The Age of Mountain Whites: Enjoying the Altitude

BY JOAQUÍN HIDALGO | JULY 20, 2023

Snowfall at the end of April dusts the Andes in a white blanket. From where I stand in Estancia La Carrera, the Plata Mountain (whose peak is 19,500 feet above sea level, about 6,000 meters) looks like a gigantic ice cream just a short walk away. However, it’s an illusion. The range is actually 18 miles away across gulches, ravines and glaciers.

Soils in the Uco Valley's higher areas are quite different from those found in other regions. In the photograph, agricultural engineer Diego Morales crumbles up damp clumps of gypsum from the San Pablo soils.

At the end of the 2023 harvest, the morning chill cuts through the thin air in this unusual stretch of forest, but the sun warms the skin. At 5,400 feet (about 1,600 meters) above sea level, I’m right at the cut-off line for vines. The summer is just long enough for varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay to ripen properly up here. Producers who have attempted to plant at higher elevations haven’t seen good results: more often than not, there’s not much to harvest at the end of the season. However, pushing that boundary, in a few north-facing (the sunny side in the southern hemisphere) pockets of old riverbeds with sandy and calcareous soils, the vines get enough support to complete their cycle resulting in wines with new flavor horizons.

In the Uco Valley, which is set between 3,900 and 5,600 feet (about 1,200-1,700 meters) above sea level, a minor white wine revolution is taking place in a land where reds are king. This is evident in this report which comprises 370 wines from the valley, including a few Rosés and sparkling wines. These are wines from the Andes, influenced by a mountain climate that imbues a character unseen elsewhere in Argentina. Or across the world, for that matter.

The altitude ensures low temperatures – as cold as Champagne or Moselle – while the harsh sunlight lends a distinctive profile, scorching ripe fruit and herbal components into the aromatic makeup. Here, whites have concentrated palates regardless of the variety, while the mountains provide a patchwork of different soil types that account for the main differences between Geographic Indications such as La Carrera, El Peral, Gualtallary, San Pablo, Los Arboles and Los Chacayes.

Thanks to their detailed mapping of these soils, producers now have a much better understanding of their different parcels, and this is reflected in the success mountain whites are enjoying overseas. This is especially true of Chardonnay, the most widely planted variety, but others too. Some pockets of Sauvignon Blanc are presenting remarkable intensity. The leap in the native Torrontés quality has been impressive, now offering a floral alternative to output from Alsace.  

This morning, the breeze from the Andes blows through the walnuts and chestnuts around me, creating waves in the grassy meadows and wafting mountain aromas through the air. At this height, the winter snow raises annual rainfall to about 450/500mm (about 230mm down on the plains), and the slopes boast a plethora of local wild herbs. These thickets of wild thyme, sage and arugula are responsible for many of the scents in the air, but one descriptor stands out above all others in the whites: huacatay. This distinctive Andean aromatic herb grows in transitional biomes between the Puna and the lower valleys and is widely used in Peruvian cuisine. It is huacatay that gives anticuchos and ocopa sauce their flavor, and when it’s present in a Chardonnay, you know for sure that it’s been grown at altitude.

Large granite boulders are a feature of the landscape in the foothills of Los Árboles. Oenologist Sergio Casé is standing on the rock in the foreground, to the left is the agricultural engineer Javier Tellechea and behind is white wine specialist Germán Buk, all are part of the technical team at Grupo Peñaflor.

High Altitude Vineyards

From the 1990s onward, vineyards have been planted increasingly higher in the Uco Valley. The new wave of wines we’re seeing now are, in great measure, the fruit of these now mature vines. Accompanied by producers unafraid to explore new styles, the boom should come as no surprise. It’s especially obvious among the whites: their styles tend to reflect both their terroirs and the intentions of their producers very clearly.

For instance, in nearby La Carrera, one finds the regions of Gualtallary and San Pablo. Where the former has barely any room left for new ventures due to a lack of water, the latter is enjoying something of a renaissance. San Pablo is an old estate in the Uco Valley largely bought up by Bodega Salentein in the mid-1990s. The water from the two streams that cross the region has already been allocated. Still, the larger property is being divided into smaller parcels to create a neighborhood of good producers with their own built-in irrigation. In addition to Tapiz and Zuccardi Valle de Uco, who were among the first to come to the region, Susana Balbo, Norton and Caro have bought lots in recent years. The vineyards in this area reach an altitude of 5,500 feet (about 1,670 meters). Salentein planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, among other varieties, last year in gypsum soils similar to those found in Rioja Alavesa in Spain. Diego Morales, the agricultural engineer at the winery, is excited: “This is the first step toward exploring the area’s volcanic soils,” he says as he crumbles up clumps of sand and dirt. A white cloud of dust billows around him, coating his hands.