Uco Valley (High-Altitude Mendoza Malbec)

The Uco Valley is the high-altitude frontier of Argentine Malbec: a cluster of cool, stony, Andean vineyards south-west of Mendoza city, many planted between roughly 900 and 1,500 metres above sea level, that push the grape toward a fresher, more structured and floral expression. Where warmer, lower Mendoza gives plush, velvety Malbec, the Uco trades some of that opulence for lifted violet perfume, intense black plum and blueberry fruit, brighter acidity and a firmer, more mineral tannin. It is the sub-region that reframed Argentine Malbec as an age-worthy, terroir-driven fine wine.