Bodega Catena Zapata : Nicolas 2020

Floral, perfumed, and beautifully balanced, this offers layers of red fruits with precise French oak spice. The palate is voluminous and tense, before the chalky freshness, fine-grained tannins, and mineral backbone come into play. A wine intended for bottle ageing. Made from massal selections of ungrafted, pre-phylloxera Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec; with 25% Cabernet Franc. A nod to 18th-century Bordeaux, when Malbec was widely planted in the Médoc.

Cassis, tobacco, wet stones, iron and baking spices to the nose, showing class, restraint and complexity. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate with super fine tannins. Dry, super elegant and silky with a lengthy, polished finish. Really Bordeaux-like. Juicy and long. 54% cabernet sauvignon from Gualtallary, 25% cabernet franc from Altamira and 21% malbec from both areas. The highest portion of cabernet franc this year helped retain its nervy freshness! This is classy and beautiful. Harvested on March 12th and 13th. Drink or hold.

54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 21% Malbec. Uco Valley fruit. Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec from the Adrianna vineyard in Gualtallary at 1,450 m, planted in 1992 on calcareous soils with gravels; Cabernet Franc and Malbec from the Nicasia vineyard in Paraja Altamira at 1,095 m, planted in 1996 on gravels mixed with sand and loam. Fermentation in a mix of small oak barrels, concrete and stainless-steel tanks, at 26–28 °C for about 10–15 days, then post-fermentation maceration of 5–10 days. Malolactic conversion and ageing in French oak barrels for 18 months. 5,000 cases produced. Green spices meet sweet fruit on a slightly awkward nose, which is earthy and highly savoury. The palate however is much finer, with succulent black fruits, seamless tannins and a heady, warming finish. Give it a year to allow the nose to settle. (TP)

The 2020 Nicolás Catena Zapata is a blend composed of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Malbec and 20% Cabernet Franc sourced from Paraje Altamira in the Uco Valley. It was carefully aged for up to 16 months in French oak barrels. Garnet in hue. The nose reveals captivating cassis, rose, blackberry, plum and fig aromas harmoniously combined with dried flowers. The palate presents a dry and ample profile, with fine-grained tannins and a juicy flow that leads to a vibrant mouthfeel, brimming with energy. This meticulously crafted red achieves precise balance in a warm vintage.

Red-fruited, herbal, and seamless on the palate, the 2020 Nicolas Catena Zapata is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 21% Malbec. Medium-bodied and well-integrated in terms of both oak and acidity, it has complexity throughout, offering highlights of dark chocolate, black pepper, and sagey mint. A contemplative wine that should age beautifully for another 10-15 years, it was made by Alejandro Vigil from Zapata vines to represent the original Bordeaux blend of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Measured and steady release of supple brambled fruits, wonderfully fragrant and well judged, this combines depth of fruit flavour with softly expressed tannins, crayon, truffles, black pepper and smoked oak. Such a distinct and vibrant expression of these Left Bank Bordeaux varieties, given a ripeness in Argentina that they are not always able to get in France, harnessed by the grace and careful precision of the Catena family. Brilliant vintage of this landmark Argentinian wine. Ungrafted vines, Fernando Buscema winemaker, Alejandro Vigil wine director, 3.64 pH.

A blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 21% Malbec, the 2020 Nicolas Catena Zapata is deep garnet-purple in color. It rolls out with vibrant notes of redcurrant jelly, cassis, and baked plums, leading to hints of crushed rocks, wild sage, and fragrant soil. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing, finely crafted, and elegantly styled, with vibrant black fruit and savory layers and a fine-grained texture, finishing with a real skip in its step.

2020 was a very dry and low-yielding year, with 20% to 30% less crop, and the grapes were picked early. The 2020 Nicolás Catena Zapata was produced with a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc and 21% Malbec, higher in Franc than ever, for the first time more than Malbec, to compensate the warm and dry conditions. The wine is ripe and very peppery, with 13.9% alcohol and a pH of 3.64. It matured in new and second-use French oak barrels for 18 months. It was a healthy crop with concentration and ripeness, and the wine comes through as powerful and quite classical, still a little oaky, with power and balance. 60,000 bottles were filled in January 2020.