KEY CONCEPTS FOR CATENA AND CATENA ZAPATA THE RENAISSANCE OF MALBEC - TIMELINE a. Birth of MALBEC in France 2,000 years ago as described by the Roman legions as they walked through Aquitaine, France. Known from the time of the Roman Empire b. MALBEC became famous as the BLACK WINE in the Middle more than 2000 years ago. IT BECAME FAMOUS IN THE Ages - Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Court of Love. duringMiddle Queen Eleanor´sAges COURT OF LOVE. THE HISTORY c. MALBEC’s heydays in BORDEAUX at the time of the 1855 OF ARGENTINE MALBEC In the 18th and 19th Centuries, Malbec was the main partner OF CABERNET SAUVIGNON Classification, when it was an essential part of the blend (from Introduced in in the Grand Crus classified ARGENTINA in the in 1855 20-60%) alongside Cabernet Sauvignon (Malbec was 10-40% of the blend). 1850’s d. MALBEC’s near extinction in France due to Phylloxera and Malbec is a very delicate, After the “global cooling” (Malbec is a late ripening, delicate grape late ripening variety. PHYLLOXERA EPIDEMIC IT IS VERY SENSITIVE TO COLD in the 1870's WEATHER AND LACK OF SUNSHINE. wich devasted vineyards susceptible to harsh weather and was replaced by the earlier is is why it adapts so well to across Europe, Mendoza’s sunny, the Malbec practically dry weather. disappeared from France. ripening, tougher Merlot). It was mostly replaced by Merlot, wich rippened earlier. e. MALBEC’s rebirth in Argentina by the CATENA FAMILY since Malbec Rennaissance 1902. e Catena Cuttings: in the 1990’s First selection of by Nicolás Catena Zapata pre-phylloxeric Malbec and his Catena Argentine Malbec. vines at the f. To Nicolás Catena Zapata’s MALBEC REVOLUTION of the CATENA INSTITUTE OF WINE, founded by 1980’s-90’s. Laura Catena. THE GRAND CRU of SOUTH AMERICA – ADRIANNA VINEYARD In the 1980’s, third generation vintner NICOLAS CATENA ZAPATA from a family of Italian immigrants, dared to believe that his native ARGENTINA could make a South American GRAND CRU. Nicolas found the location for his GRAND CRU at the ADRIANNA VINEYARD, where a combination of high altitude (5,000 feet elevation) cool and sunny climate, and alluvial, limestone soils gave rise to the ADRIANNA VINEYARD “Vinos de El Mirador, Adrianna Vineyard Parcela,” Parcel Wines. BODEGA Y VIÑEDOS CATENA The original name of the winery started in 1902 in Mendoza by Italian immigrant Nicola Catena and it stands for “Catena Winery and Vineyards”. CATENA MALBEC The start of the Renaissance of Malbec by the Catena family was in 1902 when Nicola Catena planted his first Malbec vineyard. In the 1990’s, CATENA MALBEC was the first ARGENTINE MALBEC to make waves in the world, and to bring back to prominence this NOBLE grape which had once been revered in France, and nearly La Pirámide Vineyard gone extinct after the phylloxera epidemic of the late 1800’s. Story: In the 1980’s, Nicolas Catena was not completely sure that Malbec could make a Grand Cru wine with complexity and ageing potential. It was his father, Domingo Vicente, aka D.V. Catena, who convinced him that Argentine Malbec could make a wine as great as the best of France. And it was his father’s encouragement that convinced Nicolás to start the MALBEC REVOLUTION. Early 1990’s - when Dr. Laura Catena was still a medical student and tried to help her dad by presenting Malbec to retailers and sommeliers, they would say “the CATENA MALBEC tastes amazing, but I can’t buy it because I won’t be able to sell it – wine consumers don’t know what Malbec is.” This lack of response to Malbec is what convinced Laura that she needed to be a part of the family winery to help change perception. 1999 Wall Street Journal - first story about Malbec in a major Catena in The Wall Street Journal, 1990 US newspaper, ranks CATENA MALBEC as #1. CATENA APPELLATIONS Story: A decade ago journalists kept on asking Laura Catena “what WHAT COMES comes after Malbec in Argentina?” This question would always AFTER MALBEC make Laura mad because Malbec is a grape with 2,000 years IN ARGENTINA? of history which has survived centuries of fame, near-extinction and rebirth. So Laura questioned the journalist: “Would you ask Aubert de Villaine of Romanée Conti what comes after Pinot Noir in Burgundy?” Laura proceeded to explain to this journalist how diverse the expressions of Malbec can be from North (Salta) to South (Patagonia) in Argentina and within the dierent sub-regions of Mendoza. Laura realized though, that to explain this extraordinary diversity of Malbec flavors, the wines from the dierent terroirs should be bottled separately, Wine Journalist - Laura Catena and that is how CATENA APPELLATIONS was born. Lunlunta: OLD VINES Old Vine Malbec, ripe flavors, silky tannins Story: Who is the old world for Malbec? In France less than 10 individual clones are left and vines are grafted. In Argentina there are hundreds of individual Malbec cuttings/clones (the Catena Cuttings represent 135 individual plants = a population of Malbec) which date back many centuries, and vines are planted in their own roots (not grafted on American rootstocks) much like they were in Europe before the Lunlunta, Mendoza phylloxera epidemic. Vista Flores: FRUITY, PINOT NOIR LIKE Deep soils, floral and fruity aromas, smooth tannins and delicate flavors – the most pinot-noir like Malbec. Story: Vista Flores means “view of the flowers.” There are many flowers planted in Vista Flores and the Malbec wines have floral aromas. Vista Flores, Mendoza La Consulta: CONCENTRATED - Blue fruits, concentrated, rich tannins. Story: DV Catena, Laura’s grandfather, said that he could fix any light wine by adding a “dollop” of La Consulta to the blend. It was La Consulta, Mendoza from this vineyard that he used Malbec in his famous Blend. Paraje Altamira: Violet aromas, MINERAL, CONCENTRATED AND SMOOTH - shallow alluvial gravelly soils, low yields. Story: Laura Catena and the Catena Institute fought to have the Altamira appellation established against foreign groups (from USA and Russia) who had trademarked the appellation’s name, Altamira. Paraje Altamira, Mendoza DV CATENA TINTO HISTORICO DV CATENA, DOMINGO VICENTE CATENA, is Nicolás Catena’s father. He had to leave school at age 10 to help his father in the vineyard and winery. DV’s father was Nicola Catena the Italian immigrant who founded the Catena winery in 1902. (note that Nicola is the Italian spelling of Nicolas and in Italian tradition, the oldest grandson takes the name of his grandfather and that is why Nicolas Catena was named so). Although DV CATENA led a simple country life, he was very Domingo Vicente Catena ambitious. Story: When DV went to Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital and saw its fancy Parisian-styled restaurants, he saw a wine market waiting to be conquered. He created the powerful TINTO BUENOS AIRES, a blend of Malbec, Bonarda and Petit Verdot which became the rage in all the restaurants where it was sold in carafes. DV CATENA would send the wine to the city in oak casks. When Malbec first came to Argentina in the 19th century it was planted mixed with its Bordeaux brother Petit Verdot, and those mixed Malbec and Petit Verdot vineyards were called “uva francesa” or French grapes. That is why the DV CATENA is named TINTO HISTORICO because it is a historic blend for ARGENTINA as well as for the CATENA FAMILY. CATENA ALTA MALBEC ALTA means high, for CATENA’s High Altitude revolution – Nicolás Catena planted at high altitude looking for a cooler climate that would allow him to make wines with optimal natural acidity, complexity and the ability to age. Story: HISTORIC ROWS refers to the row by row selection for the ALTA (high) wines from CATENA’s Historic Vineyards – every vineyard has a parcel or rows that always provide the best wine – that is where CATENA ALTA comes from. LAURA CATENA – a still practicing pediatric emergency physician with a background in science from Harvard (biology) and Stanford (medicine) founded the CATENA INSTITUTE OF WINE in 1995 to better understand Mendoza’s high-altitude wine region and its signature grape – Malbec. Laura’s research led her to study the flavor of each vineyard down to each soil type and plant. When Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon (1992), Chardonnay (1993) and Malbec (1994) were released they became the first collectible wines from ARGENTINA. Catena Vineyards La Piramide Vineyard, Mendoza BODEGA CATENA ZAPATA The Pyramid - home to CATENA ZAPATA NICASIA, MALBEC ARGENTINO, NICOLAS CATENA ZAPATA, ADRIANNA VINEYARD VINOS DE PARCELA Story: Nicolás Catena traveled the world looking for inspiration to build his winery in the 1990’s. He decided that even though he has Italian and Spanish roots, he did not want to copy an Old World architectural style. Nicolás wanted to create something new that payed homage to the distinctive Mountain terroir of his native Mendoza. On a trip to Central America, Nicolás fell in love with the Mayan pyramids. The Mayans aspired to reach the highest levels in farming, math, language and architecture. This Native American culture was an inspiration for Nicolás to build the CATENA ZAPATA pyramid winery following the Mayan architectural style. NICASIA VINEYARD: “the GRANDMOTHER wine” Named after Laura’s great grandmother Nicasia, and is in Paraje Altamira. Story: This vineyard planted in the early 1990’s is named after Nicasia, who was Laura’s active grandmother (Laura’s real grandmother whom she never met was Angelica Zapata, Nicolas Catena’s mother, a schoolteacher and “academic mentor” to Nicolas; Angélica died in a car accident when Nicolas was only 18 years old.) And that was why Nicasia, Angelica’s mother and Laura’s Nicasia and Nicolás Catena with grandson great-grandmother functioned as Laura’s “live” grandmother.