Catena Alta Malbec
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2030
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Grilled ribeye steak, roasted lamb chops, rich beef stews
✨ Technical Specifications
Catena Alta Malbec represents a milestone in Argentine winemaking, born from Nicolás Catena Zapata's visionary quest in the 1990s to prove that high-altitude Malbec could stand alongside the world's finest collectible reds. The name 'Alta' refers to both the extreme altitudes of the family's Andean vineyards and the rigorous selection of historic rows within them. Rather than hailing from a single parcel, this wine is an artful assemblage of distinct micro-terroirs: the old-vine Angélica Vineyard, which provides lush plum notes and velvety texture; La Pirámide, offering structure and dark fruit; and the high-altitude Nicasia and Adrianna vineyards, which contribute vibrant acidity, floral aromas, and intense minerality. This pioneering multi-altitude blending technique, followed by aging in French oak barrels, yields a Malbec of extraordinary complexity, elegance, and age-worthiness.
🍾 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
Malbec
🍷 ABV
13.5-14%