2021 - Fosil Chardonnay, Familia Zuccardi, Uco Valley

2021 seems like a very good vintage at Zuccardi, and they consider it a superb year for whites. The 2021 Fósil has lower alcohol (12.8%) and a sharper profile and is austere, young and subtle with a seamless palate with great freshness, balance and elegance. In this cooler year, they used more oak, because they feel that the wine needs more oxygen in cooler years and less in warmer ones. So, this 2019 fermented and matured equal parts in concrete and used 500-liter oak barrels for around eight months. But the wine shows no oak, and certainly no more than the 2020 I tasted next to it, but the two vintages show different profiles. This should develop nicely in bottle. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2021.

Subtle and stony on the nose, which is presumably why it has this name. Not as austere in aroma as Chablis but heading in that direction. And much more fruity on the palate. Ripe lemon in a tight corset of freshness. Lots of intensity after the initial restraint, building on the palate to a crescendo and long finish. I think this needs another year in bottle. (JH)