Luis Reginato is a third generation winemaker and viticulturist who has been working with Nicolas and Laura Catena since he graduated from Agricultural Engineering school in Mendoza in 1999. Today Luis is Vineyard Director for the Catena Zapata family vineyards and an active participant in the Catena Institute's viticultural studies, which focus on high altitude, cool climate wine-growing. Luis’ winemaking talents run in his blood. His grandparents came to Argentina from the Veneto and Marche regions of Italy and settled in La Consulta in the southernmost part of the Uco Valley in 1907, where they took advantage of its abundant farming opportunities. Luis’ grandfather was a barrel maker and viticulturist, and his father Jose and brother Pepe also grew up in the wine business and today they are well known in Mendoza for the elegant sparkling wines that they produce at their family winery.
Luis has a keen interest in the deep technical and artisanal sides of viticulture and winemaking. He has thrived working at Catena and has honed his skills over the last 20 years. Alongside Laura and her father Nicolas Catena, Luis is committed to studying the Argentine wine terroir. Luis has been an integral part of the work the Catena family has done over the last 20 years to advance the Mendoza region. Most recently, Luis was responsible for working with the Catena Institute to create a Sustainability Certification for Argentina and to provide the scientific basis for establishing Paraje Altamira, Gualtallary and Los Chacayes new formal appellations in the Uco Valley of Mendoza. Luis is responsible for planting many of the Catena family’s high altitude vineyards over the last 15 years and he has worked closely with Laura Catena on sourcing old vines from the Uco Valley for the Luca wines.
Dr. Laura Catena is a fourth generation Argentine vintner, physician and author. Catena was born in Mendoza and spent her childhood with her grandfather Domingo at the family's winery in the small village of La Libertad. Laura graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1988 and has a Medical Doctor degree from Stanford University. In 1995 Laura joined her father Nicolás Catena Zapata at the family winery with the vision of making Argentine wines that could stand with the best of the world. Laura founded of her own Luca Winery in Mendoza, Argentina in 1999. to explore the quality potential of small OLD VINE family owned vineyards in the Uco Valley region of Mendoza. Laura splits her time between Mendoza, Argentina and San Francisco, California. Dr. Laura Catena has been called "the face of Argentine wine" for her active role in studying and promoting the Mendoza wine region and Argentine Malbec. Laura's life obsession is to learn more about high altitude viticulture, the vineyard soil microbiome and wine ageability. In 2010 Laura Catena released her book Vino Argentino: An Insider's Guide to the Wines and Wine Country of Argentina (Chronicle Books.) Spanish and Portuguese translations followed in 2011. Laura and her book have been featured in Oprah Magazine, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, La Nación, Town and Country, Decanter Magazine, Saveur Magazine, Food & Wine Magazine, Wine Spectator, Vinous, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Advocate, Wine & Spirits and many others.
