Catena - Mendoza Malbec

Founded in 1902, Argentina’s Bodega Catena Zapata is known for its pioneering role in resurrecting Malbec and in discovering extreme high altitude terroirs in the Andean foothills of Mendoza. Nicolás Catena led the Argentinian wine industry into the modern era. A widely travelled academic economist, he learned a great deal from his exposure in the 1970s to both the great Bordeaux tradition and the huge promise of Napa wines. In the early 1980s, Catena concluded that the key to great wine production was to plant the right varieties in the right location, specifically cooler, higher elevation sites.

The Catena wines are a special assemblage of High Mountain Estate Vineyards made by fourth generation vintner, Laura Catena, and chief winemaker, Alejandro Vigil. The Catena wines are a blend of single varietal lots from the Catena family’s vineyards. By blending components from different terroirs and altitudes, they aim to create the most balanced and expressive wine.

From the marriage of these historic vineyards emerges a wine of unique character that has natural balance, concentration, and a distinct varietal identity. Although most of the Catena wines are consumed shortly after release, they age beautifully for ten to twenty years.