Michelini i Mufatto Semillon “Certezas”
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Semillon from Finca Manoni in El Peral, Tupungato, Uco Valley, at about 1,100 meters above sea level, on sandy, calcareous soils.
- Made from a 120-year-old vineyard, one of the last this old in Mendoza.
- Dry-farmed and completely natural, with yields under 2,000 kilograms per hectare.
Varietal: 100% Semillon
Elaboration: The grapes are hand-harvested. The fruit is direct-pressed, then fermented and matured for one year in a 1,000-liter foudre.
Tasting Notes: Aromas of citrus, lemon oil and grass, with white flowers. Medium to full-bodied with a chalky texture, minerality and a salty edge.
PRESS
2022 – 95+ Wine Advocate | 97 Vinous | 92 Decanter
2023 – 96 Wine Advocate | 96 James Suckling | 976 Vinous | 97 Tim Atkina
2024 – 97 James Suckling
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Michelini i Mufatto is a family winery in Gualtallary, high in Argentina’s Uco Valley, built around a single organically farmed vineyard — Agrícola La Cautiva — at 1,550 meters in thin granite and limestone soils. Wines ferment in concrete and age in used barrels and foudres, with each soil-defined parcel vinified separately. The whites draw on old vines, including a 120-year-old Semillon block and a Chenin Blanc vineyard planted in 1970.
Before this project, Gerardo Michelini helped establish Zorzal with his brothers, one of the wineries credited with putting Gualtallary’s high-altitude terroir on the map. He came to wine through architecture and banking, and now runs Michelini i Mufatto with his wife, Andrea Mufatto, and their son, Manu. The family also makes wine in Bierzo, Spain.