Nose
This Chardonnay displays aromas of ripe pears, citrus, vanilla and mineral notes.
Palate
The Catena Chardonnay 2010 combines expressions of the High altitude vineyards. Adrianna vineyard, the highest one, gives flowers notes and a strong minerality. The Domingo vineyard provides dry fruits and a crisp finish. Finally, La Piramide Vineyard contributes honeyed tropical fruit flavors with an oily mouthfeel. On the palate, it is a clean fresh wine with crisp acidity.
Growing Conditions
The 2010 Harvest is all about low quantity and high quality. If there was ever a year to show that low yields matter for quality, 2010 was it. The low yields are due to a cold spring that delayed bud break and some scattered frosts that led to uneven flowering in many areas. January and February were quite warm and there were no rains after mid February. Perfectly ripe, healthy grapes with great concentration have characterized this vintage.
The 2010 Harvest is all about low quantity and high quality. If there was ever a year to show that low yields matter for quality, 2010 was it. The good news is that many thousands of hectares of new vineyards were planted in the last five years, and these vineyards are coming into production, so total volume is actually up overall from last year.
The low yields are due to a cold spring that delayed bud break and some scattered frosts that led to uneven flowering in many areas. January and February were quite warm and there were no rains after mid February. Perfectly ripe, healthy grapes with great concentration have characterized this vintage. The snowmelt from the Andes was pure and plentiful. Because of the cold spring, the harvest was late in most regions; 10-15 days later than average.
The areas most affected by the spring frosts, Ugarteche and Anchoris in Lujan de Cuyo and Altamira in La Consulta in the Uco Valley, saw yields reduced significantly between 20 and 80%. Agrelo and Perdriel in Lujan de Cuyo and Gualtallary and Tupungato in the Uco Valley were less affected, with yields only down about 10-20% in average. The East was not significantly affected by frost, but summer hail was ubiquitous and growers without hail netting saw yields down 50-80% - a true natural disaster.
Our overall yields are down 20-25%. Fortunately, the now 6-10 year old [it was planted in phases] Angelica Sur vineyard in Eugenio Bustos, is just glorious, and the Malbec from there has been a welcome addition to the Catena program over the last two years.
It is hard to complain about the low yields when you taste and see the concentration and richness of the wines in the tanks and barrels.
Harvest
La Piramide Vineyard (Agrelo) Feb 20; Adrianna Vineyard (Gualtallary) April 6- 24 (this is later than usual; march and april were so cool, that brix barely rose, minerality and acidity were retained and we harvested at 24 brix).
Winemaking
Whole cluster pressed.
Total Acidity: 6.25 grams/liter
Aging
100% barrel fermented in French oak (30% new) and aged for 9 months in barrels.
Appearance
A yellow greenish color.
