Nose

The nose offers ripe, concentrated dark fruit aromas with delicate floral notes and traces of mocha.

Palate

The mouthfeel is rich and lush, with spices, tobacco and a touch of leather. The finish presents soft, supple tannins with bright, crisp acidity and a flinty minerality that gives the wine exceptional length.

Growing Conditions

December rains which made for good canopy growth. Dry after mid January with sunny days and cool nights. The harvest was about 10 days earlier than usual.

The 2007 - 2008 growing season began with a warmer than usual Spring and early Summer. The conditions were also exceptionally dry. This caused the physiological ripening of sugars to accelerate but the phenological ripening of polyphenols to slow down. Veraison, as a result, was 7 - 10 days later than normal in most areas. In late January, some precipitation moved in which lowered temperatures and brought the physiological and phenological ripening processes back into synchronization.

The month of February saw rather unstable weather throughout the region, with some isolated thunder and hail storms. The isolated nature of the precipitation meant that each vineyard received several light to medium rains throughout the month.

This actually served to replace the normal irrigation regimes implemented in the Catena Zapata vineyards. The extremely low yields, combined with well drained soils, meant that there were very few sanitary issues throughout the winery's vineyards. March was characterized by lower precipitation than February and a continued drop in temperatures. As the grapes entered into the last month of ripening, the conditions were excellent for an outstanding vintage.

The month of April has been dry and very cool. The grapes still on the vine are developing very nicely and will be harvested in excellent sanitary conditions and with exceptional levels of concentration and complexity.

Winemaking

This wine goes through an extensive cold maceration for 8-10 days at 45°F to extract aromas. The juice is then fermented for 14 days with a post-fermentation maceration of 16 days to extract flavors and structure.

Aging

Malolactic fermentation happens in barrel; the wine is aged for 14 months in 75% French oak (20% new) and 25% American oak.

Appearance

The 2008 Catena Malbec shows a dark violet color with deep bluish-black tones.