Zuccardi Q Malbec

The 2019 Q Malbec is a step up after coming from the Serie A Malbec. This is more specific about the origin, which is Valle de Uco, but they select grapes from Paraje Altamira and Los Chacayes for this bottling, where the soils start to deliver some chalky minerality in the wines. There is contained ripeness and fully developed flavors and aromas. It's medium to full-bodied with fine, chalky tannins. It matured in concrete and 30% in 500-liter oak barrels. 300,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2020.

Lots of tar to the blackberry and dark-fruit aromas here. Wet earth, too. It’s full-bodied and layered with juicy, chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. Rich and intense. Structured and powerful. Needs two or three years to soften. Best after 2023.

Darker fruit than the Serie A Malbec, more cassis. Very pure and dark fruited. Savoury, mineral, smoky/rocky but still with lovely non-sweet fruit. Just a hint of pepper and graphite. Chalky freshness in the texture, sappy and juicy but with the dry texture to add sophistication. Bone-dry finish, all that graphite but not at all leafy. Reductive winemaking helps develop complexity, believes Sebastian Zuccardi. Really dark and not fruity in flavour but there’s fruit there for substance and harmony. Chalky chew on the finish and leaves the mouth feeling clean. Supreme precision and finesse. GV - Good value.