Argentina: Familia Zuccardi

The Zuccardi family has been making wine in Mendoza since the 1960s. Its founder, Alberto Zuccardi, was an engineer who first traveled to Mendoza from northern Argentina to design irrigation systems, but wine production soon became a passion and he planted his own vineyards. Today, Familia Zuccardi, which is run by José Zuccardi and his son, winemaker Sebastian Zuccardi, makes wines that reflect their origin in different sites.

During our most recent trip, we had the chance to visit Zuccardi’s new winery in Valle de Uco’s Altamira, an area that has seemingly become very popular in recent times due to its unique soils and further altitude. The Zuccardis have decided to focus on the sites found in this area and really express their character in the wines. They are trying to move away from excessive wood use and instead use more concrete and different barrel formats.

In this video, owner and director José Zuccardi explains the expression of malbec in Mendoza from his vineyard in Altamira. Also be sure to check out James' tasting report on Argentina here.

-JGAL