Los Chacayes video documentary & guide

Los Chacayes is one of the newest appellations in Argentina. But despite being relatively new, this is also one of the most sought-after wine regions today. In this Los Chacayes video documentary, I want to take you through not only the history of this fascinating wine region which emerged from the desert in the Uco Valley of Mendoza, but also show you why this is a dynamic wine region to keep your eye on.

Since the first pioneer of the wine region, François Lurton and his family, planted here in 1996, it has exploded to become one of the hotspots of the Valle de Uco today with over 1,800 hectares of vineyards. It is also home to hundreds of vignerons, either making small-production wines from less than a hectare of vineyards, or larger scale wineries and projects. As well as having its own association of producers in the GI, Los Chacayes has also become home to some of the most glamorous vineyard resorts and restaurants in the Uco Valley.

In our Los Chacayes video guide, we start with a visit to meet François Lurton and his winemaker Thibault Lepoutre at the winery and vineyards of Piedra Negra, where we get to grips with the history of the region as well as the terroir.

As Thibault explains, this is an appellation which has an enormous amount of diversity within it — with a range of 700 metres of altitude and a patchwork of different soils.

Nevertheless, there is also a key character of Los Chacayes Malbec, as Thibault explains:

“Los Chacayes Malbec has a very fresh expression in the nose, sometimes floral with violets. But in the palate it has great structure and volume. This can be a challenge in winemaking to have a gentle enough extraction to retain elegance, yet without losing the concentration and volume that you get from this place.” 

Then we move on to visit one of the many small producers in the region, in this case Mariana Onofri. I’ve long been a fan of Mariana’s wines, and she works in the beautiful estate of The Vines of Mendoza — which is one of the largest estates in Los Chacayes, although made up of hundreds of small producers.

She describes the essence of Los Chacayes, both in the glass and through the terroir, and we talk about some of the other exciting varieties beyond Malbec. In particular, the rise of the Rhone, or Mediterranean, varieties:

The Mediterranean varieties develop very well here. Garnacha, Monastrell, Syrah, Marsanne, Roussanne…  I believe they achieve a great expression with balance and ripeness. They can be lighter [in style], but still complex.