Zuccardi Fósil Chardonnay 2019 San Pablo, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina 75cl

Zuccardi is one of Argentina’s most celebrated wineries and a leader in the high, cool reaches of the Uco Valley, where its focus on soil and site has helped redefine what the region can do. The family has become a reference point for terroir-driven Argentine wine.

This Chardonnay comes from San Pablo, one of the highest and coolest districts in the Uco Valley. Fermented in concrete rather than oak, it is made to express the calcareous, stony soils that give the wine its name, Fosil, meaning fossil, and to keep the fruit clean and unmasked.

The 2019 is a precise, cool-climate vintage. This is a wine built for tension and length rather than early richness, and it has the structure to develop in bottle over several years, so it can be enjoyed now or cellared with confidence.

Rather than tropical opulence, expect a mineral, almost austere character: wet stone, fresh lime and citrus, a saline thread and taut, driving acidity. The concrete fermentation keeps the fruit pure and the finish long, chalky and refreshing. Serve it lightly chilled, not ice-cold, and give it air in the glass.

This is a serious, terroir-driven white for lovers of lean, mineral Chardonnay in a Chablis-like mould. Serve it with grilled fish, oysters, ceviche or roast chicken, and let it open as it warms slightly. A standout example of just how fine high-altitude Argentine white can be. It makes an impressive choice for a special meal, or for anyone who wants to see Chardonnay in its leaner, more mineral guise, well beyond the everyday.