Our Wine Choice: Buscado Vivo o Muerto Chardonnay Gualtallary Mendoza El Cerro 2023

For the last four years, I have been closely following the work of the ingenious Argentine winemakers Alejandro Sejanovich and Jeff Mausbach, who now run Bodega Mil Suelos in Mendoza, where they make most of their exciting array of wines.

Their best wines amid their 80 or so labels come from recent vintages sourced throughout Argentina – Mendoza, Patagonia, Salta and even Jujuy. They range from affordable yet excellent offerings for daily sips to unique selections that express a deep sense of place.

Among their most terroir-expressive wines, the Buscado Vivo o Muerto Chardonnay Gualtallary Mendoza El Cerro 2023 stands out because it epitomizes the winemakers’ conviction in making wines from either unexplored or forgotten terroirs.

Because it comes from a plot at 1,300 meters with sandy soils rich in limestone, chalkiness and crushed minerals are part of its nature, but it is the tremendous palate – salted lemon zest with hints of eggshell – that sets it apart.

Sejanovich and Mausbach undoubtedly faced a challenge in making a strong statement from the warm 2023 season, especially from a 20-year-old-plus vineyard with shallower soils like El Cerro. But this wine is fabulously austere, chalky and almost weightless, and it expresses a level of mineral tension that introduces textural complexity, countering the austerity through its piercing acidity. As Mausbach told me, there is a certain kind of roundness to the wine from its minerality and tension – not butteriness or creaminess – and this is what keeps me interested.

Sejanovich believes in the power of cofermentation and subtle extraction to truly unveil the subtlety of place. With moderate alcohol, a bracing laser beam of acidity, salinity and minerality, the El Cerro 2023 is a wine that is extremely versatile with food. Don’t be surprised to find yourself finishing a whole bottle.

– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor