CRITIC REVIEWS
Joaquín Hidalgo
The 2019 Malbec Argentino is a blend of grapes from venerable vineyards in Lunlunta and Paraje Altamira; it is essentially a premium Mendoza Malbec. A significant amount was fermented in whole bunches before spending 18 months in used French barrels. The complex nose presents notes of plum and blueberry with hints of country herb, jarilla and pennyroyal over a bed of sour cherry and cedar. There is a whiff of lavender perfume. The fine tannins act as a net that shapes rather than structures the volume. It has good energy and elasticity with grip, juicy freshness and a complex layer of fruit appearing at the back of the mouth. The 2019 is an accomplished wine in a year that allowed for nuance and freshness.
Luis Gutiérrez
It feels like there was a big change in the 2019 Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino, a year with a vibrant palate and very clean and focused aromas and flavors. They fine-tuned the irrigation and viticulture, and that seems to have increased the precision of the wine. They also did a selection and left the grapes from the borders of the vineyard, which were affected by the paths and other stuff. It's still a little more voluptuous than the wines from Gualtallary, as this mixes grapes from Angelica (Lunlunta) and Nicasia (Altamira). It's nicely textured and tasty, medium-bodied and with a vibrant finish. 25,200 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2020.
JancisRobinson.com
Fruit from two vineyards: Nicasia (planted 1996, La Consulta District) and Angelica (planted in 1930 in Lunlunta District). Hand-picked. Whole-cluster, spontaneous fermentation, aged in French oak for 18 months. Smells at first of Parma Violets and then real violets; then damsons, then damson jam. If ever a wine purred while winding silky, feline figures-of-eight around your soul, it would be this wine. The texture of the tannins is spine-tinglingly beautiful... like the breath of a kiss before someone's lips touch your skin. It's a wine that simply wants to be loved. Mulberries bleed into plum skins, there is the finest sprinkle of fragrant black pepper on the surface, deep-red rose petals sinking into the fruit - which is somehow both luscious and fragrant, generously ripe and cold-crushed-rocks mineral. Catena somehow seems to find the spine-soul-poetry connectedness of Malbec. (TC)

