Alta Merlot
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2032
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, grilled lamb chops, rosemary-infused beef tenderloin
✨ Technical Specifications
Catena Alta Merlot is a testament to the Catena family's pioneering spirit in high-altitude viticulture. In the late 20th century, when many believed Merlot could not achieve greatness in the extreme terroirs of Mendoza, Nicolás Catena Zapata set out to prove otherwise. Sourced from select historic rows in the high-altitude Nicasia and Angélica vineyards, this wine benefits from intense mountain sunlight and dramatic diurnal temperature shifts. These extreme conditions allow the Merlot grapes to ripen slowly, preserving vibrant acidity and developing deep, complex flavors. The wine is crafted using traditional, low-intervention methods, including fermentation with wild yeasts and aging in French oak barrels. The result is a refined, structured Merlot that defies regional stereotypes, offering a beautiful balance of dark fruit, herbal nuances, and elegant minerality.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 1902 by Italian immigrant Nicola Catena, Bodega Catena Zapata is the preeminent pioneer of modern Argentine viticulture. In the 1980s and 1990s, third-generation visionary Nicolás Catena Zapata revolutionized the domestic industry by venturing into extreme high-altitude Andean terroirs, most notably planting the famed Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary at nearly 1,500 meters above sea level. Today directed by Dr. Laura Catena and celebrated winemaking director Alejandro Vigil, the estate pairs rigorous micro-terroir research through the Catena Institute of Wine with precision viticulture across alluvial, limestone-laced gravel soils. Fermentations frequently incorporate whole clusters and indigenous yeasts, vinified in concrete, oak foudres, and French barriques to preserve freshness, structural nuance, and site-specific tension. Benchmark bottlings such as the flagship Nicolás Catena Zapata, Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae Malbec, and Adrianna Vineyard White Stones Chardonnay stand as global archetypes of high-elevation South American fine wine.
🍇 Grapes
Merlot
🍷 ABV
13.5-14.5%