Catena Zapata - Nicolás Catena Zapata 2021

Druvor

Cabernet sauvignon & malbec.

Tasting note

The 2021 Nicolás Catena Zapata was produced with a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Malbec and 10% Cabernet Franc from Nicasia and Adrianna vineyards. It fermented in small oak barrels, concrete and stainless steel tanks and matured in 2,000-liter oak foudres for 18 months. It's a powerful but fresh red with 13.7% alcohol and mellow acidity, perhaps because the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked earlier (and with lower yields) and they discarded the clay soils and went more for stony plots. The wine feels more streamlined and elegant. 2021 is a cool and very good year, following the path of the 2019, and the wine shows the classical herbal and spicy character of the Bordeaux varieties with pungent notes of black peppercorns and is spicier because of the high Cabernet Franc content. 64,200 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

WINE DESCRIPTION

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. Prephylloxeric Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon massale selections of ungrafted vines give rise to this wine, opening a window to the past from the mountain vineyards of Mendoza, Argentina. 

NICOLÁS CATENA ZAPATA CRUS

Adrianna cru

•  Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec 
•  Gualtallary, Uco Valley
•  Calcareous soil with gravels
•  7 Hectares
•  Planted in 1992
•  Altitude: 1450 meters a.s.l

Nicasia cru

•  Malbec 
•  Paraje Altamira, Uco Valley
•  Large gravel mixed with sand and loam
•  9 Hectares
•  Planted in 1996
•  Altitude: 1095 meters a.s.l

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

• Wine Director: Alejandro Vigil
• Winemaker: Fernando Buscema
• Varietal: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Malbec
• Alcohol: 13.90%
• Total Acidity: 5.8 grams/liter
• pH: 3.72
• Unfined and unfiltered.

VINIFICATION

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.