Catena Zapata

Dr Laura Catena of Catena Zapata Winery

Catena was founded in 1902, in Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza, yet the company’s modern history starts in the late 1960s, when Nicolas Catena joins his father and grandfather. The first vintage made by Nicolas was the 1990 – inspired by Bordeaux and Napa Valley – and was a Cabernet Sauvignon blended with a little Malbec and from the winery’s best barrels. 

Nicolas’ vision from the start was to make rich and unique wines that were true to the terroir they come from, while continually seeking out new and better vineyards for Malbec, on his way being one of the pioneers in discovering extreme high-altitude terroirs in Andean foothills of Mendoza. Nicolas’ daughter Laura Catena has done several studies with the Catena Institute which has shown that higher altitude wines had significantly higher levels of tannins (likely developed by the vines to shield the seeds from the sun).

The winemaking style is Californian-French with a focus on fresh fruit flavours and added complexity by use of traditional French oak barrels. The Adrianna vineyard is Catena’s most famous and named after Nicolas’ youngest daughter. Located in the district of Gualtallary within the region of Tupungato at almost 1,500 feet elevation, it was planted in 1992 and has alluvial gravelly soil with limestone topsoil.

Larry Stone from the James Beard Foundation trustee says of Nicolas Catena: “he is a figure of Argentina of the stature of Robert Mondavi in Napa and Angelo Gaja in Piedmont. He inspired an entire region to strive for higher quality by his successful exploration of high-altitude vineyards.”

Catena Zapata focuses mainly on very quality Malbec including several special cuvees from individual vineyards. They also produce a superb Cabernet Malbec blend as well as some excellent Chardonnay. In short Catena Zapata has an astonishing range of individual vineyards worthy of consideration within their holdings.

We currently offer the following Mendoza wine from Catena Zapata:

• Catena Zapata “Nicolas Catena Zapata”, Mendoza
• Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard Malbec, Gualtallary
• Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard “River Stones” Malbec, Gualtallary
• Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard “White Bones” Chardonnay Gualtallary