CATENA ZAPATA Malbec 'River Stones' Adrianna Vineyard - Gualtallary, Uco Valley, Mendoza 2016 Bottle (los)

Description

Catena Adrianna Vineyard River Stones Malbec 2016 is an exceptional wine, earning 100 points from The Wine Advocate. This vintage, influenced by a cool and rainy season that allowed no irrigation, showcases a remarkable balance of power and elegance. With good ripeness and sharp acidity, it presents a vibrant character on the palate. The wine offers nuanced aromas of violets, spices, tobacco, and wet chalk, complemented by a velvety texture and fine-grained tannins. James Suckling awarded it 95 points for its density and layers of dark berries, while Vinous rated it 94+, noting its concentrated structure. This Malbec is poised for a long life, best enjoyed from 2023 to 2036, offering an extraordinary tasting experience.

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For over four generations, the Catena family has grown vines in the foothills of the Andes Mountains in Mendoza, Argentina. In his pursuit to make wines that stand with the best in the world, Nicolás Catena identified the best lots and rows, in the Catena family’s estate vineyards.

The Adrianna vineyard is located at almost 5,000’ elevation in the Gualtallary sub-district of the Tupungato region.

This cuvée takes its name from a small parcel of the Adrianna Vineyard that is completely covered with oval white stones and was the site of an ancient riverbed. The abundant stones provide optimal drainage and extreme temperatures. They absorb heat and moderate the nights, but also function like ice cubes after a very cold night. Stony soil Malbecs tend to be extremely aromatic, rich and luxurious, just like the River Malbec from Adrianna. This wine can be enjoyed young or aged for decades.

At this extreme high altitude, the nights are cool, only a few degrees above freezing even in the summer. The night-day temperature difference is between 15 and 20 degrees. And the sunlight is more intense because of the altitude.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 100 points
Drink Date 2020 - 2036
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. - Luis Gutiérrez

JAMES SUCKLING 95 points
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.

VINOUS 94+ points
Drinking Window 2023 - 2031
From: Argentina Reaches New Heights (Sep 2019)
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. - By Stephen Tanzer on May 2019

JANCIS ROBINSON 17+ points
More structure than the Fortuna Terrae. Lots of chewiness. Lots there but rather bordelais and not yet ready.