Growing Conditions
90% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the lime, clay soil of Lot 3 in the La Pirámide vineyard and 10% Malbec sourced from the sandy, clay soil of Lot 18 in the 70 year old Angélica vineyard. The 1997 growing season in La Pirámide was cooler than normal, with average temperatures in the ripening month of March only reaching 19.3° C. These cooler conditions offered more complex aromatics and in general a more elegant style. This vintage can be enjoyed now and will continue to improve over the next 5 to 7 years.
The grapes for Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon come from a select block of La Pirámide vineyard, Catena's premier Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard. At more than 940m (3,100') elevation, the La Pirámide vineyard enjoys a continental climate of sunny days and cool nights, allowing for prolonged hang-time and crisp acidity in the grapes. The Catena Alta block has historically provided the most balanced and uniform yields. The carefully chosen vines undergo a detailed thinning process to leave only select, isolated clusters on the vines to ripen fully.
The 1996-1997 season, while benefiting from Mendoza's ideal winegrowing climate, presented similar challenges to the 95/96 season.
The winter of 1996 was rather mild, with no extreme cold spells and only light snowfall. This lack of snow caused a scarcity of snowmelt, resulting in drought problems for those vineyards which depend solely on river waters for irrigation. Once again the effects of such shortages were minimized in the Catena vineyards due to the connection of the irrigation system to an underground aquifer which ensures a secure supply of pure mountain spring water.
Spring began with warm and dry weather, allowing the vines to enjoy uniform budding, with a high quality and quantity of clusters. While the plants were budding, isolated hail storms caused a thinning of clusters and a subsequent fall in 1997 production in some vineyards. The use of antihail nets in our vineyards served to minimize the damage to the budding vines. Flowering then took place towards the end of Spring, in a dry and hot climate, providing an excellent set of berries per cluster.
Mendoza enjoyed a fairly long and hot summer, offering the grapes the opportunity to ripen fully. In the second week of March, however, passing thunderstorms forced some producers to advance the harvest of many white varietals. The cropping and leaf removal techniques used in the Catena vineyards, minimized the effects of these inopportune storms. These techniques allow for minimum foliage cover around each cluster and thereby help the bunches to dry quickly.
Harvest
The rest of the harvest season, throughout the last weeks of March, offered unbeatable climatic conditions. The days were sunny and mild, the nights cool and dry, allowing the grapes to complete their maturation cycle. The last grapes to be harvested, notably Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, showed an excellent ripeness of tannins and an exceptional balance between sugar and acidity.
In conclusion, while the 96/97 growing season presented several challenges to the vineyard management team of Catena, the combination of advanced vineyard techniques and the natural characteristics of the Mendoza climate resulted in an excellent harvest of highly concentrated fruit, promising to make the 1997 vintage one to remember.
Winemaking
Total Acidity: 6 grams/liter
Unfined and unfiltered
