Adrianna Vineyard:
The Adrianna Vineyard, planted in 1992, has Malbec vines on own roots which were part of a massal population from the Catena family’s historic, 80 year old Angelica vineyard.
Early shoot removal in October and a cluster thinning on December 20 lead to an extremely low yield of 1.1 tons per acre. (2.28 tons per hectare). With plantation density of 1,925 plants per acre (4,000 plants per hectare), this translates into a yield of 20 ounces (570 grams) per plant. With veraison taking place on January 28, a strict water restriction was implemented to maintain vine water content below 1.4 megapascals, stopping any secondary shoot growth.
Leaf thinning on March 20 for the eastern side of the rows allowed the Malbec fruit to bask in the softer, early morning sunlight. With harvest on April 18, the vines enjoyed an extremely long, 90 day window from veraison to harvest, resulting in very high polyphenolic accumulation. A plant by plant selection process before harvest prior to harvest means only the highest quality fruit becomes part of this exceptional Malbec.

Nicasia Vineyard:
The Nicasia Vineyard is a small, specially selected number of rows in Lot 1 of the Catena family’s Altamira Vineyard. Planted in 1996, the Malbec vines are on own roots and part of a massal population from the Catena family’s historic, 80 year old Angelica vineyard.
Early shoot removal in September and a cluster thinning on December 15 lead to an extremely low yield of 1.2 tons per acre (2.5 tons per hectare). With plantation density of 1,925 plants per acre (4,000 plants per hectare), this translates into a yield of 22 ounces (625 grams) per plant. With veraison taking place on January 25, a strict water restriction was implemented to maintain vine water content below 1.4 megapascals, stopping any secondary shoot growth.
Leaf thinning on March 15 for the eastern side of the rows allowed the Malbec fruit to bask in the softer, early morning sunlight. With harvest on April 18, the vines enjoyed an extremely long, 86 day window from veraison to harvest, resulting in very high polyphenolic accumulation. A plant by plant selection process before harvest prior to harvest means only the highest quality fruit becomes part of this exceptional Malbec.

José Galante, Winemaker