SUB-ZERO WINE BLOG

Many people consider Nicolas Catena to be almost single-handedly responsible for initiating the new era in Argentine wine. With its European (and heavily Italian) heritage, Argentina had always been a large consumer of wine. But most of the country’s wine was of very ordinary quality. Catena changed that. In 1982, while teaching at the University of California in Berkeley, he spent weekends in Napa Valley. Catena was highly impressed with California wine. One day, when visiting the Robert Mondavi Winery and savoring a glass of premium Napa Valley cabernet, Catena had a moment of inspiration. “We can do this in Argentina,” he remembers thinking.



On returning home, Catena immediately organized research projects to find Mendoza’s best vineyards, studying microclimates, soils, rainfall, and irrigation control. He instituted clonal studies to find the best vines, opting for low-yield selections rather than heavy producers. He hired California winemaker Paul Hobbs to bring a more contemporary style to the Catena wines. When the first modern Catena releases hit U.S. shelves in 1991, they got an overwhelmingly positive vote from the press and the public. Other Argentine wineries took note and began casting their eyes on an international rather than a strictly local market. It was the start of something big.



Nicolas Catena continues to push the envelope. His joint venture with the Rothschilds of Lafite has resulted in Caro, an intense red Malbec-Cabernet blend with intense blackberry fruit and complex components of spice, earth and wood. Catena’s stunning new winery, Catena Zapata, which he himself designed in the shape of a Mayan pyramid, rises step by step into the sky, its terraced structure symbolizing Argentina’s dramatic ascent to excellence.