Angelica Cabernet Franc Alta
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2038
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted lamb chops, grilled ribeye steak, roasted duck
✨ Technical Specifications
Named in honor of Angélica Zapata, the matriarch of the Catena family who championed education and excellence, this wine showcases the remarkable potential of Cabernet Franc in Mendoza's high-altitude terroirs. Sourced primarily from the historic La Pirámide vineyard in Agrelo and the Nicasia vineyard in San Carlos, the grapes benefit from intense mountain sunlight and cool alpine nights. This unique climate yields a Cabernet Franc of exceptional concentration and elegance, far removed from its cooler European counterparts. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for up to 18 months, resulting in a complex profile of ripe red fruits, subtle eucalyptus, and sweet spice, balanced by fine-grained tannins and a distinct mineral backbone.
🍾 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
Cabernet Franc
🍷 ABV
14%