Angel Paulucci’s family has produced wine in Italy since the early 1800′s, and Angel arrived in Mendoza with his parents in 1953 at the age of 21. In 1960, he planted his first Malbec vineyard, and in 1970 he planted a special block of Malbec vines in Ugarteche at the southern limit of the Lujan de Cuyo department. If you get Angel talking, plan to stay awhile—he will regale you with childhood stories of enemy soldiers firing bullets into his family’s red wine barrels so that they could quench their thirst. And of course, he will tell you about his vineyard: very tight spacing, superficial irrigation, lime-laden soils, and Malbec grapes that make an old-timer smile.