The Uco Valley in Mendoza has become synonymous with excellent quality wine and that is because of the combination of climate, soil and winemaking skill. Amanda Barnes interviews one of Argentina's leading young winemakers, Sebastian Zuccardi from the Zuccardi family winery, about the terroir of the Uco valley and how that expresses itself in the wine being made there, most notably the Argentine Malbec. Part of a series of interviews with experts and winemakers for Around the World in 80 Harvests and the South America Wine Guide, please support our project and visit http://aroundtheworldin80harvests.com/ and http://southamericawineguide.com/

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Transcript;
What are the best regions of the Uco Valley and how many regions do you suggest wine drinkers should they be looking for?

In the Uco Valley you have more than 40 regions. In my opinion, and it's the vision of one producer, you have 8 regions that are the best. From the south to the north it is Altamira, La Consulta, Chacayes, Los Arboles, San Pablo, Gualtallary, El Peral, and San Jose. All of these areas for me are the most interesting, looking at the influence of the weather and also the soils.

What makes Altamira a special wine region for you?

Altamira is a special place. We are 1,100 metres [above sea level] and very close to the alluvial cone or the alluvial fan of the Tunuyán river. All of the soil that we cultivate on in Mendoza are alluvial soils. These round stones came from the mountain rolling. Millions of years ago we had big glaciers and when these glaciers melted all this water came down [bringing] the stones.

Altamira is very close to the mountains, so the water here had a lot of energy and could lift [large] stones. As you move further from the beginning of the alluvial cone, the energy of the water is less intense. So, the stones are deeper, and smaller.

Altamira is covered in big stones but the other characteristic is that all the stones are white. If you see the stones, the stones have a white layer around them. This is chalk that came from the Andes mountains. Inside these stones is all granite, but on the outside, it is chalk and the fantastic thing is how the roots [grow around] all these stones.