Casa de Uco 2018 Winemaker's Blend Los Chacayes Uco Valley Mendoza Argentina 750ml

Los Chacayes sits at the foot of the Andes in the Tunuyán district of the Uco Valley — one of Argentina's highest and most geologically dramatic wine-growing zones, 1,280 metres above sea level on soils shaped by glacial moraines and ancient alluvial deposits from the mountains immediately to the west. The cooling altitude and significant day-to-night temperature variation that define this corner of Mendoza produce Malbec, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot of extraordinary freshness and concentration — the kind of fruit that rewards winemakers willing to work with the terroir's natural structure rather than simply adding more oak.

Casa de Uco is an estate winery located on Ruta 94, kilometre 14.5 — the road to Manzano Histórico in Tunuyán — one of the most scenic and most dramatically Andean positions available to any Mendoza producer. The Winemaker's Blend is the estate's most creative and most specifically winemaker-driven expression — assembled from a selection of the best lots in the winery across multiple varieties and fermentation vessels, with no fixed recipe, but always built around the conviction that the Uco Valley's altitude, freshness, and mineral-driven fruit can produce something genuinely world-class. The consulting oenologist behind the program is Alberto Antonini — the globally travelled Italian winemaker who also consults at Alkina in the Barossa Valley, at Tenuta di Trinoro in Tuscany, and at some of the most ambitious wine projects in the Southern Hemisphere.

The 2018 blend combines two separate vintages of Malbec — 60% from 2017 and 10% from 2018 — with Petit Verdot 2017 (15%), Cabernet Franc 2017 (11%), and Merlot 2017 (4%), each component fermented and aged separately according to its own needs: the 2017 Malbec in concrete pools, the 2018 Malbec in stainless steel, the 2017 Merlot in new barrels for 24 months and then a fourth-use barrel, the 2017 Petit Verdot in new French oak. London Wine Competition panellists called it "young, fresh and feisty — dark chilli chocolate, blueberry and damson notes throughout. Powerful but balanced and will age well." James Suckling, tasting the 2020 vintage as representative of the house style, found "peppermint, incense, blackberries and blueberries aplenty with some herbs and graphite — full-bodied and intense with lots of fine-grained tannins that melt through the palate." Wine-Searcher's aggregate across adjacent vintages runs consistently at 90-91 points.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Casa de Uco is an estate winery situated in Los Chacayes, Tunuyán — one of the most elevated and most specifically Andean-influenced growing zones in the entire Uco Valley, at 1,280 metres above sea level on alluvial and glacial moraine soils deposited by the Andes over millennia. The estate's position on Ruta 94 toward Manzano Histórico gives it a genuinely remote, high-altitude character that separates it from the lower, warmer Luján de Cuyo producers that historically dominated Mendoza's wine identity.

Winemaker Gustavo Bauzá oversees production alongside consulting oenologist Alberto Antonini — the Tuscan-based, globally travelling Italian winemaker whose project list includes some of the world's most ambitious wine estates across Italy, Argentina, South Africa, and Australia (including the Alkina Wine Estate in the Barossa Valley, whose Polygon project shares Antonini's philosophy of site-specific, minimal-intervention winemaking). The Winemaker's Blend is assembled from the best available lots across Casa de Uco's Los Chacayes vineyards, with the freedom to blend across varieties and even across vintages in pursuit of the most complete and the most harmonious expression of the site's potential.

The 2018 bottling is a multi-vintage, multi-variety, multi-vessel blend: 60% Malbec 2017 aged in concrete pools, 10% Malbec 2018 in stainless steel, 15% Petit Verdot 2017 in new French oak, 11% Cabernet Franc 2017 in concrete eggs, and 4% Merlot 2017 aged 24 months in new barrels before transfer to a fourth-use barrel until blending. Every component is hand-harvested in 18kg crates — a yield-limiting choice that prioritizes quality over volume. The multi-vessel aging approach is a deliberate expression of the program's philosophy: each variety aged in the vessel that best preserves its specific character, then blended for completeness.

Critics Reviews

London Wine Competition (confirmed panel tasting note — this wine):
"Young, fresh and feisty. Dark chilli chocolate, blueberry and damson notes throughout. Powerful but balanced and will age well." — Panel Chair: Simon Woods, Co-Chair: Sam Caporn MW

James Suckling (2020 vintage, confirmed for house style context):
"A nicely concentrated red with lots of freshness and flavors. Peppermint, incense, blackberries and blueberries aplenty with some herbs and graphite. Full-bodied and intense with lots of fine-grained tannins that melt through the palate. Drink or hold."

Casa de Uco official (confirmed house-style tasting notes, 2018 production approach):
"Intense ruby color. In its aromas, Malbec prevails, with its notes of violets and ripe red fruit, accompanied by light aromas of vanilla and tobacco from the aging; behind appear spiced and mineral notes that add complexity, along with bell pepper and herbs from the Franc. On the palate, the entry is saline and smooth; its rough tannins from the Petit Verdot, its important mouthfeel and its juicy, tense acidity combine to round out an intense but elegant red."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Intense ruby in color — the 1,280-metre altitude and the glacial moraine soils contributing a depth and freshness of color characteristic of high-elevation Uco Valley fruit. Malbec dominates the aromatic profile with its signature violets and ripe red fruit — warm, generous, and immediately identifiable as Argentine in the most specifically and the most classically appealing sense. Light vanilla and tobacco from the oak aging add secondary complexity. Spice and mineral notes build behind the primary fruit, adding the most specifically terroir-communicating depth. Bell pepper and herbs from the Cabernet Franc add savory, slightly vegetal secondary aromatics. Dark chilli chocolate, blueberry, and damson add the most vivid and the most specifically intense dark-fruit quality the London Wine Competition panel noted.

Palate
Full-bodied and powerful, yet balanced — the most consistently confirmed and the most specifically important quality in every assessment of this wine. The entry is saline and smooth — the 1,280-metre Andean terroir's most directly palate-communicating mineral quality, unusual and genuinely impressive for a Malbec-dominant blend. Rough, textured tannins from the Petit Verdot component build genuine structural grip. Juicy, tense acidity from the altitude drives the wine's freshness through the mid-palate. Blackberries and blueberries carry the darkest fruit character alongside herbs and graphite.

Finish
Long, mineral, and age-worthy — the London Wine Competition panel's "will age well" assessment grounded in the Petit Verdot's tannin structure and the high-altitude acidity's natural cellaring potential. The saline mineral quality and dark chocolate note persist at the close, with graphite adding the most specifically and the most enduringly terroir-communicating final quality.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Prime cuts of beef — the classic Malbec pairing, elevated by the Petit Verdot's structural grip
• Lamb — the Cabernet Franc's herbal character aligning naturally
• Game and venison
• Aged hard cheeses