Catena Zapata Red Blend Nicolas Catena Zapata 2019 750ml

#19 TOP 100 WINES OF ARGENTINA, 2022. This has a complex nose of baked blackberries, grilled plums, dried earth, moss, pine cones, sandalwood, charcoal and cloves. It’s medium-bodied with firm, tightly knit tannins. Wow. So much going on. Layered, seamless and silky. Incredible length. Keeps going. 42% cabernet sauvignon, 30% malbec and 28% cabernet franc. Try this from 2024.

The 2019 Nicolás Catena Zapata was produced with 42% Cabernet Sauvignon from Gualtallary (Adrianna Vineyard), 30% Malbec from Altamira (Nicasia Vineyard) and a high percentage of Cabernet Franc (28%), also from Adrianna, which took the place of Cabernet Sauvignon. It fermented in small oak barrels, concrete and stainless steel tanks with a short post-fermentative maceration. Élevage was in first and second-use French oak barrels and lasted for 18 months, including malolactic. This is always quite classical in style, with some spiciness from the barrels and hints of smoke and toast, still very young and undeveloped. It has the traditional Bordeaux-blend character and is herbal, floral and spicy, with a beautiful texture, very nice balance and very fine, chalky tannins. 2019 was a very dry year, and the berries were small, very healthy and delivered powerful wines. It has 13.7% alcohol, mellow acidity and good freshness, reflecting a relatively cool season, and comes though as elegant, with the stuffing and balance to develop nicely over the years in bottle. 66,000 bottles were filled in January 2021.

The 2019 Nicolas Catena Zapata is a blend of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec and 28% Cabernet Franc from the Uco Valley and Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza. Having spent 18 months in new French barrels, it’s garnet red in hue. The 2019 has a nose of cedar, expressive, dark fruit notes such as plum and blackcurrant, gentle traces of sweet spices and herbs and a hint of amaretti. Broad and velvety in the mouth with a juicy palate and a delicate tea-like texture, the grip lends essential structure. This is a subtle, complex red of long-lasting flavor to which the excellent year has brought an extra level of finesse.

Composed of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec, and 28% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Nicolas Catena Zapata is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. It requires a little coaxing to bring out notes of redcurrant jelly, blackcurrant pastilles, and fresh black plums, plus suggestions of candied violets, dark chocolate, and menthol. The medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled and tightly knit, with very fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness supporting the delicate red and black fruit layers, leading to a long and fragrant finish on this impressive wine.

Richly scented on the nose. Concentrated and full on the palate, a serious wine with intention. Driving flavours of blackcurrant and black cherry with cinnamon spice and mineral saltiness abound on the palate with a touch of sweetness. Tannins are ripe and massy, plush and gently chewy but this has exceptional freshness that keeps the whole palate quite lifted and alive. Feels well worked and there is a sense of serious style to this. I like the expression - lovely nuance and finesse, the details are so appealing. Enjoy with some hearty food.

Nicolás Catena Zapata has an intense, deep purple color with bluish-black tones. On the nose, aromas of black fruits – blackberries, black cherries, black plums – predominate with subtle notes of vanilla and dark chocolate intermingled with savory hints of green olive and a stony minerality. On the palate, the wine is tremendously complex, unfolding layer upon layer of red currant, eucalyptus, and black pepper flavors. Black cherries and blackberries give way to cassis followed by a hint of saline minerality. The wine is remarkably concentrated with a firm tannic structure providing the backbone for the lush fruit. The finish is long, a foretoken of the long aging potential of this Argentine masterpiece.