Malbec Appellation Paraje Altamira
2023
At heart, Catena is a story about family. Family who poured their lives, passion, and spirit into transforming scrub-laden desert into some of the most beautiful and unique vineyards in the world. Family that passed their knowledge from generation to generation, blending collective memory with state-of-the-art science from the new world of viticulture. Family who, through risk-taking, faith, and a little luck, transformed their treasured Mendoza terroir into the fountainhead of the...
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Family vintners for over 100 years, the Catenas are recognized for their pioneering role in high-altitude viticulture and in leading Argentina’s Malbec revolution. In the 1950s, Don Domingo Catena began sourcing Malbec from the vineyards of Altamira in the Uco Valley. The combination of intense sunlight and cool nights yields an elegant, mineral, slightly spicy Malbec with a deep texture and flavors.
Restrained on the nose with vibrant blueberries enhanced by a delicate spicy note. Smooth palate, juicy, with fine grained tannins and a chalky sensation, bursting with bright red and dark fruits lingering nicely.
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This opens with blue fruit that deepens into darker tones yet remains crunchy, with a hint of pepper. The palate is saline, luminous and chiseled, marked by a delicate veil of fruit and refined tension.
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Showing the freshness and minerality that’s often a feature of Altamira wines, this is the finest and most focused of the Catena appellation Malbecs. Sappy and tangy, with sculpted tannins and scented plum, damson and blackberry fruit underpinned by a chalky bite.
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The 2022 Malbec Catena Appellation Paraje Altamira comes from the Uco Valley. Aged for up to 13 months in French oak barrels (both new and used), this purple-hued wine reveals crystal-clear, fruit-forward aromas with hints of balsamic and lavender. On the palate, it is dry, rich and juicy, delivering intense flavors and supple textures.
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Bright, full ruby. Very ripe aromas of black fruits, smoky minerals and bitter chocolate, plus a whiff of truffley forest floor. Sweet, supple and quite dense, but showing terrific inner-mouth lift for such a ripe wine. With its crushed-berry flavors, this wine shows the most obvious early sweetness of these appellation-labeled Malbecs. The substantial tannins arrive late and build, giving the wine the support for a slow evolution in bottle. But there's no austerity even today.
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After gentle oak aging, the fruit-forward character of Malbec is balanced by subtle baking spices. The nose exhibits red plums and introduces a soft palate of cherries and mild vanilla flavors.
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Another highlight of the Catena Appellation range is the 2022 Appellation Paraje Altamira Malbec, opening with the region's signature purple-flower note and accented with fresh herbs and a citrus-driven zest quality. On the palate, it combines a svelte, seamless purity with lifted, focused energy that runs through the crunchy, high-toned finish.
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Bright medium ruby. Very ripe but not roasted on the nose, offering complex aromas of blackberry, black raspberry, mocha, bitter chocolate, pepper and menthol. Wonderfully pliant and refined, showing subtle inner-mouth lift and harmonious acidity to its flavors of black and purple berries and minerals. Boasts a compellingly smooth texture for the year, along with lovely restrained sweetness. Finishes with suave tannins and superb slow-rising length. This very classy, delineated wine is a great example of how Malbec could shine in 2016 on well-drained high-altitude sites in the Uco Valley.
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