Andean Character: Uco Valley Reds

BY JOAQUÍN HIDALGO | AUGUST 26, 2025

Every time I taste a Malbec from a high-elevation area of the Uco Valley, perhaps from one of the vineyards right at the edge of the cultivation limit, I am taken back to my adolescent adventures hiking through ravines in the mountains. The trigger is a gentle aroma, ethereal as the air that freshens the slopes but remarkably evocative nonetheless: a mixture of thyme, jarilla, sage and huacatay. This is the bouquet of herbs that cleans out your lungs as you stroll through the Andean foothills, especially in areas like the gullies of the Cordón del Plata or Portillo, where the vegetation is particularly lush in summer.  

Vineyard land in the Uco Valley is part of the Andean biome. Here, mountain ridges rise up through the soils that make vine cultivation possible, looming over plateaus at heights of 4,300 feet or more. Just a few decades ago, there weren’t any vines at these elevations, but producers began to search for colder areas to craft new kinds of wine. Now that these vines are reaching maturity and producers have the confidence to embrace and enhance the novel qualities these high elevations instill in the wines, a new aromatic and stylistic universe is emerging.

The Escala Humana vineyard in Gualtallary, with the Tupungato Volcano in the background.

The Uco Valley spans 67,000 acres of vines, situated about 60 miles south of the city of Mendoza toward the Andes. Over the past 20 years, some of the local Geographical Indications (GIs) and districts have become particularly important. They are led by Los Chacayes, Los Árboles, Gualtallary and San Pablo, where straightforward, terroir-driven wines allow subtle yet distinctive mountain qualities to come through in the wines. 

To shine a light on this Andean character, and especially the contrasts therein, I’ll zoom in on San Pablo and Gualtallary—neighboring areas at similar elevations that nonetheless present marked differences in soil types and climate conditions. These are the subregions where the mountains truly hold sway.

An Andean Basin

The northern end of the Uco Valley features some unusual geography. Here, the Frontal Cordillera range narrows to reveal the much higher peaks behind, including the Tupungato volcano on the border with Chile. Viewing it from a different perspective, one might think that a shallow basin had been inserted right into the middle of the Andes. Shaped like a triangle, the basin’s western edge runs along the foot of the mountains and through the mouth of the Las Tunas River as it flows into the plateau at 7,200 feet. The base of the triangle is 20 miles away, on the other side of the plain, at about 3,300 feet. 

Un Lugar en Los Andes is the highest vineyard in the Uco Valley, located on the edge of San Pablo.

The river splits this basin in two. The larger area on the northern side is Gualtallary, while the smaller San Pablo is to the south. The former has about 2,500 hectares under vine, the latter just 450. Two-thirds of these vines are planted along the base of the triangle, while the rest are higher up and get even higher with each passing year. The highest vineyards are now at 5,600 feet, bordered on either side by narrow ravines. 

Elevation has a tremendous influence on the vines. While the base of this triangle is similar to the Rhône Valley in terms of sunlight and temperature, the higher elevations are as cold as Champagne, but exposed to intense Mediterranean-style sun. Harvest in Gualtallary usually takes place two weeks to a month earlier than in San Pablo. Also, as elevations rise, so does the relatively humidity, which leads to a shift in the makeup of the flora. Higher sites allow native vegetation to flourish, which has a significant effect on the vines. 

The soils of the Sierras del Jaboncillo in Gualtallary contain the highest concentrations of calcium carbonate in the Uco Valley. 

Taming the Energy of Gualtallary

The first vines arrived in Gualtallary in the mid-1990s. Bodega Chandon sought cooler climates for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, while Catena Zapata began to experiment with planting Malbec at a height of around 4,600 feet, taking a cue from some cherry groves that survived extensive frost. Investments from other wineries such as Doña Paula, Lagarde, Susana Balbo and Trapiche soon followed, while Tupungato Winelands, a real estate/vineyard development, also began construction. It became clear that Gualtallary has a range of diverse soil make-ups. Far from being a unilaterally cool climate, the area offers subtle differences across three distinct temperature bands. Early success depended on precisely what was planted and where it was situated. Some spots are warm and quick to ripen, while others are much colder and slower. In a few locations, excessive lime in the soil poisoned the plants.

Recent years have seen a number of proposals to split Gualtallary into several different GIs that would properly reflect its diversity. The vines planted in the lower areas, where Cabernet Sauvignon ripens well in sand and pebble soils, live a very different life from those planted on the slopes of the Sierra del Jaboncillo, where at 4,200 to 5,200 feet, the soils are extremely calcareous and Malbec adopts a lean, chalky profile with pure aromas of violets and country herbs.  

This year, I visited several vineyards within the region. The differences from vineyard to vineyard can be striking due to the variations in soil and temperature. In the highest area, where Alta Yarí, Terrazas de los Andes and Lacoste de Los Andes have vineyards at up to 5,400 feet, higher humidity and lower temperatures can lead to fungal issues (otherwise a rarity in Mendoza). The presence of mountain herbs, especially thyme, sage, heterotheca and huacatay, translates strongly in the wines so long as the fruit was harvested early enough to retain freshness.

The Monasterio del Cristo Orante in Gualtallary was the only building in the area in the 1990s. Today, several wineries have joined, including Catena Zapata and Per Se. 

In an effort to produce wines that reflect this mountain profile, a new wave of vineyards has appeared around the upper limits of the region. For example, since 2020, Matías Riccitelli has been developing an herbicide-free vineyard on the ridges of the sierra with a range of different exposures and soil make-ups, which he hopes to highlight with Garnacha. Just a stone’s throw away, Familia Zuccardi is working on a similar project at their Finca Las Cuchillas vineyard. Comparable ideas are also afoot in Raquis’ vineyard, which was planted on virgin land in 2021 with an effort to maintain native flora. It’s remarkable to see the vines mingling with espinillo, jarilla and huacatay in addition to achaparrado cacti and chañar. These are just a few of several producers working toward these goals.

Named for the local Cristo Orante Monastery, Gualtallary Monsaterio has the most calcareous soils of the region. Old gravel soils from the flooding of the Las Tunas River were protected from local runoff and thus accumulated a greater concentration of calcium carbonate. This area is home to Catena Zapata’s famed Adrianna Vineyard, as well as Monte Alabanza at the foot of the monastery, where Per Se has just constructed a handsome new winery.

This area is perfect for Malbec and Cabernet Franc. These varieties become leaner or broader depending on the type of soil in which they are grown, and very clearly reflect the timing of harvest. While carbonate-rich gravel tends to reduce ripeness, retain acidity and generate textures of talc and chalk, sandy soils enhance ripeness and lend the wines a liqueur-like smoothness. Gualtallary is a mosaic in which every vineyard needs to be approached on its own terms. It’s not always easy to keep the region’s naturally exuberant tendencies in check, but by now producers have more than 20 years of trial and error.  To date, the most expressive examples to ever come from Gualtallary are from the 2021 and 2022 vintages.

A full moon lights up the evening sky over the vineyards of Tupungato Winelands in Gualtallary.

The San Pablo District

The name of this region is derived from an old Jesuit estate founded in colonial times. It produced grain, livestock, chestnuts and walnuts, and its centuries-old trees still cast valuable shade in the summer. San Pablo is a thin stretch of land pressed against the Frontal Cordillera range, where a series of small streams cut through its peaks and glaciers. 

Unlike Gualtallary, San Pablo is adjacent to the Andes, which rise to heights of 16,000 feet. This proximity accounts for two distinctive aspects of the terroir: due to the effect of the peaks, cold air sinks down the slopes at night to keep temperatures low, but also rises to create cloud cover in summer. Whereas ripening comes early in most of Gualtallary, it occurs much later in cooler San Pablo thanks to more filtered light, lower thermal accumulation and a patchwork of gravel soils with deposits of carbonate and lime. Frost is also a significant challenge, occasionally resulting in total losses in the vineyard (as in 2023). Finca Desiré, owned by Bodegas CARO, installed hundreds of temperature sensors before planting in order to find out where the frosts hit hardest and design the vineyard layout accordingly.

San Pablo tends to produce wines with ample fruit but lean builds, usually with sharp acidity that lends a vibrancy and elegance to the Uco Valley’s characteristic energy. Today, San Pablo is populated by a few high-quality producers: Familia Zuccardi, Bodegas Salentein, Tapiz, Susana Balbo and CARO. Getting ahold of grapes from this region is no easy task, and wines are priced accordingly.

Estancia San Pablo lies at the end of a rugged road. Just above the sign, Cerro Pircas dominates the valley at 5,200 meters. Below, a row of poplars marks the upper limit of cultivation in the area.

Comparing Gualtallary and San Pablo illuminates the different ways in which high-elevation wines from the Uco Valley express themselves, though it’s important to remember that other major areas such as Los Chacayes and Los Árboles also have unique characteristics that are reflected in the wines.

The development of the Uco Valley has redrawn the map for both red and white varieties in Mendoza. For Malbec, the region has introduced a fundamental counterpoint to the broad, rich, velvety versions produced in Luján de Cuyo, instead delivering wines of vivacious purity, juiciness, structure and well-defined fruit. Today, the Uco Valley is a stylistic powerhouse that achieves unprecedented quality for Argentina. However, some producers still find it difficult to manage the local conditions, resulting in overripeness, dry tannins or vegetal wines. 

This report includes some of the region’s great wines, wines that promise to take you on a journey of discovery, conjuring the image of Andean landscapes wherever you may find yourself drinking them.   

I tasted the wines for this report in the Uco Valley in May and June 2025, with follow-up tastings at my office in Buenos Aires.

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 © 2025, Vinous. Ninguna parte de este artículo puede ser copiada, compartida o redistribuida sin el consentimiento previo de Vinous. Si se incurriese en ello, no solo se viola nuestro copyright, sino que también se amenaza la supervivencia de la crítica independiente de vinos.

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