Let’s welcome Bodega Catena Zapata from Argentina to the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2023. I’ve enjoyed their wines for many years. Here is information provided to me about the winery and the wines that will be poured at the Festival International Tasting room. Enjoy.
About Bodega Catena Zapata
At heart, Catena is a story about family. The family who poured their lives, passion and spirit into transforming scrub-laden desert into some of the most beautiful and unique vineyards in the world. The family passed their knowledge from generation to generation, blending collective memory with state-of-the-art science from the new world of viticulture. The family, through risk-taking, faith and a little luck, transformed their treasured Mendoza terroir into the fountainhead of the award-winning wines that carry the Catena name.
Catena was founded by Nicola Catena, who escaped famine in Europe by sailing from Italy to Argentina in 1898. Believing he had found the proverbial Promised Land in Mendoza, Nicola planted his first Malbec vineyard in 1902. Nicola’s winemaking dream later passed to his son, Domingo, who developed the family winery into one of Mendoza’s largest vineyard holders. By the 1960s however, Catena was struggling. The Argentine economy was in shambles and inflation rates soared. This is when Domingo’s son Nicolás, a recent Ph.D. graduate in Economics, took the reins of the family vineyards and wineries. Nicolás Catena has been the quiet revolutionary in the Catena family history book. He charted the family’s path on the new frontier of winemaking, drawing on lessons learned from the land and in the classroom to challenge conventional wisdom. Initially, he concentrated on expanding distribution throughout Argentina during the tumultuous 1970s. After time spent in California’s Napa Valley, while employed as a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, the seed for a wine revolution was planted. Nicolás returned to Argentina with more vigor than ever before, driven to identify the best planting sites in Mendoza and develop the most modern techniques to bring fine Argentine wine to the world stage.
The revolution continues with Nicolás’ daughter, Dr. Laura Catena. A practicing emergency-room physician, Laura joined her father’s quest to revolutionize Argentine wine in 1995. In 2001, she took over Catena’s research and development program, using her science background to further her father’s studies on the effects of altitude and soil on viticulture. By 2013, the program evolved to become the Catena Institute of Wine, committed to advancing and promoting wine knowledge for wine technicians and the wine community as a whole.
Now, as the General Director and a pivotal leader at Bodega Catena Zapata, Laura Catena continues to spearhead the drive to create Argentine wines that stand among the best in the world. As a testament to Catena’s dedication and high standards of excellence, the winery has been heavily awarded by some of the world’s most reputable wine publications.
The Wines We Will Feature at the International Festival Tasting Room
Catena Chardonnay 2020 – A Blend of Four Vineyards – vineyards are divided into lots that are harvested at different times. Whole cluster pressed; fermented, sur lies, in barrels and stainless steel. Wild yeasts. Elevage: 6 to 8 months in French oak. Barrel selection varies depending on vineyard and vintage – First, Second and third use barrels used. 40% does not undergo malolactic fermentation.
Catena Cabernet 2019 – Blend of Four Vineyards – vineyards are divided into lots that are harvested at different times. Fermentation in stainless steel tanks for 14 days and post-fermentation maceration for 20-23 days. Wild yeasts. Elevage: 12 months in barrel. Barrel selection varies depending on vineyard and vintage – First, second and third use barrels used. 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot.
Catena Alta Malbec 2018 – Vineyard lots are harvested at different times to ensure optimal natural acidity and moderate alcohol levels. Whole berries are hand loaded into small format fermentation bins and 225-500 L barrels; lots from each vineyard are treated individually; fermentation and maceration last for 28-30 days; cold maceration. Wild yeasts. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in barrel; wine undergoes active battonage to protect it and drastically reduce the amount of SO2 needed. Aged for 18 months in French oak.
Catena Malbec Argentino, Mendoza 2020 – 20% whole cluster and 80% whole berry fruit is hand-loaded into 225-500 liter new French oak barrels for a 100% barrel fermentation for a period of 28 days, allowing seamless oak integration. The fermentation temperature is kept low, extracting intense aromas, and the cap management is done by hand to ensure soft, gentle flavors and tannin extraction. Wild yeasts. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in barrel leaves considerable lees and sediment. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 18 months.
Nicolas Catena Zapata 2019 – With its inaugural 1997 vintage, Nicolás Catena Zapata 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. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Malbec. The harvest is done by hand, and some parcels are fermented as whole bunches to enhance tannic structure and freshness. The fermentation takes place in 500 liter oak barrels, concrete and stainless-steel tanks, at temperatures of 26-28ºC for about 10-15 days. The post-fermentative maceration lasts between 5 and 10 days. The wine carries out its malolactic fermentation and is then aged in French oak barrels for 18 months.
