There are wineries that look great, and others that function well. Sadly it feels like somewhat of a rarity when they achieve both. But Zuccardi winery, the Great Wine Capitals’ global architecture winner last year, is a rare gem that really does achieve both, and will please the most exacting oenophile as well as the most passionate architect.
I wrote this article for Great Wine Capitals’ wine blog, however as it is about a new winery in Mendoza – I thought readers of the Squeeze might enjoy reading it too. Please check out the original version on GWC website too, where you will find other blogs on last year’s winners from around the globe.
Zuccardi & the Piedra Infinita winery
The new Zuccardi Piedra Infinita winery in the Uco Valley was born out of desire, rather than necessity. The Zuccardi family have a large, functional and busy winery to the east of Mendoza, in Maipu. With each new generation of the family, the winery has expanded and the horizons lifted. It homes the winemaking facilities for several wine labels (including their popular day-to-day wine label, Santa Julia), two restaurants, an olive farm, and an art gallery. And there is room to expand.
However when Sebastián Zuccardi (the third generation) started taking over the winemaking for their eponymous premium label, Zuccardi, he started making more and more wines from the Uco Valley, some 140km away.
The distance wouldn’t necessarily drive someone to build a new winery, but their Uco Valley winery is more than just a building of convenience. It reflects the family’s new identity in, and commitment to, the growing wine region of Uco Valley.
Nestled in the heart of Altamira, the winery is set amongst the family vineyards where large boulders and rounded stones interrupt rows of flourishing vines. The ethos behind the winery is to source whatever they could locally, and large walls are built from large stones unearthed from an ancient river bed in the vineyard.
The tall stone and concrete walls sit in a jagged position reflecting the imperfect, yet solid, shape and strength of the Andes mountains just behind them. A metal dome crowning the building acts as a mirror to the sky, bringing the different colours of each hour of the day down into a hazy glow at eye level.
