Blog

TEN YEARS OF ZUCCARDI VALLE DE UCO. SIXTEEN 100-POINT WINES.

It began in the vineyard, when José Zuccadi started exploring the Uco Valley, drawn by the mountains and by soils unlike any he had encountered before. That search led him to plant Finca Piedra Infinita in 2009, in Paraje Altamira.

There, he discovered something that would forever change the way the family make wine: within a single vineyard they found an extraordinary diversity of soils, stones, gravel, and calcareous material, and those different plots, just meters apart in the vineyard, could give rise to a profoundly different wine.

They then understood that the challenge was no longer simply to grow grapes. It was to interpret each place.

A WINERY SHAPED BY THE VINEYARD

When construction of the winery began in 2013, the idea was simple: to design it from the vineyard inward.

They wanted to vinify each parcel separately and respect the expression of each soil, without imposing an identity of their own from the winery. That is why they chose concrete: a material they had tested for years and that allowed them to work with an idea that continues to guide their search today: transparency is beauty.

In March 2016, they opened the doors of Zuccardi Valle de Uco.

Zuccardi Valle de Uco was born this way, as a means of interpreting the place.

During the early years, their search grew ever deeper. The mountain took centre stage. They let the wines speak of their soils, their stones, their textures, and their differences.

And, little by little, the world began to listen.

FROM THE FIRST 100 POINTS TO SIXTEEN PERFECT SCORES

In November 2019 came a moment they still remember fondly.

For the first time, Luis Gutiérrez of Robert Parker | Wine Advocate awarded 100 points to a Zuccardi Valle de Uco wine: Finca Piedra Infinita 2016.

More than a score, they felt it was a confirmation of the path they had chosen. Gutiérrez praised the wine´s “stratospheric level of precision, symmetry and elegance,” and chalky texture. But something else left an impression on them: Gutiérrez had also noted how Zuccardi had been improving vintage after vintage.

It was not an isolated recognition. It was a sign that the search was bearing fruit.

Sixteen months later came another 100-point score, this time for Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal 2018, from a small parcel within the vineyard.

And that second recognition confirmed something even more important: it was not only about making a great wine but about expressing every corner of a place with precision.

From then on, year after year, leading international critics – including Robert Parker | Wine Advocate, James Suckling, Tim Atkin, Descorchados and Jeb Dunnuck – began awarding their wines their highest scores.

Today, ten years after the winery opened, that story has reached 16 perfect 100-point scores. Fifteen of them come from Finca Piedra Infinita. And 15 of the 16 were vinified entirely in concrete.

These are the 16 wines that have, to date, earned 100 points:

WINE	VINTAGE	CRITIC	WINE	VINTAGE	CRITIC
Finca Piedra Infinita	2016	Wine Advocate	Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2018	Wine Advocate
Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2019	Tim Atkin	Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal	2019	Wine Advocate
Finca Las Cerrilladas	2020	Jeb Dunnuck	Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal	2020	Jeb Dunnuck
Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal	2021	Descorchados	Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal	2021	Tim Atkin
Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2021	Wine Advocate	Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal	2022	Jeb Dunnuck
Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal	2022	Wine Advocate	Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2022	Wine Advocate
Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2022	Jeb Dunnuck	Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2022	Wine Advocate
Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2023	Descorchados	Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal	2023	James Suckling

RECOGNITION ROOTED IN PLACE

But for them, what matters most is not the number.

It is what that number tells them.

Each of those wines was born in a specific place. Each led them to look more closely at a parcel, a soil, an aspect, a particular combination of climate and landscape.

That is why, more than a record, these 16 scores are, for them, a celebration of the Uco Valley and its extraordinary diversity. Of Paraje Altamira, where so much of this search began, and of all the places they continue to explore within the mountains.

During those same years, other recognitions also filled them with pride: Zuccardi Valle de Uco was named World's Best Vineyard three consecutive times (2019–2020–2021) and was subsequently inducted into the Hall of Fame. Their team was also recognised, with distinctions awarded to their viticulturist Martín Di Stefano and their head winemaker Laura Principiano.

But recognition was never the goal.

The search has always been for something else: to better understand the mountains, to interpret each soil with greater precision, and to discover how far Argentina can go when place is given a voice.

Finca Piedra Infinita, Paraje Altamira Finca Piedra Infinita Gravascal Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal.

THE SEARCH CONTINUES

Ten years on, they still have many questions.

They continue to walk in the vineyards, observe, research, comparing parcels, and learn from every vintage. Because a place can never be fully known. It always has something more to reveal.

The 16 perfect 100-point scores are part of that story. A story that began with the search for one place and, over time, led them to discover many.

And that is what matters most in what they celebrate today: not the 100 points themselves, but everything behind them.

Ten years of Zuccardi Valle de Uco. Sixteen perfect scores. And a search that still interprets the mountains and allows each place to find its voice.