{"id":25628,"date":"2025-10-02T08:15:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T08:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/?p=25628"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:32:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:32:38","slug":"bodegas-catena-zapata-science-wine-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/en\/2025\/10\/02\/bodegas-catena-zapata-science-wine-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Bodegas Catena Zapata \u2014 Science, Wine & Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

“I could not have predicted that someday there would be advertising using wine as a harmful substance.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Dr Laura Catena<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

4th generation vintner and author

Retired emergency physician

Founder of Catena Institute of Wine<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Presentation<\/b> <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Gerda Beziade: What are the biggest challenges you face in your day-to-day work? n ?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Laura Catena: The most important challenge is to balance the essential long-term projects with the short-term needs that seem so urgent. For example, soil studies that allow us to elevate the quality of our wines to make terroir-specific wines; more elegant, more beautiful, age-worthy wines.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Another example of a long-term project is the work that led to the discovery of the 1.4-hectare Mundus parcel in the Adrianna Vineyard, or the work I am doing through my website In Defense of Wine to explain all the accurate science around alcohol in moderation and health so that wine in moderation can be part of a healthy lifestyle. <\/p>\n

Then we have the short-term needs, such as the threat of frost, that sends us all night to the vineyard to light the little fires, or things like label approvals for all the different markets that require a great deal of daily bureaucratic work.<\/a> <\/p>\n

So yes, the greatest challenge for me is to balance the long-term needs that are so important with the short-term needs that are time-sensitive. <\/p>\n

And, as you know, I’m an emergency physician, and it’s quite similar in the emergency department where you must prioritize very ill people, despite having all kinds of patients with less serious problems who also need assistance, and in the end you need to make sure everybody is being taken care of. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

G : <\/strong><\/em>You are the 4th generation of vintner at Catena Zapata. Have there been any challenges you hadn\u2019t anticipated? Perhaps Mother Nature becoming increasingly unpredictable? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

LC :<\/strong> For sure climate change is something that I had not at all anticipated. At high altitude in Mendoza we are not very worried about the heat, because the mountain vineyards of Mendoza have been fairly protected from warming, and indeed the average temperatures have not changed much. In fact, in some places they have gone down. <\/p>\n

The main issue for us is water availability which used to be much more plentiful in the past. Most of the vineyards in Mendoza were irrigated by flood irrigation and now we have to be very careful with water, which is why we use drip irrigation. It is essential for saving water and for preserving terroir. The art of watering scarcely for quality is learned usually during a decade of apprenticeship. And we are very concerned about carbon emissions because the more the earth warms the more the Andean glacier water melts and the less water there is. So, for sure I could not have predicted climate change that is happening so rapidly right now. <\/p>\n

The main issue for us is water availability which used to be much more plentiful in the past. Most of the vineyards in Mendoza were irrigated by flood irrigation and now we have to be very careful with water, which is why we use drip irrigation. It is essential for saving water and for preserving terroir. The art of watering scarcely for quality is learned usually during a decade of apprenticeship. And we are very concerned about carbon emissions because the more the earth warms the more the Andean glacier water melts and the less water there is. So, for sure I could not have predicted climate change that is happening so rapidly right now. <\/p>\n

There are also potential harms related to acetaldehyde, the breakdown product of alcohol that, in excess can be associated with some cancers. I could not have predicted that someday there would be advertising using wine as a harmful substance because I grew up in a Mediterranean style culture, thanks to my Italian and Spanish ancestors. <\/p>\n

I have always thought of wine in moderation as part of a healthy pleasant, sociable, lifestyle and I still think so and in fact most of the data on the Mediterranean diet, which includes wine, shows that it is the healthiest diet. There is new research about this that will hopefully answer, once and for all, the question about whether wine in moderation is associated with good health. This research \u2013 the first randomized controlled trial including wine\u2014 is being conducted in Spain under the name UNATI and it’s something really important for wine lovers. The results will be available in five years. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Nicolas Catena Zapata & Adrianna Vineyard Mundus :
Today and Tomorrow<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

G : What makes both wines unique?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

LC : These are two very, very different wines. The Nicol\u00e1s Catena Zapata was born with the 1997 vintage as an Argentine or South American version of the great Super Tuscans. We know that the Super Tuscans arose from blending classic Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot that age so beautifully with some varieties from Italy such as Sangiovese or simply making a Bordeaux blend. What’s interesting about Argentina is that when the first growths were classified in 1855, there was a lot more Malbec planted in the M\u00e9doc. In fact, there is a reference in the Encyclopedia Britannica from the late 1800s that there was more Malbec than Cabernet Sauvignon planted in the M\u00e9doc.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

So, this blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon is quite ancient, and we like to call it the original Bordeaux blend. I don’t know if people in Bordeaux like that, but it is just factual. There was a lot more Malbec planted in the 18th and 19th century in Bordeaux, and now this is a blend that we can make in Argentina also from massale selections and ungrafted vines. Approximately 90% of our vineyards in Argentina are massale and ungrafted. The Nicol\u00e1s Catena Zapata was born from a desire to make this Super Tuscan equivalent (or I call it a Super Argentinian) in Mendoza by the Andes Mountains with these beautiful ancient massale selections and ungrafted vineyards. <\/p>\n

My father really loves the blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. In fact,he loves the slightly herbal character of the Cabernet and the tannins that are matched by the softness of the Malbec, which is more fruit-forward. This is a historic blend. The Nicol\u00e1s Catena Zapata comes from two vineyards in the Uco Valley that are quite close to each other because we like this assemblage from these two locations.<\/p>\n

Gualtallary in Adrianna gives more elegance and stronger tannins, while Nicasia in Altamira, gives more of the velvetiness and fruit. This is truly a unique wine for the world. It brings back a historic blend and it is made with the Bordeaux tradition in mind, the same way as the Super Tuscans arose from Bolgheri being inspired by Bordeaux. <\/p>\n

Adrianna Mundus Bacillus Terrae comes from a tiny little parcel, 1.4 hectares, located at very high altitude, almost 1500 meters above sea level, with very calcareous soils. It is a profound and elegant wine. It is rich and concentrated, but it goes more towards elegance than power. So, I would think of Nicol\u00e1s as a more powerful wine. Very cool climate Malbecs, like Adrianna\u2019s, in my opinion are more going in the direction of a beautiful Burgundy, more elegant with florals and a high acidity, because as you go higher, it’s cooler and the natural acidity of the grapes is greater. Mundus is a Burgundian concept wine. <\/p>\n

It is made in very small production because the place where it comes from is so small and it has always been the place in Adrianna where we get our most age-worthy and most distinctive wine. Remember that our family has been making Malbec since 1902 when my great-grandfather Nicola Catena, who came from Italy to Argentina, planted his first Malbec vines. We have a lot of experience with Malbec, massale and ungrafted. <\/p>\n

This vineyard is organically farmed as well as the Nicol\u00e1s Catena Zapata\u2019s other vineyard Nicasia. And it’s just the culmination of almost 125 years of our family working with Malbec, from plant selections planted in the 1920s to a high-altitude vineyard in Gualtallary, a location discovered by my father, Nicol\u00e1s Catena Zapata when there were no vineyards there because it was considered too cold for the grapes to ripen. <\/p>\n

My father said, “I’m going to plant here. I want to see what the limit of vine cultivation is.” And so, we are planting Malbec in a climate that is more like Burgundy in terms of temperature. It’s a Zone 1 Winkler. Yet, the wine is ripe and floral with beautiful fruit. There is no greenness or under-ripeness of this wine, that has to do with the soil and the sunlight intensity. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Business<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t