The River Stones Vineyard is a 2.6-hectare parcel of alluvial origins covered with oval white stones left over from an ancient riverbed. With a bare 12 inches of topsoil, the stones provide fabulous drainage and act as a temperature gauge, retaining heat through the early evening after a warm day and keeping the vineyard cool after a cool night. Think stony, bony Bordeaux or malbec with impressive aromatics and a well-defined structure. Floral, mineral and highly distinctive, this is a wine for collectors. After a wild yeast ferment, this spends 24 months in barrels of varying ages, dictated by each vintage. Extreme altitude, at 1366 metres above sea level, best describes Adrianna Vineyard, planted by Nicolás Catena Zapata in 1992 in the hopes of finding the coolest site to grow vines in Mendoza. The Winkler classification, a method developed in California to track degree days at which the vine grows, places Adrianna between zone 1 and 2, or somewhere between Burgundy and a very cool part of Bordeaux. Undaunted, the Catena family planted the Adrianna Vineyard with cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay cuttings from France, and malbec taken from Lot 18 of their 75-year-old Angélica vineyard. Over time, the cabernet proved to be less interesting, but the malbec and chardonnay excelled in minerality, density, weight and mouthfeel. Plenty of sunlight, slow to rien, and lower potential alcohol makes Adrianna an ideal vineyard site for serious, age worthy wines.
October 2018