Catena Zapata
About Catena Zapata
Nicolas Catena is the man known for revolutionizing Argentine wine in the 1980s, introducing the world to Malbec. A pioneer of high-altitude Malbec in Argentina, Catena Zapata was the first to venture into the wild and unknown vineyard area called Gualtallary in Mendoza. After more than 100 years of winemaking history, the family estate is now in the hands of Laura Catena.
Viniculture
While some prefer the European style of Malbec from the Adrianna vineyard; others prefer the more powerful style from Nicasia. Then there are those who sit on the fence (or perhaps, prefer the balance) and enjoy the blend of both Adrianna and Nicasia vineyards, in the Argentino.
The Nicolas Catena cuvée is named after the man himself who is probably more responsible than anyone else for the superb reputation the wines of Argentina enjoy in the fine wine world today. With its inaugural 1997 vintage, Nicolas Catena became the first luxury cuvée from Argentina to be exported around the world. The wine recreates the “Original Bordeaux Blend” of the 18th and 19th Centuries, when Malbec dominated over Merlot and was in equal standing to Cabernet Sauvignon in the Médoc.
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Prices:
| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Mendoza | 1 | 97 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€1,562.95 |
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Wine Advocate (97)The 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae is from a cold and rainy El Niño vintage that broke the mold of typical Mendoza weather. The grapes were picked a bit later and achieved a slow, perfect ripening while retaining very good freshness. They used 50% full clusters in this cooler year. The wine was pressed before it finished fermenting (in concrete), and the juice—without skins, pips or stems—finished fermenting like a white in the foudre. When I tasted the wines after bottling, this felt a bit dizzy, with the aromatics coming and going, sometimes showing a little open. But the wine settled in bottle, and the palate shows the core of acidity that lifts the wine and provides incredible freshness; the tannins are ultra refined, and there is great overall balance. Yields were lower, so they only filled some 3,360 bottles. |
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Mendoza | 2 | 97 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€865.60 |
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Wine Advocate (97)The 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae is from a cold and rainy El Niño vintage that broke the mold of typical Mendoza weather. The grapes were picked a bit later and achieved a slow, perfect ripening while retaining very good freshness. They used 50% full clusters in this cooler year. The wine was pressed before it finished fermenting (in concrete), and the juice—without skins, pips or stems—finished fermenting like a white in the foudre. When I tasted the wines after bottling, this felt a bit dizzy, with the aromatics coming and going, sometimes showing a little open. But the wine settled in bottle, and the palate shows the core of acidity that lifts the wine and provides incredible freshness; the tannins are ultra refined, and there is great overall balance. Yields were lower, so they only filled some 3,360 bottles. |
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Mendoza | 1 | 97 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€1,039.10 |
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Wine Advocate (97)Cropped from a cooler and wetter year, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae was bottled with six months less time in oak than in other years. The wines are somehow lighter and more mineral, and they didn't want the oak to mark them. This comes from deeper soils that deliver more fruit, and of the three reds from Adrianna, this is always the one that shows more gentle, approachable and open, with more fruit up front. There are some notes of tobacco and spices. Considering how young the wine is and the fact that it will not be released for another year, the wine is going to be immediately appealing on release but should also develop nicely in bottle. The 2016 is the most complete of the three vintages I tasted together—2014, 2015 and 2016. They bottled some 5,000 bottles in March 2018. |
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Mendoza | 18 | 97 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€449.20 |
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Wine Advocate (97)Cropped from a cooler and wetter year, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae was bottled with six months less time in oak than in other years. The wines are somehow lighter and more mineral, and they didn't want the oak to mark them. This comes from deeper soils that deliver more fruit, and of the three reds from Adrianna, this is always the one that shows more gentle, approachable and open, with more fruit up front. There are some notes of tobacco and spices. Considering how young the wine is and the fact that it will not be released for another year, the wine is going to be immediately appealing on release but should also develop nicely in bottle. The 2016 is the most complete of the three vintages I tasted together—2014, 2015 and 2016. They bottled some 5,000 bottles in March 2018. |
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Mendoza | 1 | 100 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€1,074.40 |
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Wine Advocate (100)Like the other Malbecs from Adrianna Vineyard, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard River Stones was bottled a little earlier, and the time in oak was shortened. It was a most unusual year that was cold and rainy and allowed for no irrigation. This has good ripeness and sharp acidity, making it powerful but extremely fresh, with a backbone of acidity that lifts the wine up and makes it extremely long and persistent. In fact, the wine blows me away with an unusual combination of power and elegance; it shows detailed and nuanced, with subtle aromas of violets, spices, tobacco and wet chalk. It has a velvety texture with ultra refined, fine-grained tannins. It is precise in the acidity and on the palate, with the textbook chalky tannins and a sapid, almost salty finish. This is serious, austere, mineral, long, compact, harmonious and concentrated, yet it feels light and has that somewhat contradictory powerful elegance. This has to be the best wine ever produced at Catena. I'd love to have a time machine and taste this wine in 20 years' time... There are some 3,800 bottles of this. |
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Mendoza | 5 | 95+ (VN) |
Inc. TAX
€667.98 |
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Vinous (95+)Bright ruby. Captivating floral and spicy high tones lift aromas of blackberry, cassis and dark chocolate on the subtle, complex nose. Juicy, penetrating Malbec with sharply delineated black fruit, violet and spice flavors carried on the back end by brisk acidity (actually 6.5 grams per liter) and strong salty, chalky minerality. In its focus and youthfully lean style, this is hardly your typical Argentina Malbec. But this wonderfully suave yet powerful wine opens out and rises spectacularly on the saline back end, where the crushed dark berry flavors are perfectly supported by noble tannins. A knockout! Winemaker Vigil's use of a bit of Cabernet Franc in his top Malbec bottlings always leaves me wondering why more of his colleagues don't take this approach. |
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Mendoza | 3 | 97 (DC) |
Inc. TAX
€201.85 |
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Decanter (97)The 2016 vintage is a classic example, a superb blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that’s still in its infancy. Subdued aromas of cassis, black cherries and nuanced herbaceous and tobacco notes. A lovely fluid entrance builds on concentration and complexity. Malbec’s seductive juiciness joins a vertical Cabernet structure, tannins and integrated oak, with a long, lingering finish. A wine to wait for. |
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Mendoza | 1 | 97 (DC) |
Inc. TAX
€493.73 |
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Decanter (97)The 2016 vintage is a classic example, a superb blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that’s still in its infancy. Subdued aromas of cassis, black cherries and nuanced herbaceous and tobacco notes. A lovely fluid entrance builds on concentration and complexity. Malbec’s seductive juiciness joins a vertical Cabernet structure, tannins and integrated oak, with a long, lingering finish. A wine to wait for. |
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Mendoza | 1 | 97 (DC) |
Inc. TAX
€435.18 |
|||||
Decanter (97)The 2016 vintage is a classic example, a superb blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that’s still in its infancy. Subdued aromas of cassis, black cherries and nuanced herbaceous and tobacco notes. A lovely fluid entrance builds on concentration and complexity. Malbec’s seductive juiciness joins a vertical Cabernet structure, tannins and integrated oak, with a long, lingering finish. A wine to wait for. |
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Mendoza | 1 | 98 (JS) |
Inc. TAX
€361.60 |
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James Suckling (98)A dense and bright chardonnay that shows incredible depth and freshness with dried pineapple, licorice, aniseed and lemongrass. Full-bodied, layered and very, very long. Linear and exciting. Goes on for minutes. Release in October 2018. Drink or hold. |
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Mendoza | 1 | 98 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€355.60 |
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Wine Advocate (98)My favorite of the Adrianna whites, the 2016 White Stones Chardonnay was cropped from a low-yielding, cool and wet year, very unusual weather in Mendoza. It's sharp, austere, mineral and long. No matter how impressed I was with the 2015 or the two vintages of the White Bones I tasted next to it, this stole the show. It has a combination of mineral notes that transmit a serious sensation with hints of flowers, spices and herbs that show in a very subtle way. The palate is liquid chalk, with sharp and pungent flavors, nicely textured. It's precise, linear, long and sharp, with great length and persistence. It will be fascinating to see how this wine evolves in bottle, because I think we can have a big surprise in ten years from now. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2017. |
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| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Mendoza | 1 | 97 (WA) |
In Bond
€1,290.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (97)The 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae is from a cold and rainy El Niño vintage that broke the mold of typical Mendoza weather. The grapes were picked a bit later and achieved a slow, perfect ripening while retaining very good freshness. They used 50% full clusters in this cooler year. The wine was pressed before it finished fermenting (in concrete), and the juice—without skins, pips or stems—finished fermenting like a white in the foudre. When I tasted the wines after bottling, this felt a bit dizzy, with the aromatics coming and going, sometimes showing a little open. But the wine settled in bottle, and the palate shows the core of acidity that lifts the wine and provides incredible freshness; the tannins are ultra refined, and there is great overall balance. Yields were lower, so they only filled some 3,360 bottles. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 2 | 97 (WA) |
In Bond
€712.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (97)The 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae is from a cold and rainy El Niño vintage that broke the mold of typical Mendoza weather. The grapes were picked a bit later and achieved a slow, perfect ripening while retaining very good freshness. They used 50% full clusters in this cooler year. The wine was pressed before it finished fermenting (in concrete), and the juice—without skins, pips or stems—finished fermenting like a white in the foudre. When I tasted the wines after bottling, this felt a bit dizzy, with the aromatics coming and going, sometimes showing a little open. But the wine settled in bottle, and the palate shows the core of acidity that lifts the wine and provides incredible freshness; the tannins are ultra refined, and there is great overall balance. Yields were lower, so they only filled some 3,360 bottles. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 1 | 97 (WA) |
In Bond
€841.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (97)Cropped from a cooler and wetter year, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae was bottled with six months less time in oak than in other years. The wines are somehow lighter and more mineral, and they didn't want the oak to mark them. This comes from deeper soils that deliver more fruit, and of the three reds from Adrianna, this is always the one that shows more gentle, approachable and open, with more fruit up front. There are some notes of tobacco and spices. Considering how young the wine is and the fact that it will not be released for another year, the wine is going to be immediately appealing on release but should also develop nicely in bottle. The 2016 is the most complete of the three vintages I tasted together—2014, 2015 and 2016. They bottled some 5,000 bottles in March 2018. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 18 | 97 (WA) |
In Bond
€365.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (97)Cropped from a cooler and wetter year, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae was bottled with six months less time in oak than in other years. The wines are somehow lighter and more mineral, and they didn't want the oak to mark them. This comes from deeper soils that deliver more fruit, and of the three reds from Adrianna, this is always the one that shows more gentle, approachable and open, with more fruit up front. There are some notes of tobacco and spices. Considering how young the wine is and the fact that it will not be released for another year, the wine is going to be immediately appealing on release but should also develop nicely in bottle. The 2016 is the most complete of the three vintages I tasted together—2014, 2015 and 2016. They bottled some 5,000 bottles in March 2018. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 1 | 100 (WA) |
In Bond
€886.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (100)Like the other Malbecs from Adrianna Vineyard, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard River Stones was bottled a little earlier, and the time in oak was shortened. It was a most unusual year that was cold and rainy and allowed for no irrigation. This has good ripeness and sharp acidity, making it powerful but extremely fresh, with a backbone of acidity that lifts the wine up and makes it extremely long and persistent. In fact, the wine blows me away with an unusual combination of power and elegance; it shows detailed and nuanced, with subtle aromas of violets, spices, tobacco and wet chalk. It has a velvety texture with ultra refined, fine-grained tannins. It is precise in the acidity and on the palate, with the textbook chalky tannins and a sapid, almost salty finish. This is serious, austere, mineral, long, compact, harmonious and concentrated, yet it feels light and has that somewhat contradictory powerful elegance. This has to be the best wine ever produced at Catena. I'd love to have a time machine and taste this wine in 20 years' time... There are some 3,800 bottles of this. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 5 | 95+ (VN) |
In Bond
€538.00 |
|||||
Vinous (95+)Bright ruby. Captivating floral and spicy high tones lift aromas of blackberry, cassis and dark chocolate on the subtle, complex nose. Juicy, penetrating Malbec with sharply delineated black fruit, violet and spice flavors carried on the back end by brisk acidity (actually 6.5 grams per liter) and strong salty, chalky minerality. In its focus and youthfully lean style, this is hardly your typical Argentina Malbec. But this wonderfully suave yet powerful wine opens out and rises spectacularly on the saline back end, where the crushed dark berry flavors are perfectly supported by noble tannins. A knockout! Winemaker Vigil's use of a bit of Cabernet Franc in his top Malbec bottlings always leaves me wondering why more of his colleagues don't take this approach. |
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|
|
Mendoza | 3 | 97 (DC) |
In Bond
€162.00 |
|||||
Decanter (97)The 2016 vintage is a classic example, a superb blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that’s still in its infancy. Subdued aromas of cassis, black cherries and nuanced herbaceous and tobacco notes. A lovely fluid entrance builds on concentration and complexity. Malbec’s seductive juiciness joins a vertical Cabernet structure, tannins and integrated oak, with a long, lingering finish. A wine to wait for. |
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|
|
Mendoza | 1 | 97 (DC) |
In Bond
€399.00 |
|||||
Decanter (97)The 2016 vintage is a classic example, a superb blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that’s still in its infancy. Subdued aromas of cassis, black cherries and nuanced herbaceous and tobacco notes. A lovely fluid entrance builds on concentration and complexity. Malbec’s seductive juiciness joins a vertical Cabernet structure, tannins and integrated oak, with a long, lingering finish. A wine to wait for. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 1 | 97 (DC) |
In Bond
€344.00 |
|||||
Decanter (97)The 2016 vintage is a classic example, a superb blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with 31% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that’s still in its infancy. Subdued aromas of cassis, black cherries and nuanced herbaceous and tobacco notes. A lovely fluid entrance builds on concentration and complexity. Malbec’s seductive juiciness joins a vertical Cabernet structure, tannins and integrated oak, with a long, lingering finish. A wine to wait for. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 1 | 98 (JS) |
In Bond
€292.00 |
|||||
James Suckling (98)A dense and bright chardonnay that shows incredible depth and freshness with dried pineapple, licorice, aniseed and lemongrass. Full-bodied, layered and very, very long. Linear and exciting. Goes on for minutes. Release in October 2018. Drink or hold. |
|||||||||
|
|
Mendoza | 1 | 98 (WA) |
In Bond
€287.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (98)My favorite of the Adrianna whites, the 2016 White Stones Chardonnay was cropped from a low-yielding, cool and wet year, very unusual weather in Mendoza. It's sharp, austere, mineral and long. No matter how impressed I was with the 2015 or the two vintages of the White Bones I tasted next to it, this stole the show. It has a combination of mineral notes that transmit a serious sensation with hints of flowers, spices and herbs that show in a very subtle way. The palate is liquid chalk, with sharp and pungent flavors, nicely textured. It's precise, linear, long and sharp, with great length and persistence. It will be fascinating to see how this wine evolves in bottle, because I think we can have a big surprise in ten years from now. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2017. |
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