AMAZING SOUTH AMERICAN WINES FROM BOTH SIDE OF THE ANDES

Catena Zapata

In 1902 Nicola Catena, an Italian immigrant, planted the first of his vines in Mendoza. The Catena family is now on their 4th generation in wine production from these amazing vineyards. Now owned by Nicolas Cantea and his Daughter Laura, the pair has revolutionized the quality of wine that could be produced in Argentina and have been pioneers of fine wine from Argentina. The Catena vineyards are located in the regions of Villa Bastia, Tupungato, Aurelio, Luján de Cuyo, Lunlunta, Maipu, Gualtallary, La consulta, and San Carlos. With vineyards in all of these locations they have highlighted the high altitude of wine country in Argentina and what makes it so unique. Catena has developed a tier system for their wines that helps take the broad scope of wine from Argentina and narrows it down to just a few rows of vines from their very best vineyard. 

The first tier is the Catena Classics. These wines are 100% estate grown from the high altitude vineyard locations previously mentioned. They are a blend of single varieties from various locations. The next tier is, Catena Alta. Since the early 1990s, these wines have become Catena’s way of opening up the category of high end wines from Argentina. Each lot for these wines is farmed and vilified separately in order to showcase its unique expression of single varietal wines from historic rows and lots from the Catena familys high altitude estate vineyards. Catena Zapata takes this to another level. The wines are taken to what seems like a microscopic level where they only pull from specific vines marked by meticulously cared for mother plants from the Nicolas Catena Zapata, Malbec Argentina, Adrianna Malbec and Nicosia Malbec. 

Winemaker Alejandro Vigil started with obtaining his Agricultural engineering degree from Eacultad de Ciencias Agrarias and a masters in winemaking and irrigation management. When the catenas highered him he was the head of research and development then moved over to the enology department and in 2007 he became chief winemaker. Alejandro’s goal is to constantly increase his understanding of the unique terroir in Mendoza high altitude desert oasis and always ready to try something new in the pursuit of this goal. 

Lapostolle 

Founded by Alexandra Mariner Lapostolle and her husband Cyril de Bourne in 1994. Since 1827 the Burnet-Lapostolle family has been dedicated to the production of spirits and fine wines. Alexandra and Cyril fell in love with the Apalta Valley and Lapostolle name has become associated with high end wines of Chile. 

Clos Apalta vineyard is the reason the family fell in love with this specific location in Chile. The Alpata Valley near the city of Santa Cruz, south west of Santiago. The vineyard is on a north south exposure which is very rare in Chile. Tinguiririca river on the south side and the vineyard is surrounded by hills on all of the other sides.  They also have the Clos du Lican vineyard which is on a hillside with lots of slopes and is enclosed by the hills. The Saint Joseph vineyard in the Apalta Valley is 200km south west of Santiago between the Andes and the Coastal mountain with lighter slopes and the river has a cooling influence on the climate. These different vineyards help makeup the wines that are produced at Lapostolle. 

Lapostolle’s Grand Selection line represents the freshness of the fruit, young and expressive bright and vivid are the overall goal of these wines. They make a killer bright fruited Sauvignon Blanc under this label. Cuvee Alexander wines are named to honor the family’s legacy of fine wines and spirits dating back to 1827 these wines are entirely produced from the Apalta estate fruit. Finally where it all started and the most rare wines you can see from Lapostolle is the La Parcelle 8, one of the oldest vineyards of Cabernet Sauvignon  in Chile if not the world. In 1910 a French Mssal selection was planted for this parcel. These vines were rediscovered in 1994 by Alexandra and Cyril. La parcelle 8 the first plot the family saw upon arriving in the valley. This became the families bringing in the valley and they only make this wine in exceptional vintages.