Catena Appellation La Consulta 2022

Profile & Story

Bodega Catena Zapata, founded in 1902, has been a driving force behind the modern rediscovery of Malbec and the pioneering of high-altitude viticulture in Mendoza's Andean foothills, work led by Nicolás Catena Zapata and continued today with his daughter Laura Catena as managing director and Alejandro Vigil as winemaking director; the family's Adrianna Vineyard, planted at nearly 5,000 feet, has been called "the Grand Cru of South America." The family's connection to La Consulta dates to the 1950s, when Domingo Catena began sourcing Malbec from vineyards in this district for its deep purple color, black-fruit aromatics and rich, velvety tannins. The Appellation La Consulta 2022 is 100% Malbec grown at the estate's La Consulta vineyard at 1,095 meters elevation, on alluvial soil of loam with rounded rocks (roughly 80% sand, 10% clay and 10% silt) shaped by intense daytime sunlight and cool nights. Some lots undergo extended cold maceration of two to five days at under 50°F (10°C) to extract aroma, followed by fermentation over eight to fourteen days and total maceration of three to ten days; the wine then ages eleven to thirteen months in French oak, 15% to 35% of it new. It reaches 13.6% alcohol, with total acidity of 5.75 g/L and a pH of 3.7.