Young and highly talented, Mauricio Lorca (chief winemaker at Enrique Foster and formerly of Chilean-owned giant Finca La Celia, Catena, and Luigi Bosca) started creating his own wines with grapes from his high-altitude vineyards in Vistaflores, Uco Valley, just four years ago. All of these exceptional grapes come from 30 hectares of 5-year old, densely planted, surface-irrigated vineyards that produce 2 pounds per vine of Chardonnay, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

Lorca is also one of the few Argentine winemakers who believes that the true fruit and terroir of a wine should be allowed to shine through; with this philosophy he crafts his Ópalo line without aging the wines in oak at all. The Lorca Fantasía line sees just a touch of oak, and the Poético line is aged for between 6 months and a year in French oak barrels of one use.

Lorca’s production levels are extremely low—he produced 1,000 cases of each of the Lorca Fantasia wines, 1,000 cases of each of the Ópalo wines, 875 cases of Poético Cabernet, and 1,100 cases of Poético Malbec in 2005—and his plans don’t include growing much larger. This is a bodega to watch and Lorca is a star on the rise.

The Uco Valley is compared by many to the Napa Valley 25 years ago. At a higher elevation than Luján de Cuyo, excellent high-altitude wines are produced from vineyards up to 1400m (4600 feet) high, at the foot of the Andes.