Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino

If you are a host who likes to surprise their guests and tasting companions with stories and fun facts about wines,Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino is perfect for you!

If this winery’s 100 years of history could be summed up in one wine, it would be Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino, a house classic that remembers its entire journey and pays tribute to its protagonists. As well as Nicolás Catena’s grandfather and father, Nicasia (Nicolás’ grandmother) and his mother Angélica also played an undoubtedly important role and their names have now been given to two of the house’s most important vineyards. These vineyards, located in the regions of San Carlos and Maipu respectively (in Mendoza, Argentina), grow the Malbec used to make Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino. Both areas have shallow soils, full of gravel and clays, and lie between 900 and 1,100 metres above sea level. Here the vines and plants come from a massal selection of pre-phylloxera vines, which are harvested on various dates (depending on their level of ripeness).

In this way, taking into account that they work by batches, Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino is given space to take its time. After all, the most important thing here is that the grapes reach the winery in the best possible condition. When they get there, production begins with 20% of the Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino clusters in a pre-fermentation maceration for 5 days at low temperatures in roll fermentors. These tanks, invented in 2003 by Mariano Di Paola and Pascal Conte, aim to give the wine a touch of wood without being aggressive. The remaining 80% will be placed directly in these same tanks, without maceration, and manually poured in to begin fermentation. This process, which always uses native yeasts, always takes place using controlled temperatures, aiming for low temperatures, because this guarantees that the wine’s most aromatic substances are not lost with the frenzy of the yeasts. Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino also undergoes malolactic fermentation and a brief resting period on its lees (the already dead yeasts). After all this, Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino spends a year and a half aging in French oak barrels.

Finally, for the story to be complete and not to leave any loose ends, you can also explain Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino’s label. It features four female figures representing the four milestones in the history of this variety: the first woman, Eleanor of Aquitaine, symbolises the birth of Malbec next to the Cahors bridge (this variety originated there); the second, an immigrant, pays homage to those adventurers who left Europe for the New World; the third, phylloxera, referencing the death of Malbec and its rebirth in America; and finally, Doña Zapata, symbolised in Adrianna Catena, who is bringing Malbec back to the place it belongs.