2024 Catena - Malbec Mendoza Paraje Altamira (750ml)

Catena Zapata was founded in 1902 by Italian immigrant Nicola Catena, who planted his first Malbec vines in Mendoza. His grandson Nicolás Catena Zapata reshaped Argentine wine from the 1980s by prioritizing quality and planting vineyards at high elevations in search of cooler climates. Nicolás’s daughter Laura Catena, a physician who joined the family business in 1995, now helps lead the winery, which remains in its fourth generation of family hands.

This 100 percent Malbec comes from Catena’s own vines in Paraje Altamira, in La Consulta at the foot of the Andes, planted in 1996 at about 3,600 feet on clay and silt soils. Intense sun and cool nights shape the fruit. After a cold maceration, the wine ferments in stainless steel and rests in French oak barrels for roughly a year, then ages in bottle before release.

Bright and perfumed, the 2024 shows ripe red and black fruit, including sour cherry, fresh plum, and blackberry, with herbal accents of thyme and a touch of blood orange. The palate is medium-bodied and smooth, with fine-grained tannins, subtle oak, and a chalky, mineral edge. The finish is long, juicy, and refreshing.