The Catena Zapata winery is easily recognized with its Mayan pyramid-style building set in stunning scenery, under vast skies, and with the awe-inspiring Andes as the backdrop in Mendoza. We feel the visit is an obligatory one for any wine enthusiast while they are in Argentina. The Catena family is considered the royal family of Argentine wine and especially with regards to high-altitude Malbec.
Nicolas Catena was named the prestigious “Decanter Man of the Year” in 2009, the first South American to receive such an award. He has always believed that Argentina could produce world-class wines and he realized, after carefully studying the benefits in grape conditions that are produced at altitude in this part of the world, that it was possible to plant vines at a higher elevation, and use the increased diurnal temperature ranges along with very intense sunlight to fully ripen grapes whilst at the same time preserving natural acidity as the plant goes dormant during the cold of the night.
Their highest Catena Zapata vineyards at Gualtallary are found at an impressive 1480m altitude and were planted with the help of renowned Argentine viticulturist Pedro Marchevsky. Some thought that grapes would simply never ripen here – hail is a big issue, and the vineyards even get snow, however, even Cabernet Sauvignon has thrived.
Malbec is particularly good here: Pedro experimented tirelessly with around 100 strains of the grape to find the best examples with smaller berries, good color, and better tannins. He eventually narrowed his selection down to just seven or eight which have been replanted, so these vineyards are now used for their most premium Malbec, including some of the fruit for The Society’s Exhibition Malbec.
Catena is also known for its pioneering chardonnay production, also grown exceptionally high at 1400m altitude, producing beautifully balanced fruit. Other than Gualtallary, Catena has a superb collection of other vineyards at differing altitudes over 1000m at Lunlunta, Agrelo, Tupungato, Eugenio Bustos, and Altamira, where different combinations of soils and altitudes produce a range of varying grape varieties and wine styles. These superbly managed vineyards are at the heart of the company’s success.
[easy-image-collage id=5529]Nicolás also introduced modern winemaking and viticultural techniques to Argentina including small French oak barrels, drip irrigation, extremely low yields, and plant-by-plant selection. His significant investment in research has been a major factor in the quality of wines produced. The chief winemaker at Catena is Alejandro Vigil, a boundless enthusiast who always appears to be doing three things at once. He was previously involved in research at INTA, the state viticultural body, and his combination of impressive knowledge, relentless energy, and creative experimentation has helped Catena to push the boundaries of Argentine wine production.
The Society’s Exhibition Malbec maintains its consistent finesse because Catena allows us complete freedom from vintage to vintage. Every year we are shown samples of Malbec from six to eight sites and are then able to choose the blend ourselves to ensure we capture the freshness, perfume, and spirit of these excellent locations. The blend is then aged for about 14 months in oak.
