2017 Casa de Uco Vineyard Selection Malbec
Mountain Malbec with violets, plum, polished tannin, and a steak-night price that does not feel normal.
This is the kind of Argentine Malbec that makes the table feel better immediately: dark-fruited, floral, softly structured, and lifted by the cool edge of the Andes. Los Chacayes gives it the rocky, mineral backbone; bottle age has rounded the corners. At $18 against a $60 winery reference, this is serious Uco Valley drinking at a weeknight number.
70% below winery reference
The sweet spot: real altitude, real bottle age, real savings.
Casa de Uco sits in the dramatic Los Chacayes zone of the Uco Valley, where rocky soils, elevation, and cold nights give Malbec more lift than weight. That is exactly why this bottle works so well at the table.
Altitude freshness
The wine has ripe Malbec fruit without feeling heavy, because Los Chacayes keeps acidity and aromatic detail in the frame.
2017 maturity
There is enough bottle age now for the tannins to feel softer and the dark fruit to pick up chocolate, mineral, and savory notes.
Concrete backbone
Fermentation in concrete keeps the fruit clear and energetic, while measured oak aging adds polish without burying the site.
Clean value math
The $18 price sits far below the $60 winery reference, making this an easy case call for steak nights, empanadas, and winter braises.
The allocation opportunity
- Critic-backed: Three 90+ scores give the bottle more credibility than a simple discount story.
- Table-ready: Plum, violet, chocolate, and mineral notes make it an easy match for beef, lamb, and chimichurri.
- Case logic: A 12-bottle case lands at $216 before any mixed-case substitutions and qualifies for free shipping.
Three critics over 90, one mountain-grown Malbec.
The 2017 Vineyard Selection Malbec carries the right kind of support: serious enough for collectors, still friendly enough for a weeknight glass.
$18 against a $60 winery reference.
Slash price $18 vs the $60 winery reference supplied for this release.
At $18, the bottle lands at 30% of the $60 winery reference. That is the cleanest value story here: high-altitude Los Chacayes Malbec, three 90+ critic scores, and enough age to feel smooth now.
Compare the official source details here: Casa de Uco official product page and 2017 technical sheet.
For buyers, the math is simple: one bottle is an easy test drive; a 12-bottle case turns this into a house red with serious dinner-table range.
Below the $60 winery reference, with a $42 savings per bottle and $504 savings on a 12-bottle case.
Dark fruit, violets, chocolate, and Andean lift.
This is plush Malbec with enough freshness to stay lively through dinner.
In Mendoza, 2017 returned closer to a traditional growing pattern after the difficult 2016 harvest, with spring frost pressure, a cool December, and warmer summer weather that helped even ripening. Cooler weather later in the season helped preserve acidity and freshness, a strong fit for high-altitude Uco Valley Malbec.
Fresh plum, black fruit, raspberry, and a deeper blueberry tone with bottle-age softness.
Round, supple tannins; enough acidity to keep the finish fresh rather than heavy.
Violet, eucalyptus, mineral, orange peel, light chocolate, and a polished oak accent.
The fruit turns darker and silkier, with more cocoa and earthy mineral showing after air.
Serve at 60–64°F in a Bordeaux stem with grilled beef, lamb, empanadas, or aged cheese.
Give it 20–30 minutes for the aromatics to open and the tannins to relax.
Most generous window for fruit, texture, and ready-to-drink charm.
Expect more cocoa, mineral, dried flower, and a softer frame.
Best for buyers who like mature Malbec with secondary character.
Concrete clarity, restrained oak, mountain fruit.
The 2017 technical sheet points to a wine built for freshness first, with just enough barrel aging for polish.
Fermented in concrete: The 2017 Malbec was fermented in concrete pools, a choice that helps keep the fruit clean, vivid, and site-focused.
Aged with balance: The aging mix was 70% concrete pools, 25% large Italian barrels for 12 months, and 5% French oak barrels for 6 months.
Built by a serious team: The 2017 sheet names Sebastián Bisole as winemaker and Alberto Antonini of Tuscany as wine consultant.
Casa de Uco: wine, architecture, and Andes light.
A modern Uco Valley estate built around vineyards, hospitality, and a deep sense of place.
Casa de Uco is rooted in the foothills of the Andes, surrounded by vineyards and shaped by the dramatic landscape of Mendoza wine country.
The estate’s own language is all about expressing terroir: carefully selected grapes, rocky soils, mountain air, and wines that carry the dimensions of the Uco Valley.
That is what makes this bottle such a useful buy: it has the polish of a modern resort estate, the backbone of Los Chacayes, and the warmth people expect from Malbec.
Chimichurri is the shortcut.
Malbec, beef, herbs, garlic, and vinegar make one of the easiest pairing stories in wine.
Keep the food bold but not fussy: grilled beef, flaky pastry, fresh herbs, garlic, and enough acidity to wake up the fruit in the glass.
Serve slightly cool at 60–64°F and decant 20–30 minutes. The wine’s plum, violet, cocoa, and mineral notes do especially well with char, spice, and chimichurri.
Beef Empanadas with Chimichurri
Flaky pastry, savory beef, and an herby green dip make this the most regionally natural pairing on the page.
Why it works: The pastry softens the tannin, the beef pulls out the plum and cocoa, and chimichurri brightens the wine’s acidity.
View Recipe
Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
This is the classic Malbec move: steak char, juicy beef, garlic, herbs, vinegar, and a glass that keeps up.
Why it works: Char and protein meet the tannins, while parsley, oregano, and vinegar lift the wine’s violet and fresh-plum notes.
View RecipeMake this your mountain Malbec case.
At $18, this is the rare bottle that can handle a dinner party, a Tuesday steak, and a cellar slot without asking for a collector budget.
Skirt steak, short ribs, burgers, lamb chops, and chimichurri all fit the wine’s fruit and tannin.
With three 90+ scores and bottle age, it drinks above its price and earns repeat pours.
Open most now, but keep several bottles for extra cocoa, mineral, and dried-flower development.
The value is direct: $18/bottle versus a $60 winery reference, or $216 for a 12-bottle case versus $720 at that reference point.
