Uco Valley: The Age of High-Elevation Reds

BY JOAQUÍN HIDALGO | NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Malbec with the ethereal structure of Pinot Noir. Ripe, flavorful Cabernet Franc with the delicate body of the Loire Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon with Napa-like aromas and Bordelais complexity. These are the reds of the upper Uco Valley, where cool-climate viticulture on mountain slopes is confounding everything we once knew about Argentine reds. The results couldn’t be more delightful. 

The Uco Valley has thoroughly established itself over the past two decades. With 29,000 hectares under vine (90% red varieties), the Uco Valley boasts a diverse mosaic of vineyards. The highest ridges at the foot of the Andes are home to about 10,000 hectares, approximately one-third of which are planted right at the limit of where cultivation is possible, producing a rich seam of new wines. These plantings began in the 1990s, starting at 3,200 feet above sea level and moving progressively higher up to 5,400 feet as access to water allowed. Many of these vineyards are now reaching maturity, well timed with a pair of vintages that were propitious for lighter styles: 2021 and 2022 each lent their own distinctive qualities, but both deliver fresh fruit and floral perfumes.

These two vintages represent the blossoming of a new approach to the high-elevation sites of the Uco Valley. Producers initially distrusted the less concentrated, more ethereal wines these vineyards tend to yield. On top of that wariness, output from these vineyards was erratic for years. But by 2021 and 2022, producers were thinking far more clearly, and the two paths—the development of the vineyards and the thinking in the wineries—finally converged. The puzzle pieces fit together to create a solid set of wines that speak to their place in the world: a sunny, cool terroir that yields wines of gentle concentration, freshness, delicate texture and subtlety.

This combination is driving a market that used to be dominated by rich, structured reds with plenty of body and volume. The wines coming down the slopes these days are something else entirely.

Tupungato is the highest volcano in Mendoza (6,570 meters) and lies on the border with Chile. It stands as a constant presence over the high-elevation vineyards of Tupungato, in the northern Uco Valley. 

Bringing Order To Chaos

I’ve been tasting wines from the Uco Valley for two decades, since the beginning of my professional career. What’s happening there isn’t occurring anywhere else in Argentina. The scene is a dynamic one in which boundaries are constantly pushed. Every year, more and more small and mid-sized wineries appear, now concentrated in the Chacayes area, whereas before, the focus was Gualtallary or Paraje Altamira. New enterprises are flocking to the area, and while it remains to be seen whether this growth is sustainable from a business point of view, the concept underpinning these recent vineyard developments is sound.

I tasted over 550 wines for this report. Diversity and quality are the watchwords. The Malbecs range from pure, floral and delicate to ripe, full-bodied and oaky, with every possible variation in between. There are also several Pinot Noirs, Cabernet Sauvignons, Cabernet Francs and more.

The Uco Valley is a useful regional designation in its own right, but smaller segmentations are even more enlightening. Places like Gualtallary, in Tupungato, climb from 3,200 to 5,400 feet above sea level, stressing the vines and producing light, nimble reds. Paraje Altamira in San Carlos offers a patchwork of calcareous gravel and poor soils, lending volume and energy to the wines. In the middle lies Los Chacayes in Tunuyán, which combines the best of both worlds.

A Guide to the Uco Valley

Uco isn’t really a valley. On the western side are the Andes, where peaks regularly soar above 16,000 feet, with some as high as 21,500 feet (such as the Tupungato volcano, which towers over the landscape). However, these mountains aren’t balanced out on the other side, with a ridge of about 4200 feet representing a rather underwhelming counterpoint. In the middle are sharply sloping plains that run down from the mountains in an extensive fan. There, vines are planted on three distinct levels.

According to the database of the Argentine Viticultural Observatory in San Carlos, the first recorded Malbec vineyard dates back to 1908 (there was also a white vineyard planted in 1900). In Tupungato, the first vineyard (also Malbec) dates back to 1916. Tunuyán mostly specialized in fruit production, but vines appeared in the Vista Flores area in 1914. Today, the Uco Valley only has about 2,200 hectares of vineyards that are more than 40 years old. The leap in scale came in the 1990s, when Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc were dragged along by the boom in Malbec, which accounts for 55% of the region’s total plantings. In the Uco Valley, 27,000 hectares of vineyard are under 40 years old. A large portion of this “new” viticultural frontier was planted on high-elevation, virgin soils as producers sought a cooler climate with less risk of frost (due to the slope).

The export boom of the 2000s made the Uco Valley and its unoccupied space an attractive option. New investments and the affluence of recent arrivals, combined with other transplants from Luján de Cuyo and Maipú (where urban expansion was displacing vineyards), helped to grow the Valley and brought it renown on the global stage. My first report on the area was for an Argentine magazine in 2004. The feeling I had then was like stepping into a new world. Twenty years later, Uco’s reputation is well established, and we can now focus on its more notable subregions.

Alejandro Vigil is one of the winemakers who discovered a new and refined style for Gualtallary grapes, particularly with his Gran Enemigo Cabernet Franc, which achieves remarkable flavor definition in the 2021 vintage.