Bodega Catena Zapata

Bodega Catena Zapata
Catena Zapata's Mayan Pyramid
LocationMendoza, Argentina
AppellationMendoza Wine
Founded1902
Key peopleNicola Catena, Domingo V. Catena, Nicolás Catena Zapata, Laura Catena, Alejandro Vigil
Known forHigh Altitude Malbec
VarietalsMalbec, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon
DistributionInternational
Websitehttp://www.catenazapata.com/

Bodega Catena Zapata is a family-owned winery located in Mendoza, in the sub appellation of Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, Argentina. The winery was founded in 1902 by Italian immigrant Nicola Catena and was later passed to his son Domingo.[1][2]

Domingo’s son, Nicolás Catena Zapata was a pioneer to introduce European winemaking techniques to Argentina,[3][4] including the introduction of Malbec and vine growing in high altitudes.[5][6][7]

Nicolás Catena’s daughter, Laura Catena, and other members of the Zapata family, are also involved in the winery.[8]

The winery structure in Agrelo, Mendoza, has a pyramid design based on Mayan architecture. It was designed by architect Pablo Sánchez Elía and built in the late 1990s.[3][9]

History

Origins and first generation (1902-1960)

Nicola Catena, whose family had a tradition of winemaking in Belforte del Chienti in the Marche region of Italy, immigrated to Argentina in 1898.[10][1]

In 1902, he planted his first vineyard of Malbec in Mendoza, a grape variety that, before this period, was mainly used as a blending grape in Bordeaux.[1] The winery was originally located in La Libertad, Rivadavia, Mendoza.[11]

Modernization and international expansion (1963-1994)

Nicolás Catena Zapata held a Doctorate in Economic Sciences from the National University of Cuyo and a Master's degree in Mathematical Economics from Columbia University. In 1963, he took charge of the family business.[12] In his early years at the winery, he expanded the business to include bottling.[12] While a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, in the early 1980s, Nicolás Catena visited the wineries of Napa Valley.[13][14] In the early 1990s, Nicolás Catena began the development of vineyards in Gualtallary, in the Uco Valley, at 1,500 meters above sea level.[15]

In 1992, he planted a vineyard under the name Adrianna, after his youngest daughter.[15] The vineyard’s altitude was considered experimental because the Gualtallary district did not previously support viticulture because of its extreme climate.[16][17]

Fourth generation (1995-present)

Laura Catena and Nicolás Catena Zapata (2011)

Having earned a degree in Biology from Harvard University and a medical degree from Stanford University, Laura Catena joined the family winery in 1995, after a career as an emergency room physician.[18][19] In the same year, she founded the Catena Institute of Wine, a scientific research center focused on the study of Argentine high-altitude terroir, Malbec flavor, Malbec genetic diversity, and the advancement of sustainable viticulture.[20] Laura Catena was appointed managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata in 2012.[18][10]

In 1999, Catena Zapata worked with Baron Éric de Rothschild, the owner of Château Lafite Rothschild, to create Bodega Caro.[21]

Alejandro Vigil is the current Director of Winemaking for Catena Zapata, a position he has held since 2007.[22] In 2008, Alejandro Vigil and Adrianna Catena, the youngest daughter of Nicolás Catena, founded El Enemigo Wines, which focuses on Cabernet Franc and Mendoza terroirs.[23]

Between 2008 and 2023, Catena Family Wineries worked with the local glass manufacturer, Verallia (which is part of Saint-Gobain), to reduce the average weight of the bottles by 40%. The partnership resulted in an annual reduction of 1,200 metric tons of glass. The current average weight is 416 grams, compared to the global average of 550 grams. Furthermore, 97% of Catena Family Wineries’ wines are bottled in containers with weights of less than 510 grams.[24]

In 2023, it was awarded the title of the World's Best Vineyards.[25] In the same year, Laura Catena became the inaugural recipient of the Old Vine Hero Award. She has served as honorary president of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust since 2023.[10][26]

Viculture

High-altitude viticulture

In the early 1990s, Nicolás Catena began the development of vineyard plantings at elevations close to 1,500 meters in the Uco Valley.[27] Further research carried out by the Catena Institute revealed that Malbec grapes grown at higher elevations have a different profile of acidity and phenolic content when compared with those grown at lower elevations.[28] After the initiative taken by Nicolás Catena, other wine producers have subsequently planted their own vineyards at similar elevations in the Uco Valley.[29] The Nicolás Catena Zapata 2013 vintage is made only in exceptional years from 200 discrete micro-vinifications, which correspond to different rows, elevations, and harvest times, and has a 24-month maturation process in French oak barrels, with only 25% being new.[30]

Estate vineyards

The winery has six estate vineyards located in Mendoza: Angélica, La Pirámide, Nicasia, Domingo, Adrianna, and Angélica Sur.[31]

The Angélica Vineyard, which dates back to 1922-1924, is located in Lunlunta, Maipú Department, and has some of the winery’s oldest pre-phylloxera Malbec vines.[32] The La Pirámide Vineyard, founded in 1983, sits at 950 meters above sea level in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo. Established nearly a decade later, in 1992, the Adrianna Vineyard reaches an altitude of 1,450 meters in Gualtallary, Tupungato. That same year, the Domingo Vineyard was planted in the Uco Valley at 1,120 meters. The Angélica Sur Vineyard, the most recent addition, was established in 2005 in San Carlos, at roughly 1,090 meters.[22]

Scientific research

The Catena Institute of Wine, established in 1995, has published scientific papers on the subject of terroir and Malbec.[20][6][33] [34][35]

In 2016, the Institute for Research and Development in Process Engineering, Biotechnology, and Alternative Energies (PROBIEN, CONICET-National University of Comahue) research team, along with the Catena Institute of Wine, developed a methodology for discriminating the terroir of Malbec wines by chemical analysis of phenolic compounds, which reached an accuracy of 92.6%.[36][37]

In 2022, the journal OENO One published the results of the research carried out by the same research team, which analyzed the effect of extreme temperature events on the chemical composition of Malbec wines. The research focused on the 2013-2014 growing season, during which an extreme heat wave occurred in January. The results of the research show that high-altitude vineyards (1070-1450 m) in Valle de Uco have better adaptation capacities than those at lower altitudes (650-920 m) in the Luján de Cuyo region.[38] Building on this altitude research, a 2023 study in the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture investigated solar radiation's role in phenolic development. Comparing shaded and unshaded vines across three elevation levels during the 2017-2018 season, the team found that radiation exclusion reduced anthocyanin concentrations at all altitudes, with mid-elevation sites showing the most pronounced effects.[39]

The Catena Institute of Wine has also contributed to the international profile of Argentine ungrafted vineyards. The Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (INV) reports that around 89% of the country's vineyards are ungrafted and massale-selected. This genetic material is preserved by the Catena Zapata team in its Viejito de Rivadavia Vineyard, an isolated site dedicated to the preservation of massale selections from old vines.[40]

The Catena Institute of Wine led a study published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports demonstrating the existence of terroir and its persistence across vintages. Scientists analysed the phenolic profiles of 201 Malbec wines from 23 different parcels across 12 geographical indications in Mendoza, covering the 2016, 2017 and 2018 vintages. Of the 23 parcels studied, 11 could be identified with 100% accuracy through chemical analysis, while the remaining 12 were correctly identified 83% of the time.[41][42]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Nicolás Catena". MonteCristo Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  2. ↑ "Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Tasting". The Buyer. The-Buyer.net. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 Catena, Laura (2010). Vino Argentino: An Insider's Guide to the Wines and Wine Country of Argentina. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-7330-7.
  4. ↑ Brenneman, Chik. "Malbec: Beyond Bordeaux". WineMaker Magazine. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Cutler, Lance (November 2015). "The Future of Wine Science" (PDF). Wine Business Monthly. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2026.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. 1 2 Asimov, Eric (17 February 2016). "To Move Beyond Malbec, Look Below the Surface". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Rosenheck, Dan (2016). "High Hopes in the Andes". 1843 Magazine. The Economist Group. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  8. ↑ Rose, Anthony (27 March 2009). "Interview with Nicolas Catena, Decanter man of the year 2009". Decanter. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  9. ↑ Ríos, Sebastián A. (24 December 2025). ""Nunca conocí a un arquitecto tan profundo": el homenaje de Nicolás Catena Zapata a Pablo Sánchez Elía". La Nación. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 "Women in wine – Dr Laura Catena". Jancis Robinson. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  11. ↑ "Nicolás Catena abre las puertas de La Vendimia, su refugio entre viñedos". La Nación. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Nicolás Catena Zapata". Konex Foundation (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  13. ↑ Portelli, Fabricio (8 February 2022). "Un argentino es el primer viticultor sudamericano reconocido con el Wine Star Award por su trayectoria". Infobae. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Risatti, Francisca (30 October 2016). "Catena Zapata y el auge de la uva Malbec". El País. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  15. 1 2 Barnes, Christopher (2 August 2025). "From Spanish Origins to High Altitude Excellence: The Evolution of Winemaking in Mendoza and the Rise of the Uco Valley". Grape Collective. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "Two Wines from Catena's Adrianna Vineyard are First South American Wines Awarded 100 Points from Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate". PRWeb. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "Malbecs Around the Globe". WineMaker Magazine. WineMaker Magazine. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  18. 1 2 "Laura Catena". Harvard Business School. 11 April 2022. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ↑ "Laura Catena". University of California, Davis. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. 1 2 "Catena Institute of Wine". Master of Wine. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Iglesias, Alejandro (22 March 2024). "Bodegas Caro: An interview with Saskia de Rothschild and Laura Catena". Decanter. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  22. 1 2 "Catena Zapata Winery". South America Wine Guide. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  23. ↑ Suckling, James. "Producer Spotlight: El Enemigo". JamesSuckling.com. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  24. ↑ Siddle, Richard (25 June 2024). "Laura Catena on finding a sustainable business solution to tackle bottle weight". The Buyer. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  25. ↑ O'Hare, Maureen (2023-07-15). "The world's best vineyards for 2023 revealed". CNN. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  26. ↑ "Winner of the Old Vine Hero Award 2023". The Old Vine Conference. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  27. ↑ Bieler, Kristen (11 March 2020). "Exploring Argentina's High-Elevation Uco Valley". SevenFifty Daily. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  28. ↑ Buscema, Fernando; Boulton, Roger B.; Catena, Laura; Bassi, Diego (2015). "Vineyard Mapping of Malbec Grape Maturity Across Multiple Sites Using a Geospatial Approach". American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 66 (1): 10–18. doi:10.5344/ajev.2014.14006. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  29. ↑ Williams, Michelle (6 October 2020). "Uco Valley: Winemaking on the Edge". Wine-Searcher. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  30. ↑ Dean, Geoffrey (23 January 2019). "How Catena Zapata competes with the greatest grand cru sites". The Buyer. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  31. ↑ "WWC21 – Angélica Vineyard, Argentina". JancisRobinson.com. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  32. ↑ "Catena Zapata, Mendoza, Argentina". The Old Vine Conference. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  33. ↑ "Presentaron el Catena Institute of Wine". Los Andes. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  34. ↑ Alonso, Rodrigo; Berli, Federico J.; Fontana, Ariel; Piccoli, Patricia; Bottini, Rubén (December 2016). "Malbec grape ( Vitis vinifera L.) responses to the environment: Berry phenolics as influenced by solar UV-B, water deficit and sprayed abscisic acid". Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 109: 84–90. doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.09.007. PMID 27642694.
  35. ↑ Berli, Federico; D’Angelo, José; Cavagnaro, Bruno; Bottini, Rubén; Wuilloud, Rodolfo; Silva, M. Fernanda (May 2008). "Phenolic Composition in Grape (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Malbec) Ripened with Different Solar UV-B Radiation Levels by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 56 (9): 2892–2898. doi:10.1021/jf073421+. PMID 18412357.
  36. ↑ Fernández, Leonardo (17 February 2021). "Logran discriminar el terroir de vinos malbec mediante análisis químicos". CONICET. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  37. ↑ Urvieta, Roy; Jones, Gregory; Buscema, Fernando; Bottini, Rubén; Fontana, Ariel (3 February 2021). "Terroir and vintage discrimination of Malbec wines based on phenolic composition across multiple sites in Mendoza, Argentina". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 2863. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-82306-0. PMC 7859225. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  38. ↑ Mezzatesta, Daniela S.; Berli, Federico J.; Arancibia, Celeste; Buscema, Fernando G.; Piccoli, Patricia N. (30 May 2022). "Impact of contrasting soils in a high-altitude vineyard of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Malbec: root morphology and distribution, vegetative and reproductive expressions, and berry skin phenolics". OENO One. 56 (2): 149–163. doi:10.20870/oeno-one.2022.56.2.4917. hdl:11336/161713. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  39. ↑ Pellegrino Vidal, Rocío B.; Boulton, Roger B.; Olivieri, Alejandro C.; Buscema, Fernando (January 2023). "Aging of Malbec Wines from Mendoza and California: Evolution of Volatile Composition". American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 74 (1): 0740019. doi:10.5344/ajev.2023.22059.
  40. ↑ Catena, Laura (20 May 2025). "Argentina: A resource for the wine world?". Decanter. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  41. ↑ Urvieta, Roy; Jones, Gregory; Buscema, Fernando; Bottini, Rubén; Fontana, Ariel (3 February 2021). "Terroir and vintage discrimination of Malbec wines based on phenolic composition across multiple sites in Mendoza, Argentina". Scientific Reports. 11 2863. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-82306-0. PMC 7859225. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  42. ↑ Ercegovich, Carmen (4 February 2021). "Un descubrimiento sobre el vino argentino fue reconocido por un prestigioso medio científico". Clarín. Retrieved 13 July 2026.

33°09′51″S 68°55′11″W / 33.1640875°S 68.9195863°W / -33.1640875; -68.9195863

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