Angelica Zapata Merlot Alta
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2036
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck breast, grilled lamb chops, rosemary-infused beef tenderloin
✨ Technical Specifications
The Ang lica Zapata line pays tribute to the matriarch of the Catena family, Ang lica Zapata, a dedicated educator who instilled a relentless pursuit of excellence in her son, Nicols Catena Zapata. Sourced from premier high-altitude vineyards in Mendoza, including the historic Ang lica Vineyard in Lunlunta and La Pirmide in Agrelo, this Merlot benefits from extreme diurnal temperature shifts. The intense mountain sunlight thickens the grape skins, yielding deep color and structured tannins, while the cool alpine nights preserve natural acidity. Aged in French oak barrels, this wine represents a sophisticated, highly structured Argentine expression of Merlot, combining ripe black fruit characteristics with elegant spice and mineral undertones.
🍾 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
14-14.5%