Appellation Paraje Altamira Malbec
2014
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 award-winning...
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In the 1950s, Don Domingo Catena began sourcing Malbec from the vineyards of Altamira in the Uco Valley. Alluvial origin, loamy soil, with rounded rocks on the bottom (80% Sand - 10% Clay - 10% Silt).
This wine goes through cold maceration for 5 days at 50°F (10°C). The juice is then fermented for 16 days with a post-fermentation maceration of 10 days. 12 months in barrel (35% new). Barrel selection varies depending on vineyard and vintage. 85% French, 15% American oak.
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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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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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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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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