Luján de Cuyo

Catena Zapata

World’s Best Winery, the Malbec revival, a Mayan pyramid

The story begins in 19th-century Italy and continues on the limestone soils of Mendoza, with trips to Napa Valley and Bordeaux along the way. Nicola Catena left Italy for Argentina in 1898, aged 18, fleeing hardship in Europe. In 1902 he planted his first Malbec vineyard in Mendoza – until then Malbec had only been used as a blending grape in Bordeaux. His instinct was right: a century later it would become Argentina’s flagship grape. Domingo (the eldest son, the ‘Master of Blends’) led the second generation. Nicolás Catena Zapata (3rd generation) is the ‘quiet revolutionary’: after being a visiting professor at UC Berkeley in the 1980s, he modernised the industry with drip irrigation and clonal selection, and set the course for a new kind of winemaking. In 1994 he created the iconic ‘Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino’. Laura Catena (4th generation, physician and author) runs the Catena Institute of Wine and brought the concept of ‘terroir’ to Argentina. She planted the Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary, looking for the coolest place to grow vines in Mendoza. A unique building shaped like a Mayan pyramid in Agrelo symbolises the strength of Argentine wine in the world. Named ‘World’s Best Winery’ several times. 6 historic vineyards.