His eponymous estate lies high up in the Luján de Cuyo appellation. Son of Jorge Riccitelli and named Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast in 2012, Matías now leads this 20-hectare estate, crafting elegant, refined wines from vines rooted between 900 and 1800 metres above sea level. While Malbec naturally features at the core of his range, Riccitelli excels just as brilliantly with Bonarda, Torrontés, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
“My generation has a real advantage: the development of high-altitude viticulture, which didn’t exist before,” he once told our importer. It is precisely this new frontier that Riccitelli and his contemporaries are mastering, taming the sharp diurnal shifts, the cooling winds, and the unique climate of the Andes to produce wines of exceptional finesse and distinction.
A bet that paid off! The estate produced balanced, fresh and harmonious wines, crafted without herbicides with responsible methods. Gravity, concrete vats, amphorae, egg-shaped vats and a judicious use of oak barriques. Matías is also something of a visionary, expanding his horizons with a new estate in Patagonia, a state-of-the-art winery, and a restaurant project. An estate to keep a close eye on, without a doubt.

Reputed to be among the highest areas in Argentina’s Uco Valley, Gualtallary enjoys one of the coldest climates in the region. The vines, at an altitude of around 1400 metres, benefit from ideal sun exposure and humidity levels for the grapes to thrive. The Malbec grapes grow on the clay-limestone soils of Gualtallary. This region is greatly influenced by the Andes mountain range, which gives the grapes all their aromatic richness. The hand-harvested grapes are destemmed and vinified in small concrete vats. Fermentations are triggered by native yeasts naturally present in the berries. The winemaking process is rounded off by a 12 months ageing period in used casks.
The ruddy-red colour is complemented by an expressive bouquet characterised by aromas of cherry, strawberry, blood orange, combined with subtle hints of leather and liquorice. The dense and concentrated palate reveals fine tannins perfectly balanced by a delicate acidity leading to a fresh and persistent finish.