Nicolas Catena Zapata Red 2020 (750ml)
Product price
$119.99
Description
Nicolas Catena Zapata produces this red blend from Paraje Altamira in Mendoza's Uco Valley. The 2020 vintage is a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc, aged for 16, 18 months in French oak. This is serious Mendoza Cabernet-based wine, structured for aging but alive right now.
The wine opens with compelling aromatic depth: cassis, blackberry, plum, and rose harmonize with dried flowers and a minty edge. On the palate it's energetic and bright, with fine-grained tannins that cushion the black fruit and savoury spice without weighing it down. There's a leanness here that keeps the wine feeling taut and well-defined, yet it shows generosity in its flow and mouthfeel. The finish is clean and vibrant. This is youthful and still showing some oak influence, but as it softens over the next few years it will develop into something lovely and more integrated.
Product Details
| Category | Wine |
| Color | Red |
| Country | Argentina |
| Region | Mendoza |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon - Malbec |
| Producer | Bodegas Catena Zapata |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Size | 750 ML |
| Subtype | Still |
Expert Reviews
Wonderfully aromatic and nuanced on the nose, so alive and open. Energetic and lively on the palate, this has so much spark and brightness to it. Really compelling from the first sip, the tannins ample and cushioning the slick black fruit and accompanying savoury spices. Feels lean and taught, but with so much flair. Really a lovely expression, so generous and well defined. Youthful as you'd expect right now but when this softens it will be a beauty. Just gorgeous, with a minty fresh finish. Wine director Alejandro Vigil, winemaker Fernando Buscema.
The 2020 Nicolás Catena Zapata is a blend composed of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Malbec and 20% Cabernet Franc sourced from Paraje Altamira in the Uco Valley. It was carefully aged for up to 16 months in French oak barrels. Garnet in hue. The nose reveals captivating cassis, rose, blackberry, plum and fig aromas harmoniously combined with dried flowers. The palate presents a dry and ample profile, with fine-grained tannins and a juicy flow that leads to a vibrant mouthfeel, brimming with energy. This meticulously crafted red achieves precise balance in a warm vintage.
2020 was a very dry and low-yielding year, with 20% to 30% less crop, and the grapes were picked early. The 2020 Nicolás Catena Zapata was produced with a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc and 21% Malbec, higher in Franc than ever, for the first time more than Malbec, to compensate the warm and dry conditions. The wine is ripe and very peppery, with 13.9% alcohol and a pH of 3.64. It matured in new and second-use French oak barrels for 18 months. It was a healthy crop with concentration and ripeness, and the wine comes through as powerful and quite classical, still a little oaky, with power and balance. 60,000 bottles were filled in January 2020.