90-Wine Advocate. The 2009 Catena Chardonnay combines the unique expressions of two high altitude Catena estate vineyards. The Agrelo vineyard offers honeyed stone fruit flavors with a rich, unctuous mouthfeel, while the Tupungato vineyard lends citrus notes, pear and fig flavors with a strong minerality and a crisp finish. "Aromas of buttered popcorn, pear, apple, and baking spices; impeccable balance, precision finish."

Producer

Over the past 20 years, Nicolás and Laura Catena and their vineyard management team have worked tirelessly in the discovery, identification and development of key microclimates in the high altitude wine country of Mendoza, Argentina. Nicolás Catena has planted an almost countless number of varietals and clones throughout his mountain vineyard sites. This quest for quality lead Nicolás and Laura Catena to a crucial discovery regarding the influence of altitude on grape cultivation in Mendoza. Observing the important differences in soil types, average temperatures and thermal amplitudes that exist at varying altitudes, he found that vineyard sites which are just a few kilometers apart can have vast differences in altitude and possess remarkably different microclimates. Over the years, the in depth study of these different microclimates led Nicolás to determine that the same varietal, and even the same clone, presented distinct aromatic and flavor profiles when cultivated in each of these unique microclimates. Implementing the age old art of assemblage, he found that by blending these different lots of the same varietal, he could achieve a more complex wine.