2018 NICOLAS CATENA ZAPATA BORDEAUX BLEND

Bodega Catena Zapata: Setting a new standard in Argentina

Nicolás Catena Zapata, the owner of Bodega Catena Zapata, has been at the forefront of modernizing Argentina’s wine industry. Zapata’s family has owned vineyards in Argentina since 1902. But, it wasn’t until the early 1980s, while Zapata was working at UC Berkeley as a guest professor, that the Argentine economist had an epiphany: his home country’s wine industry was similar to that of Napa in the 1960s – there was potential, but it hadn’t yet had its breakout moment on the world stage.

In a recent interview with Wine Enthusiast, Zapata says, “In California, I learned about controlling yields to maximize quality,” he says. “Thus, we began to drastically modify our pruning, fertilization, and irrigation practices for Malbec, and we planted Cabernet and Chardonnay imported from California and France. In the winery, we started a sanitary practice that was unknown in Mendoza. We replaced old fermenters with small temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. We copied the extraction process used in California. All of this was novel at the time.”

Zapata’s vision for Argentine wine seems to have paid off. The world’s most respected wine critics and industry leaders have credited him with putting the country on the world’s wine map. 

Baron Eric de Rothschild of Château Lafite said Nicolás, more than anybody, was instrumental in changing the Argentinian wine scene.

Adrianna Vineyard

The Adrianna Vineyard sits in the Mendoza mountains at an incredible 5,000 ft elevation; to say this vineyard is a high-altitude vineyard is an understatement. 

Despite the high elevation, the temperatures at the vineyard are similar to those of Burgundy, or the cooler parts of Bordeaux. But that is where the similarities end. You see, this part of the world has something that Burgundy and Bordeaux don’t: bright mountain sunlight.

Viticulturists at Catena Zapata worked with Ph.D. students from Mendoza University to determine that “bright mountain sunlight is stronger at a high altitude than it is at sea level”. It’s this ultra-bright sunlight that causes the skin on the grapes to thicken, in order to protect themselves from the intense sunlight. This thickening of the skin results in grapes with incredibly grippy tannins. Meanwhile, the cool, high-altitude temperatures keep the sugar levels relatively low, and the acid high.

What does this do to the grapes, you might ask.

Cabernet grapes grown in the Adrianna Vineyard are said to have more pyrazines than the same grapes which are grown further down the mountain. It’s the pyrazines that give the Zapata wines a distinct savory, and slightly herbal green bell pepper flavor. Catena Zapata’s other Bordeaux grape, malbec, has gripper tannins when grown with the abundant mountain sunlight, and at that high 5,000 ft elevation.