Zuccardi, Poligonos del Valle de Uco, Tupungato Alto Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina, 2016

Overview of the Wine
A few years before 1950, Ing. Alberto Zuccardi reaches Mendoza from his homeland in Tucuman where their great-grandparents had settled upon arriving in the Italian region of AveIino. In 1963, Alberto implanted a vineyard in the region of Maipu not knowing that it would begin the great passion of his life, the wine industry. In 1990, his son, Jose Alberto Zuccardi, assumed the General Director of the company.

In 2005, Sebastian Zuccardi, third generation of the family, lead the development of the new stage of the wines of the winery expansion into the Uco Valley. On his initiative, since 2008 the winery has an area of Research and Development dedicated to the study of the terroir and the different variables that affect wine production. In 2013 the construction of the new Zuccardi winery in the Uco Valley began. It opened in March 2016 with the premise of producing wines with identity, through the continuous exploration of the different terroirs of the Uco Valley.

The Zuccardi family’s approach to sustainability starts with the environment and people before any product. They’re dedicated to producing the highest quality wines through sustainable practices such as a focus on nurturing biodiversity, organic farming, efficient irrigation practices, composting, water treatment, comprehensive waste and recycling efforts, and the use of solar energy. The winery itself is designed to be naturally energy efficient by maximizing natural light and minimizing electricity consumption. Its concrete walls fulfill the function of a thermal insulator, the movements of liquid are caused by gravity and the concrete-designed vessels allow for a natural control of the temperature of the wine. As a third generation family-owned winery, the Zuccardi’s take seriously their responsibility to protect the environment, support the land, the farmers and uplift the local community. Through building schools, offering free education, fostering equality, banning child labor, and subsidizing health care, they’re not only elevating their wines and the Uco Valley as a world class wine region, but also giving the people who have contributed to their success a path forward and upward mobility for their own families.

Grape / Blend
100% Malbec

Origin
Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
The idea behind Polígonos is a selection of the best lots from different terroirs within the Uco Valley. The criteria includes differences in altitude, soil and climate that define the sub-regions of San Pablo, Paraje Altamira and Gualtallary. The wine is fermented and aged in concrete and presents as a bigger malbec, a mountain fruit malbec, then we normally see. The nose is somewhat austere with light floral notes. The palate is full of bright acidity with mouth filling dense, sweet tannins and black plum. A remarkable look at malbec and one that will only improve over the next decade

95 Points - James Suckling
This is a bigger and richer red from this line of Zuccardi. Yet there's freshness and linearity to this. Full-bodied, compacted and tannic. Muscular and generous at the same time. Drink in 2020.

94 Points - Wine Enthusiast
Pure aromas of Malbec grapes, cassis and violet petals is what this cement-raised wine delivers for starters. In the mouth, this is spring-loaded with rubbery tannins and mild acid-based astringency. Naturally blackened flavors of blackberry and dark plum are full, round and consistent across a long intense finish. Drink through 2024.

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Of the Polígonos bottlings, the 2016 Polígonos Altamira is the least expressive on the nose, but its strength is on the palate. The whole range of wines fermented and matured in raw concrete vats and were bottled unoaked, as they like how wines evolve and mature in concrete; they feel that it respects the character of each place. It's not easy to decide which one of the three Malbecs from the same year in the range is better, as all three are superb. 6,600 bottles were filled in December 2017

Product size: 750ml
From a private seller.