Winemaker Notes
Pair this full-bodied Chardonnay with full-bodied fish like sockeye salmon and tuna, any dish featuring Mousseline sauce, or an old-school classic like Lobster Thermidor.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A white with dense fruit, yet fresh and lively. Full body, dried apple and mango. Tangy finish. Lively acidity. 80% of the grapes comes from Uco and the rest from Agrelo and Lunlunta.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
For nearly two decades, the Catena family has played a significant role in bringing the Argentine wine industry its well-deserved worldwide attention. Dr. Nicolas Catena and his wife Elena pushed the envelope early. Now under the direction of Nicolas' daughter Laura—an emergency physician with degrees from Harvard and Stanford, she brought a strong science background to the family winery's R&D project; she took over the program in 2001—the program continues to prosper. The 2014 Catena Zapata Alta Chardonnay is stunning, showing bright aromas and flavors of tart, stone fruits, and bracing minerality, this wine delivers balance and structure that is often missing in the new world. Drinks well now. (Tasted: September 7, 2016, San Francisco, CA USA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Catena Alta Chardonnay is always a blend of grapes from two vineyards in the Valle de Uco, Adrianna in Gualtallary and Domingo in Villa Bastias. It has a heady, ripe nose with some smoky notes and hints of nuts, and a terribly tasty palate with deep flavors and great persistence, savory, almost salty.
Bodega Catena Zapata is one of Argentina's high-altitude Malbec pioneers. The Catena family began making wine in Mendoza in 1902. Nicolas Catena, third generation family vintner, was one of the first to see the potential of Mendoza's mountain vineyards for producing high quality Malbec. In 1994, he became the first Argentine to export a world-class bottling of Malbec under the Catena label. Nicolas is joined by his daughter, Dr. Laura Catena, in their relentless pursuit of world-class quality from the family's high-altitude vineyards. Laura has done extensive work in introducing Malbec and other varietal plant selections, soil and climate analysis, and sustainable practices throughout Mendoza. Head winemaker, Alejandro Vigil, has been at Catena Zapata since 2002 and works with Laura and Nicolas to make wines that express the family's vineyards and palate.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
By far the largest and best-known winemaking province in Argentina, Mendoza is responsible for over 70% of the country’s enological output. Set in the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains, the climate is dry and continental, presenting relatively few challenges for viticulturists during the growing season. Mendoza, divided into several distinctive sub-regions, including Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, is the source of some of the country’s finest wines.
For many wine lovers, Mendoza is practically synonymous with Malbec. Originally a Bordelaise variety brought to Argentina by the French in the mid-1800s, here it found success and renown that it never knew in its homeland where a finicky climate gives mixed results. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir are all widely planted here as well (and sometimes even blended with each other or Malbec). Mendoza's main white varieties include Chardonnay, Torrontés, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.