Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Nicolás continued to plant vineyards at different heights in the valleys of Andean Mendoza, attempting to match each varietal and even each clone to its best microclimate. By 2000, Nicolás had Malbec, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards planted throughout these high altitude valleys, spanning from Lunlunta, at 2,850 feet above sea level and 30km south of Mendoza to Agrelo, at 3,100 feet above sea level, 45km south of Mendoza, to Tupungato at 4,000 - 5,000 feet above sea level and 120km south-west of Mendoza, to La Consulta at 3,300 feet above sea level, 120km south of Mendoza. By 1999, Laura Catena had joined the family winery in earnest and set out to incorporate her research skills developed at Harvard and Stanford to the winemaking and viticultural program at Bodega Catena Zapata. “Laura is always pushing us, asking us to experiment at every level”, says José Galante, head winemaker. “I didn’t want us to copy what people were doing in the rest of the world,” says Laura “because our climate and soil conditions are different, and what works in Margaret River may not be what works in Mendoza”.
In 2001, when Nicolás, Laura, José Galante and Alejandro Sejanovich sat down to begin the winery’s selection for Catena Alta, they were struck by the differences among the wine samples from different vineyards in various locations. The Malbec from Angélica, with its dark fruit aromatics and sweet tannins was markedly different from the La Consulta Malbec, with its spiciness and structured finish. Until then, Catena Alta had been made from a single lot, but that year it was hard to decide which lot and which vineyard was best. The team began blending the different components, and as the week went on, as a group they became convinced that the “microclimate blend”, was the most interesting and well balanced wine for the two reds, the Malbec and the Cabernet Sauvignon. “The richness of Mendoza” says Montpellier trained head viticulturalist Alejandro Sejanovich, “is that you can find completely opposite climates, as different as Bordeaux and Burgundy, within a 40 minute drive”. But as the team began the blend for the Catena Alta Chardonnay, they kept coming back to the Adrianna Vineyard, at 4,800 feet, Catena’s highest vineyard. The blend took away from the purity of fruit and minerality of the Adrianna component, and so Nicolás decided to keep a vineyard designate denomination for the Adrianna Vineyard Chardonnay Catena Alta.
Alejandro Sejanovich, Winery and Vineyard Director, and José Galante, Winery Quality Director.
José Galante, Winery Quality Director.
