be striking. This is especially true in the higher vineyards in the Uco Valley, Mendoza, which range from 3,600 to 5,600 feet above sea level.” 

High-altitude vineyards that are managed well—ther might be no better description of Zuccardi’s sky-high plots in Gualtallary. This wine comes from sites at the foot of the Cordillera Mountains, where the vines grow in soils rich in calcium-carbonate that sit at 4,400+ feet of elevation.

As for the winemaking, it seems like Sebastian Zuccardi has gone from wunderkind to icon right before our eyes. A callow talent when we started selling his wines, his mad-scientist-level attention to detail has landed him a spot on Decanter’s list of South America’s Top 10 winemakers. We had the pleasure to host Sebastián at our offices not long ago. We had long loved his Malbecs, but on this day, we were blown away by his white wines, which are now earning quite a bit of notoriety of their own. 

Anyone who has read about Zuccardi from us knows that he is dedicated to aging his wines in concrete, so as not to cover up the terroir. This wine, after direct pressing, fermented on native yeast in concrete tanks, then aged in concrete vessels. It did not undergo malolactic fermentation. 

No oak, no malo, no heavy hand. This is a gorgeous snapshot of variety, vineyard, and a spectacular vintage. The score tells the story, and the price makes it irresistible.