It was Nicolás Catena who propelled Argentine wine into a new era. Travelling the world as an academic economist in the 1970s, Catena incorporated vast knowledge, coming into contact with the great wines of Bordeaux and the promising wines of Napa. By the early 1980s, Catena realised that the key to quality lay in planting the right variety in the right place, specifically in cooler, higher elevations.

Winemaking

Adrianna Vineyard produces the most prestigious and sought-after wine at Bodega Catena Zapata. This small vineyard of only 1.4 hectares is the highest in altitude. Here the Malbec grape variety flourishes on soils of alluvium, gravel and limestone deposits. These scattered limestone and marine deposits that covered the region millions of years ago are well-drained and particularly rich in rhizobacteria, microorganisms that help vine roots resist stress and absorb nutrients. It is from these micro-bacteria that the name of the cuvée comes – mundus bacillus terrae – which means elegant bacteria of the earth.Manual harvest. Fermentation in 225 litre oak barrels. Ageing 24 months in French oak barrels of 2000 litres.

Tasting notes

Its name indicates it, this red wants to reveal the stone and it succeeds, since a happy minerality makes it fresh, supple and fruity. The structure is however solid, the aging completes it without suffocating it, the aromas of black berries envelop the tasting.