Matías Riccitelli

Matías Riccitelli was born in Cafayate, Salta, a small town in northern Argentina where wine is part of everyday life. A tireless traveler with a restless spirit, he trained and grew as a winemaker in Mendoza, working for one of Argentina's most prestigious wineries. After countless harvests around the world, gathering experiences, lessons and stories, he brought together everything he had learned in his career, along with the teachings of his mentor and father, Jorge Riccitelli, and founded Riccitelli Wines in 2009.

The winery is located in Las Compuertas, at 1,100 meters above sea level, the highest part of traditional Luján de Cuyo, where it farms 20 hectares of old, ungrafted vines. The project also sources grapes from small growers in some of the best terroirs at the foot of the Andes, between 1,000 and 1,700 meters above sea level, such as Gualtallary, Chacayes, San Pablo and La Carrera.

In 2015, Riccitelli Wines took on a new challenge: reviving old vineyards in Argentine Patagonia, which gave rise to the Old Vines line. It includes Semillón, Chenin Blanc, Torrontés, Bastardo, Merlot and Malbec, all made from vines planted in the late 1960s on the banks of the Río Negro.

Grapes are harvested by hand to protect the integrity of every bunch. At the winery they are moved by gravity into small concrete tanks. The aim is the fullest expression of each terroir, preserving purity and delicacy in both winemaking and aging, and respecting the uniqueness of each origin to produce vibrant, authentic wines.

The enormous diversity of soils, shaped by altitude, reflects Argentina's great winemaking potential, and it is precisely this diversity that Riccitelli Wines seeks to express clearly and honestly in each of its wines.