Growing Conditions

- La Pirámide Vineyard: 3,117 ft (950 m). Agrelo District, Luján de Cuyo Region, Mendoza, Argentina. Deep alluvial loam with 30% clay that decreases soil temperature by 35,6ºF (2ºC) in average. Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Nicasia Vineyard: 3,593 ft (1,095 m). Altamira en La Consulta District, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina. Very shallow loamy topsoil with surface gravel and gravelly (large stones) dry river bed subsoil - optimal drainage. Malbec.
- Adrianna Vineyard: 4,757 ft (1,450 m). Gualtallary District, Tupungato Region, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina. Alluvial, gravelly with limestone deposits in the topsoil. Malbec.

Dry Farming, Cool Climate and Eternal Snow. We can honestly say that 2016 has been the coolest year in the last three decades. The cool climate started over the winter of 2015 when snow poured over the Andes filling up the mountain streams and underground aquifers to historic highs. The Andes stayed white throughout the summer and photographs of green vineyards next to snow-covered mountains abounded on social media. Yields were 40 to 50 percent down throughout the region resulting in extremely concentrated mineral and age-worthy wines.

But as the summer approached and the rains continued, we feared another 1998, a year when three weeks of rain brought botrytis in the midst of a warm summer. The extremely cool summer weather ended up saving us in two very specific ways: 1. Yields were 40-50% down throughout Mendoza and the widely spread fruit were thus protected from disease 2. The cool climate prevented botrytis from spreading throughout the province.

By the crucial months of February and March, the El Niño rains had slowed and the harvest continued at the usual rate. The end of harvest was declared on April 25th with the first Autumn snow. All in all, this was one of the shortest overall harvest seasons that we can remember, having started 2-3 weeks late, and ended 2 weeks early. The wines of 2016 are unusually low in alcohol (12.5 to 13.5 is the norm) and high in natural acidity. And if cool climate matters as we think it does, many areas that we generally consider too warm for the highest quality have behaved exceptionally well in the 2015-2016 season.

Zone 4 Winkler became Zone 3, Zone 3 became Zone 2 and so on. We are also surprised to see absolutely no dilution in flavors from the increased rains. Perhaps this is due to the fact that from February to April precipitations stayed within the norm, but regardless, this year makes us question everything we have previously believed about water stress and climate change.

The key to quality this year was parcellization. Over the last decade, the Catena Zapata viticultural team hand in hand with the Catena Institute have mapped our estate vineyards into hundreds of parcels that are farmed and harvested separately. With the rains, heterogeneity increased in many places and identifying the right harvest time for an individual parcel and soil type was more crucial than ever. We will know more about ageability and quality of each region, vineyard and parcel in June and July when we get ready for blending.

Harvest

ADRIANNA VINEYARD: SOUTH AMERICA'S GRAND CRU VINEYARD - Gualtallary, Tupungato, Uco Valley, Mendoza, 4757 ft elevation
The rains were highest in the Uco Valley, which was fortunate because that is where the alluvial mountain soils are best drained. In addition to rain, we had hail in Adrianna and were very grateful for the hail-netting over our grand cru parcels. The vineyard was dry farmed, and we were able to see the full extent of organic farming with wild flowers, bees and insects flourishing because of the increased water. The harvest season was shorter than average by about a month and the climate could be characterized as Zone 1, Burgundian, by the Winkler scale. We predict that the Adrianna 2016 wines will require a longer time in bottle before drinking.

LA PIRÁMIDE VINEYARD, Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, 3117 ft elevation
This vineyard was completely dry farmed this season due to the year’s increased rain pattern. And the clay soils added a level of freshness. An excellent vintage for La Pirámide.

NICASIA VINEYARD, Altamira, Uco Valley, Mendoza, 3593 ft elevation
Nicasia saw a mild year with cooler than normal temperatures but no decrease in yields. The Malbec from Lot 2 was a Malbec highlight for this year, with dense flavors and delicate red fruits on the nose. There was no hail or frost (common in the area) thankfully.

Winemaking

The harvest is done by hand, and some parcels are fermented as whole bunches to enhance tannic structure and freshness.
The fermentation takes place in 500 liter oak barrels, concrete and stainless-steel tanks, at temperatures of 26-28oC for about
10-15 days. The post-fermentative maceration lasts between 5 and 10 days.

The wine carries out its malolactic fermentation.

Dr. Nicolás Catena oversees the final blend before bottling.

Unfined and unfiltered.

Aging

The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 18 months.