Winemaker Notes
This one is a teenager at the moment, and should age very well. It pairs well with foods such as venison or wild game, steak, pork, quail, all types of lamb, and medium-strong cheeses. A very flexible wine due to its concentration and balance.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Really goes for the gusto and pulls it off, with dark fig sauce, melted purple licorice, mocha, fruitcake and crushed boysenberry and blueberry fruit all gliding along rich, velvety tannins. Long mouthfilling finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The purple/black 2007 Luca Malbec was sourced from a 43-year-old ungrafted vineyard and aged for 12 months in 60% French oak before bottling without fining or filtration. It reveals an alluring nose of smoke, cedar, spice box, black cherry, and rose petal. Full-bodied on the palate, the wine is well-balanced, layered, and intense. There is enough silky tannin to support 2-3 years of additional bottle age. Drink this tasty Malbec from 2010 to 2018.
Luca is the personal project of Laura Catena, M.D., daughter of Nicolas Catena, the founder of Catena-Zapata.
Laura Catena is a fourth generation winemaker who grew up in a traditional Argentine-Italian winemaking family in Mendoza. Laura splits her time between Mendoza and San Francisco, California, where she is an emergency physician, university professor and occasional tango dancer. Laura had the vision of creating a new breed of Argentine wines: small quantities, artisan quality, and true to their individual terroirs. A pioneer of small-grower relations in Mendoza, Laura's incredible, limited production wines come from some of Argentina's best fruit from low-yield, high-elevation, family-owned vineyards. The wines are named after her children - Luca, Dante and Nicola - and symbolize her love for her family. The background of the label is the McDermott coat of arms of her American husband, Daniel McDermott.
Most distinguished and celebrated from Argentina’s Mendoza, Malbec has seen runaway success since the early 2000s. Mendoza’s agreeable, continental climate with hot, dry summers and cold snowy winters allows the perfect conditions for growing outstanding Malbec. This grape is easy to like for its lusty, deep flavors and aromas of blackberry, plum, red cherry, autumn spice and tilled earth. It’s easy to find delicious, fruit-driven, affordable everyday examples and in prices beyond, quite exceptional ones with dense, supple textures that make them capable of aging.