Vinos de la Luz is a wine group, with investments in Argentina, Spain, Italy and the United States, whose mission is to produce wines with a sense of place while implementing organic and sustainable viticulture and winemaking practices.
The group’s founder, Ricardo Fernández Núñez, an Argentinian of Galician descent, embraced viticulture as the best way to honour his ancestors, who settled in the Uco Valley in the early 20th century.
It was in this same corner of Mendoza that Fernández Núñez established himself as one of the most successful Malbec producers. His work was rightfully recognised at the 2022 Decanter Wine World Awards, where his Callejón del Crimen wines shone.
Callejón del Crimen: the DNA of the Uco Valley
At the foot of the the Andes, the same mountain range that amazed his grandparents a century ago, Fernández Núñez has amassed a personal collection of vineyards in four of Mendoza’s most prestigious regions – Paraje Altamira, Gualtallary, Pampa El Cepillo and Vista Flores – from where he produces world class wines.
‘We own 150 hectares of vineyards in the most renowned terroirs of the Uco Valley,’ says Fernández Núñez. ‘The land here allows us to produce wine consistently and sustainably, reflecting the DNA of a winemaking region that is impressing drinkers the world over.’
The experts behind Callejón del Crimen are oenologist Pablo Navarrete and María Hilen Pareja, a specialist in organic viticulture. Together they have created a portfolio of wines that express, especially in the Single Vineyard collection, the identity of the micro terroirs of the Uco Valley.
Pablo Navarrete
Consistent recognition
‘The Callejón del Crimen Single Vineyard collection is the result of our commitment to studiously explore the different terroirs found in the Uco Valley and its micro-regions,’ says Pablo Navarrete, Oenology Director at Vinos de la Luz. Today, all that hard work has produced four Malbecs that embody the best of Paraje Altamira, Vista Flores, Pampa El Cepillo and Gualtallary. Of these, Callejón del Crimen Single Vineyard Gualtallary Malbec 2019 won a Platinum Medal (97pts) at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards.
The work behind the collection further inspired them to create Callejón del Crimen Blend de Terroirs Malbec 2019, which also won a Platinum Medal (97pts) at the 2022 DWWA. ‘Our Blend de Terroirs is a combination of the four micro-regions where we have vineyards, and allows us to capture and enhance the quality of the land and virtues that the Uco Valley so generously makes available to us,’ says Pablo Navarrete.
In addition to Callejón del Crimen’s excellent performance at the last edition of the DWWA, the Iluminado Vinos de La Luz Single Vineyard Malbec 2015, a wine made with grapes from Paraje Altamira, was named Best in Show (97 pts) in the 2019 edition of the awards.
Irrefutable proof of the fact that Vinos de la Luz and Callejón del Crimen are names that ought to be borne in mind by fine wine lovers across the world.
