2020 Catena Zapata “High Mountain Vines” Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina

The family matriarch Angélica Zapata, was a fierce educator and headmistress of the local country school, instilled a culture of study, hard work and reflection on generations of the Catena family. Although Angélica died young, she transmitted to her children her vision that Argentina’s natural resources and that people were destined for greatness. Her son Nicolas Catena Zapata is responsible for the finding of the region of Mendoza, planting it and trusting only his guts when no one else believed it would work, to make today one some of the most brilliant Malbec in the world. Why do we like it? This High Mountain wine has a dense inky black heart with a dark red black-tinged hue. Alluring scents of blueberry, violet, dark plum and hints of liquorice drift from the glass with some vanillin cedar, earth and dried herb notes also evident. Richly fruited yet refined in its feel the palate is doused with a mix of ripe blueberry, red plum and liquorice fruit that possess both excellent intensity and persistence. There’s also a lovely perfume of violets. Grape            Malbec Country        Argentina                                  Region          Mendoza                      Vintage         2020