Catena Zapata, Mendoza, Argentina
Malbec in Catena Zapata’s Angelica Vineyard - Ph Credit: Catena Zapata
Catena Zapata, Mendoza, Argentina
The story of Bodega Catena Zapata began in 1902: it is the oldest Argentinian winery still in the hands of its founding family and is currently led by fourth generation Dr. Laura Catena. One of Catena Zapata’s many endeavours is to protect and preserve pre-phylloxera old vine Malbec, particularly those in its Angélica Vineyard that are more than 90 years old, growing 920 meters above sea level in Mendoza’s Andean foothills.
In 1995, Laura founded the Catena Institute of Wine (CIW) with the goal of using science to understand the Mendoza terroir and to elevate Argentine wine on the world wine stage. What followed was the first massale and clonal selection of pre-phylloxeric Malbec in the world and in-depth studies of high-altitude terroir. The CIW has collaborated with key universities locally and globally, including UC Davis, the University of Bordeaux, and University of Burgundy, with 30+ articles published in major scientific wine journals. The CIW also took a leading role in the development of Argentina’s Sustainability Code which is now widely used by Argentina’s wine industry.
The Catena Institute of Wine and the winery itself work together to protect Malbec and in 2023 Dr Laura Catena was awarded the inaugural Old Vine Hero award for her pioneering work.
“When I started working in wine in the 1990’s, it seemed like Old Vines were mostly valued in Europe. Then I found that we had thousands of hectares of old Malbec vines in Argentina which were in the process of being pulled out for replanting. I am an Emergency Doctor by training, and I can recognise an emergency when I see one. I set out to make wine from these beautiful old vineyards and then to preserve their genetically diverse massale selections.” Dr. Laura Catena.
You can watch Dr Laura Catena’s presentation ‘How an agricultural philosophy is using science to preserve the past’ at The Old Vine Conference 2023 on youtube and on oldvines.org/ondemand.
For more information visit:
catenazapata.com
The Catena Institute of Wine
@lauracatenamd
@catenawines
Catena Zapata are Honorary members of The Old Vine Conference as part of the Old Vine Hero Award 2023.