Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with lime marinated chicken and seafood.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Chardonnay Catena Alta is a richer, full-bodied, toasty effort that has serious upfront appeal. This cuvée comes from the Adrianna and Domingo Vineyards and was barrel fermented, with only a portion going through malolactic fermentation. It spent 12-16 months in a mix of new and used barrel before bottling. Beautiful notes of caramelized apples, brioche, honeysuckle, and buttered tropical fruits all emerge from this nicely balanced, textured, and high-quality Chardonnay that opens up nicely with time in the glass. It’s terrific today and I suspect best enjoyed over the coming 2-4 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Catena Alta Chardonnay was cropped from a cool El Niño year. It's fresh and elegant, with high acidity and moderate alcohol. The oak is almost imperceptible, as the wine is very intense and pungent. Eighty percent of the grapes come from Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary, and the rest come from the Domingo Vineyard in Viña Bastías, in Tupungato. It fermented in 225-liter oak barrels with wild yeasts, and only about 30% of the volume underwent malolactic fermentation. The aging lasted for 14 months and was in new, second and third use barriques. It has a dark golden color and an impressive nose with ripe yellow fruit and some notes of botrytis but with a completely dry palate. It's round, lush and exotic, with the grapes taken from deeper soils and slightly warmer parts of the Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary. It's quite marked by the oak, but it should evolve nicely and in a classical Burgundian way in bottle. 31,200 bottles were filled in July 2017.
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James Suckling
Lovely pineapple and coconut nose. Ripe and supple with an attractively silky texture. Good length with some toasty notes at the finish. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Big and rich, filled with concentrated ripe white fruit and spice flavors that are loaded with lively minerality. Pastry notes linger on the spicy finish. Drink now through 2021. 2,600 cases imported.
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.