Where it is, and why the terroir is different
Valle de Uco spans three departments — Tunuyán, Tupungato, and San Carlos — about 70 km south of Mendoza city, with districts now famous on labels: Gualtallary, Los Chacayes, Paraje Altamira, and La Consulta. Altitude starts at 900 meters on the valley floor and climbs to 1,500 meters in Gualtallary, among the highest wine-producing elevations on earth.
The soil is alluvial, deposited by Andean snowmelt: sand, silt, and an enormous amount of rock — Altamira's “Piedra Infinita” (Infinite Stone) is a well-known example — with marked variation from one district to the next. Combined with a diurnal temperature swing that easily tops 20°C, the result is a Malbec with finer tannins, brighter acidity, and a floral lift you don't get at lower altitude.
From forgotten desert land to the heart of Argentine Malbec
Until the late 20th century, Valle de Uco was fruit-and-vegetable country — considered too cold, dry, and remote for fine wine. Everything changed in 1992, when Nicolás Catena and his viticulturist Pedro Marchevsky planted the Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary, at 1,450 meters: the moment that kicked off what's now known as the “high-altitude Malbec revolution.” In the same decade, Domaine Bousquet and Bodega Salentein bet on ground many considered crazy to plant. Three decades later, Valle de Uco is the Geographic Indication that certifies the largest volume in Argentina, and the Los Chacayes district already has its own official GI recognition.
Wineries that define Valle de Uco today
Zuccardi Valle de Uco
A winemaking family since 1963. In 2007 they began planting the stony Piedra Infinita estate in Paraje Altamira — clearing over a thousand truckloads of rock — and today make parcel-selected Malbecs there, named “World's Best Vineyard” four times by World's Best Vineyards.
Bodega Salentein
Founded in 1996 by Dutch entrepreneur Mijndert Pon, with a cross-shaped winery built underground at the foot of the Andes. Its San Pablo vineyard, planted in 1997, was one of the area's first high-altitude Malbec blocks.
Domaine Bousquet
Frenchman Jean Bousquet bought virgin land in Gualtallary in 1990 — when the area was considered too cold — and farmed it organically from day one. Today, led by his daughter Anne Bousquet, it's one of Argentina's largest organic wineries.
SuperUco
Founded in 2011 by the four Michelini brothers with Daniel Sammartino, in Los Chacayes. They farm biodynamic vineyards across three distinct micro-terroirs — Gualtallary, Los Chacayes, and Altamira — from an unconventional octagonal winery.
A fact that surprises: at Catena Zapata's Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary, soil scientists found calcium-carbonate “islands” within a single block that change the wine's flavor row by row — the reason Argentina started making its first single-vineyard Malbecs, a style previously associated only with Burgundy.
How this plays out in LagarLab
Pick Valle de Uco as your farm and the simulator loads the stony soil and extreme altitude of Gualtallary or Altamira into your must's starting values — the same bet Catena and his neighbors made thirty years ago, without risking a real harvest.
What if you made wine from this terroir yourself?
In LagarLab you pick Valle de Uco as your starting farm and make the same decisions a real winemaker would on this high-altitude soil.
Enter the laboratoryFrequently asked questions
What sets Uco Valley apart from other areas of Mendoza?
The altitude, between 900 and 1,500 meters — among the world’s highest vineyards in Gualtallary — and a wide swing between day and night temperatures that gives finer tannins, fresher acidity, and a floral profile.
When did this area start being taken seriously for fine wine?
Only in 1992, when Nicolás Catena and Pedro Marchevsky planted Viñedo Adrianna in Gualtallary at 1,450 meters — before that it was considered too cold and remote.
What kind of soil does it have?
Alluvial soil, with abundant sand, silt, and stone — the so-called "Piedra Infinita" of Paraje Altamira is a well-known example.
What wineries represent Uco Valley today?
Zuccardi (since 1963), Bodega Salentein (1996), Domaine Bousquet (1990, organic from the start), and SuperUco (2011, biodynamic), among others.