Bottles produced: 11,400
Grapes: 100% Malbec
Yield: N/A
Alcohol: 14%
Format: 6L
Drink from/to: 2015-2025
Price UK: £700 (6l bottle)
Price US: $800 (6l bottle)
The vintage: The 2010 vintage in Mendoza was noted for its low yields and high quality. A cold spring delayed bud break and led to uneven flowering, but while yields at Catena Zapata were down 20-25% overall, the quality and concentration of fruit across the board more than made up for this. ‘It is hard to complain about the low yields when you taste and see the concentration and richness of the wines in the tanks and barrels,’ noted the winery in its post-harvest report.
The wine: This iconic Mendoza Malbec comes from two of Catena Zapata’s historic Malbec vineyards Adrianna and Nicasia. Fruit from the old vines of these two high-altitude sites is hand-harvested and fermented ‘wild’ for 30-32 days in new French oak barrels (225-500 litre); 80% is destemmed, and the rest goes in whole cluster. The wine matures in barrel for 24 months before blending and bottling, unfined and unfiltered. The wine is bright, dense and fruit-packed with remarkable texture and complexity.
