Paraje Altamira underwent a rapid transition from just a place people spoke highly of but which lacked formal definition, to an established 'appellation' in Argentina, only becoming so as recently as 2016. It's in the southern Uco Valley of Mendoza at high altitudes of course, roughly 1,000 metres above sea level. It is unique among Argentine appellations in being founded along scientific, geological principles rather than geopolitics. It is also typified by smaller farms in the hands of families who have been here for generations.