Familia Zuccardi

Posted by Edmund in Argentina, Wine & Liquor | 0 comments

In the coming week or two, I’ll be focusing my Wine section on wines by one of my favorite Argentine producers, Familia Zuccardi, so I just wanted to give everyone a bit of background on these guys before I begin.

Zuccardi is one of the largest producers of wine in all of Argentina. The wines it produces tend to be of very good quality, given the amount of money it has spent on infrastructure and technology typically not found in Argentina. It has numerous lines of wines, as well. Santa Julia is its lowest and cheapest. Santa Julia is followed by the A line, which is a bit pricier—around $15 I think. The premium lines then follow. First is the Q line, which is aaround $25. Finally, the masterpiece is the Zuccardi Z, a wine that is always a blend but consists primarily of tempranillo. The Z is typically around $40. Zuccardi is known specifically for its tempranillo, and it’s one of the few wineries in Argentina that produces that varietal very well.

It also does a lot of experimentation with less commonly used varietals, many of which can be found under the label of “innovations,” i.e. wines that are just experiments to see if the varietals used can be turned into a profitable, good quality wine. Moreover, there are numerous desserts wines, all part of the Malamado line, which, unlike most dessert or sweet wines in Argentina, is not a late harvest wine, but rather is a fortified wine. Specifically, these wines are all made port-style, and they are among the best and most interesting dessert wines in Argentines.

All in all, Zuccardi is one of my favorite bodegas and has one of the largest varieties of wines of all the wineries in Argentina. Of special note is its Zuccardi Q Tempranillo, perhaps its most famous wine and one of my own favorites.

Reviews for the full line of wines are forthcoming.