A benchmark Argentine Malbec, the 2022 Malbec Argentino embodies elegance, depth, and precision. Sourced from old vines in the Angélica and Nicasia vineyards, it opens with an expressive bouquet of violets, fresh blackberries, blueberries, and spice, layered with hints of chocolate, cigar box, and white pepper.

James Suckling | JS 98
Published: Feb 4, 2024

Elegant and perfumed nose with violets, spices, fresh blackberries, blueberries and touches of chiles, chocolate, cigar box and white pepper. Super juicy on the palate with compact, fine tannins and an extremely long finish. Drink or hold.

Decanter | D 95
Published: Nov 8, 2025
Drink: 2025-2030

With its trademark dynamism, character and typicity, this Malbec surprises for its complexity married with drinkability. Fresh yet deep, it fills the mouth with juicy ripe cherry, plum, pink peach, pomegranate. Crunchy red apples adds a refreshing bite, offsetting the density of the soft tannins. Deft integration of wood and alcohol. Long finish with a spicy and vegetal rim.

The Wine Advocate | RP 93
Published: May 1, 2025
Drink: 2024-2030

The 2022 Malbec Argentino combines destemmed fruit from Lunlunta's Angélica Vineyard and Nicasia Vineyard in Altamira, and it was fermented with whole clusters. It leads with a rich, savory, black-fruited nose, introducing a similarly assertive and voluptuous palate. It concludes with a lush, staining and drying finish that retains the fine-grained precision that runs through the Catena Zapata roster.

It is difficult to avoid hyperbole when discussing the Catena family's impact on Argentine wine. It is the rare wine-producing country that can rightfully assign such an outsized contribution to the success of one producer that would propel the success of the wines of an entire nation. Equally remarkable is the relatively brief time scale on which such a global phenomenon has occurred, spanning just three generations from its founding in 1908.

The plethora of Catena bottlings ranges from entry-level, widely distributed supermarket SKUs to site-specific gems under the Catena Zapata heading. Their relentless progress and expansion have occurred alongside a parallel endeavor to utilize science for terroir analysis, viticultural planning and winemaking practices through the Catena Wine Institute. Among others, their analysis of Gualtallary's Adrianna Vineyard exemplifies the importance of an informed perspective on terroir, central to closing the gap between the merely good and truly great wines of the world. Catena occupies a remarkably rare position in the wine world as a producer that can be aptly described as both a juggernaut and an artisanal, intentional student of their vineyards.

Winemaking director Alejandro Vigil is a bona fide celebrity winemaker—locally referred to as "The Messi of Wine"—and judging by the two hours I spent walking the Chachingo wine fair with him, the fandom I observed must be comparable to strolling a music trade show in the presence of Mick Jagger. Perhaps most impressive of all is the grace, care and unadulterated passion for wine that he relentlessly displays. As for the wines themselves, his reputation precedes him at each turn and each price point: as referential as the famed Parcelas bottlings from Adrianna Vineyard undoubtedly are, the entry-level Catena wines struck me as nearly equally impressive in their own right, each precisely summarizing their varieties and origins with equally yolked precision across the range.

Catenazapata.com

TEN CENTURIES OF LIFE, DEATH AND REBIRTH
The epic tale of the noble Malbec grape is like no other, and the label for Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino pays tribute to the variety’s history in France and its rise in Argentina. Four female figures embody different landmarks in the history of the grape. Eleanor of Aquitaine represents the birth of Malbec. She is a strong, Old World presence, lingering at the bridge in Cahors, where Malbec came into its own. Next, the Immigrant symbolizes the movement to the New World and the unknown explorers and adventurers who connected Europe with the Americas. Phylloxera personifies the death of Malbec in the Old World, which enabled its rebirth in the new. Finally, there is Bodega Catena Zapata, represented by Adrianna Catena, who depicts birth, earth, and motherhood, sharing the riches of the New World. Today, the Catena family’s fourth generation leads the high-altitude renaissance in Argentina. We are returning Malbec to the sky... where it belongs.

WINE DESCRIPTION
No matter what the vintage, this wine is really more than 100 years old. It represents a family's journey to produce an Argentine Malbec that can stand with the great wines of the world.

VINIFICATION
20% whole cluster and 80% whole berry fruit is hand-loaded into 225-500 liter new French oak barrels for a 100% barrel fermentation for a period of 28 days, allowing seamless oak integration. The fermentation temperature is kept low, extracting intense aromas, and the cap management is done by hand to ensure soft, gentle flavors and tannin extraction. Wild yeasts. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in barrel leaves considerable lees and sediment. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 18 months.

VINEYARDS
Old Vines from the Catena Zapata Family Vineyards, Nicasia and Angélica. The origins of the vines, which we call “The Catena Cuttings”, is a prephyloxeric Massale Selection from the Angélica Vineyard.

Harvest time varies depending on each lot's soil composition. Harvest time can vary by several weeks between one lot and another within the same vineyard.

Nicasia Vineyard: Named after Nicolás Catena Zapata’s grandmother.
Shallow loamy soil. Gravel on surface and topsoil.
Location: La Consulta District, San Carlos Region, Mendoza, Argentina.
Altitude: 3,593 ft (1,095 m) elevation.
Planted in 1996 (20 years old vineyard).
Angélica Vineyard: Named after Nicolás Catena Zapata’s mother.
Soil: Adjacent to dry river bed. Light gravel, loam and clay.
Location: Lunlunta District, Maipú Region, Mendoza, Argentina.
Altitude: 3,018 ft (920 m) elevation.
Planted in: Circa 1930 (90 years old vineyard)

TECHNICAL INFORMATION 
Varietal: 100% Malbec
Alcohol: 13.9 %
Total Acidity: 5.95 grams/liter
pH: 3.65
Wine Director: Alejandro Vigil