Zuccardi breaks mould for icon wines with lightweight bottle

Argentine wine producer Zuccardi is quite literally breaking the mould as it launches a custom-made lightweight bottle with the release of Finca Canal de Uco on Le Place de Bordeaux next month.

Although several wineries in South America have started bottling some of their mid-range and more economic wines in lighter weight bottles, what makes Zuccardi’s move particularly bold is that they are starting from the top, with their most expensive and age-worthy icon wines. This radical move sends a strong message to the industry in Argentina and beyond.

“We truly believe in lighter weight bottles, and that is why we wanted to start at the top,” says Sebastian Zuccardi. “Although it isn’t easy…” The family winery anticipates some resistance from distributers, particularly in markets where the trade heavily favours weighty bottles.

“There are some markets where a heavy bottle is still synonymous with high quality, and our distributers are reluctant about all our top wines going into lighter glass,” he admits. “But we have always taken our own path, rather than following the market. And as well as the environmental impact, heavy bottles are super uncomfortable to work with — especially for the sommelier.”

The change is being rolled out as new vintages are being bottled and released. Finca Canal de Uco is part of their Finca range, retailing for over £100, and the new 2021 vintage is the first to be bottled in the new 570 gram bottle. Compared to the previous 900 gram bottle, this is a weight saving of 37%.

From the 2022 vintage, all the top wines — including all the wines within the Aluvional (retailing for over £60), Finca, and Parcel (retailing for over £200) ranges — will be in the light bottle. The Polígonos range, which is bottled closer to the harvest date, will also have the new bottle design from vintage 2024. The winery’s entry-level wines, Serie A and Q, have already been in a lightweight bottle for several years — albeit a different, more economical design.

Coming up with the right design for premium wines was a challenge, admits Sebastian. “We have always dreamt of having a lighter bottle, but of really nice quality,” he explains. “When the pandemic hit here in Argentina, it was impossible to get bottles. You would have bottles of three different colours arrive within the same order!”

The pandemic spurred him on to seek a local solution, especially as there were no premium quality light bottles in Argentina. “The only solution in Argentina has always been to bring lighter bottles from Europe,” he adds, “which is even worse for the environment than using a heavy bottle made here!”

Instead, Sebastian and his father José Zuccardi decided to design their own bottle with a local glass manufacturer, Verallia, in Argentina. This required developing their own mould and design in a process that took almost four years of investigation and research. The fruit of that labour is now coming to light with these first custom-made bottles — which bear a Zuccardi imprint near the base.

Canal de Uco 2021, an exclusive wine distributed on Le Place de Bordeaux, is being launched this September. The rest of the Zuccardi ranges will be launched in due course by their UK importer, Hatch Mansfield.

Amanda Barnes is db’s South America correspondent and author of The South America Wine Guide.

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