Finca Piedra Infinita 2020

Finca Piedra Infinita is the wine that made Zuccardi's name at altitude, drawn from a single estate in Paraje Altamira that Sebastián Zuccardi identified in the highest part of the Uco Valley. The site is named for the rock that made it so hard to plant: soils packed with stones and rich in calcium carbonate over a limestone base. Grown at altitude, the Malbec ripens under intense sunlight but cool nights, the wide diurnal range preserving acidity and deepening colour while keeping alcohol in check. This is the source of the wine's combination of power and tension. Fermentation is gentle and the wine matures in oak, where slow exchange of oxygen through the staves rounds the tannins and knits the structure without adding obvious wood character. The colour is dense and dark. The nose offers black plum, raspberry and violet over crushed stone, earth and dried herbs. The palate is full and structured, with firm but fine-grained tannins and a long, stony finish that returns to the limestone. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees with an hour in the decanter, alongside roast beef, grilled lamb or a mushroom-led dish.