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Catena Zapata Malbec Adrianna Vineyard River Stones 2016 1.5Ltr

size
1.5Ltr
country
Argentina
region
Cuyo
appellation
Mendoza
subappellation
Gualtallary
WA
100
JS
95
VM
94
Additional vintages
WA
100
Rated 100 by Wine Advocate
Like the other Malbecs from Adrianna Vineyard, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard River Stones was bottled a little earlier, and the time in oak was shortened. It was a most unusual year that was cold and rainy and allowed for no irrigation. This has good ripeness and sharp acidity, making it powerful but extremely fresh, with a backbone of acidity that lifts the wine up and makes it extremely long and persistent. In fact, the wine blows me away with an unusual combination of power and elegance; it shows detailed and nuanced, with subtle aromas of violets, spices, tobacco and wet chalk. It has a velvety texture with ultra refined, fine-grained tannins. It is precise in the acidity and on the palate, with the textbook chalky tannins and a sapid, almost salty finish. This is serious, austere, mineral, long, compact, harmonious and concentrated, yet it feels light and has that somewhat contradictory powerful elegance. This has to be the best wine ever produced at Catena. I'd love to have a time machine and taste this wine in 20 years' time... There are some 3,800 bottles of this. ... More details
Image of bottle
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Catena Zapata Malbec Adrianna Vineyard River Stones 2016 1.5Ltr

SKU 884162
Sale
Long-term Pre-Arrival
$369.60
/1.5Ltr bottle
$358.95
/1.5Ltr bottle
Quantity
* This is a Long-term Pre-arrival item and is available for online ordering only. This item will ship on a future date after a 4-8 months transfer time. For additional details about Pre-arrival Items please visit our FAQ page.
Professional Ratings
WA
100
JS
95
VM
94
WA
100
Rated 100 by Wine Advocate
Like the other Malbecs from Adrianna Vineyard, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard River Stones was bottled a little earlier, and the time in oak was shortened. It was a most unusual year that was cold and rainy and allowed for no irrigation. This has good ripeness and sharp acidity, making it powerful but extremely fresh, with a backbone of acidity that lifts the wine up and makes it extremely long and persistent. In fact, the wine blows me away with an unusual combination of power and elegance; it shows detailed and nuanced, with subtle aromas of violets, spices, tobacco and wet chalk. It has a velvety texture with ultra refined, fine-grained tannins. It is precise in the acidity and on the palate, with the textbook chalky tannins and a sapid, almost salty finish. This is serious, austere, mineral, long, compact, harmonious and concentrated, yet it feels light and has that somewhat contradictory powerful elegance. This has to be the best wine ever produced at Catena. I'd love to have a time machine and taste this wine in 20 years' time... There are some 3,800 bottles of this.
JS
95
Rated 95 by James Suckling
This is a dense and fresh malbec for the vintage. Dark berries, such as blueberries and raspberries, with a licorice and stone undertone. Full-bodied, layered and flavorful. Drink in 2020.
VM
94
Rated 94 by Vinous Media
Saturated bright ruby. Aromas of blackberry, cassis and bitter chocolate are lifted by pungent wild thyme and crushed rock. Densely packed and hugely concentrated but much less expressive today than the 2016 Fortuna Terrae, with powerful chalky minerality giving definition and a sensation of weightlessness to the middle palate. Penetrating acidity (7 grams per liter) contributes to the wine's low-fat impression. Quite dry and youthfully forbidding today, this Malbec finishes with a very firm tannic spine and superb grip.
Winery
Floral, exuberant, lengthy smooth tannins, metallic.
Product Details
size
1.5Ltr
country
Argentina
region
Cuyo
appellation
Mendoza
subappellation
Gualtallary
Additional vintages
Overview
Like the other Malbecs from Adrianna Vineyard, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard River Stones was bottled a little earlier, and the time in oak was shortened. It was a most unusual year that was cold and rainy and allowed for no irrigation. This has good ripeness and sharp acidity, making it powerful but extremely fresh, with a backbone of acidity that lifts the wine up and makes it extremely long and persistent. In fact, the wine blows me away with an unusual combination of power and elegance; it shows detailed and nuanced, with subtle aromas of violets, spices, tobacco and wet chalk. It has a velvety texture with ultra refined, fine-grained tannins. It is precise in the acidity and on the palate, with the textbook chalky tannins and a sapid, almost salty finish. This is serious, austere, mineral, long, compact, harmonious and concentrated, yet it feels light and has that somewhat contradictory powerful elegance. This has to be the best wine ever produced at Catena. I'd love to have a time machine and taste this wine in 20 years' time... There are some 3,800 bottles of this.
green grapes

Varietal: Malbec

In recent years, the Malbec single variety wines coming out of many New World countries have been gaining a lot of attention as a result of their fantastic plummy flavors, and strong, full-bodied nature. However, Malbec grape varietals have been cultivated for centuries in many Old World countries for these very characteristics, and they have long had a strong presence in some of the best blended wines ever produced by leading wineries. Their high tannin level and heavy juiciness means they are ideal for big, powerful full-bodied wines packing a strong fruit-forward punch on the palate, and their beautiful deep red color has long been admired and upheld as a mark of quality. The Malbec grapes are probably at their best when blended with other, mellower and more rounded grape varietals, such as a Merlot, as this allows their best features and their fruity flavor to shine, whilst being softened somewhat and made lighter and more drinkable.
barrel

Region: Cuyo

Situated in and around the Andean mountains, the Cuyo region of Argentina has long been associated with the best of the country's wine industry. Including now world famous provinces such as Mendoza and La Rioja, Argentina's Cuyo region has something of an ideal environment for the cultivation of high quality grapes – including Argentina's flagship varietal, the Malbec – which includes the beautiful Desaguadero River and its tributaries. Although the region itself is quite dry and arid, the soils have a remarkably high mineral content, and plenty of iron which gives it the distinctive red color associated with Cuyo. For several decades now, wineries in Cuyo have been booming, as more and more of the global wine audience begin to recognize the region's remarkable potential for rich and flavorful wines.
fields

Country: Argentina

It is said that the first Argentinian vines were planted in the Mendoza more than four hundred years ago by European settlers, and despite these early wines being used primarily for religious purposes, the fervor for wine making never left the area. Today, Argentina is keen to demonstrate its technological prowess when it comes to vineyard cultivation, by combining traditional methods of irrigation left over from the Huarpes Indians with modern techniques in order to make the dry, arid desert an ideal environment for growing grapes. Indeed, these ancient irrigation channels, dug hundreds of years ago and still in use today, bring mineral-rich melt water from the Andes via the Mendoza river, something which gives the grapes grown in this region some of their character. The primary grape of this and other regions of Argentina is the Malbec, which is highly susceptible to rot in its native France, but which thrives in the dry and hot climate of South America, producing rich and plummy wines which are highly drinkable especially when young.
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Winery Catena Zapata
green grapes

Varietal: Malbec

In recent years, the Malbec single variety wines coming out of many New World countries have been gaining a lot of attention as a result of their fantastic plummy flavors, and strong, full-bodied nature. However, Malbec grape varietals have been cultivated for centuries in many Old World countries for these very characteristics, and they have long had a strong presence in some of the best blended wines ever produced by leading wineries. Their high tannin level and heavy juiciness means they are ideal for big, powerful full-bodied wines packing a strong fruit-forward punch on the palate, and their beautiful deep red color has long been admired and upheld as a mark of quality. The Malbec grapes are probably at their best when blended with other, mellower and more rounded grape varietals, such as a Merlot, as this allows their best features and their fruity flavor to shine, whilst being softened somewhat and made lighter and more drinkable.
barrel

Region: Cuyo

Situated in and around the Andean mountains, the Cuyo region of Argentina has long been associated with the best of the country's wine industry. Including now world famous provinces such as Mendoza and La Rioja, Argentina's Cuyo region has something of an ideal environment for the cultivation of high quality grapes – including Argentina's flagship varietal, the Malbec – which includes the beautiful Desaguadero River and its tributaries. Although the region itself is quite dry and arid, the soils have a remarkably high mineral content, and plenty of iron which gives it the distinctive red color associated with Cuyo. For several decades now, wineries in Cuyo have been booming, as more and more of the global wine audience begin to recognize the region's remarkable potential for rich and flavorful wines.
fields

Country: Argentina

It is said that the first Argentinian vines were planted in the Mendoza more than four hundred years ago by European settlers, and despite these early wines being used primarily for religious purposes, the fervor for wine making never left the area. Today, Argentina is keen to demonstrate its technological prowess when it comes to vineyard cultivation, by combining traditional methods of irrigation left over from the Huarpes Indians with modern techniques in order to make the dry, arid desert an ideal environment for growing grapes. Indeed, these ancient irrigation channels, dug hundreds of years ago and still in use today, bring mineral-rich melt water from the Andes via the Mendoza river, something which gives the grapes grown in this region some of their character. The primary grape of this and other regions of Argentina is the Malbec, which is highly susceptible to rot in its native France, but which thrives in the dry and hot climate of South America, producing rich and plummy wines which are highly drinkable especially when young.