Catena Lunlunta Old Vines Appellation Malbec 2018 (Argentina) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine review is an excellent Malbec by from Argentina that arrived at the LCBO over the weekend as part of the February 20, 2021 LCBO VINTAGES Release and is one of the Wines of the Month.

Founded in 1902 by Nicola Catena, the family run winery is now operated by Dr. Laura Catena, the fourth generation of the family and daughter of Nicolás Catena Zapata. By now, Catena should be a household name as they are one of the most iconic and influential wine families of the past 100+ years while developing Mendoza into a world-class wine region. In 1995, Laura established the Catena Institute of Wine to focus on the study of terroir, and other research projects. Today, Catena wines are produced from six historic family estate vineyards and each of these vineyards is divided into parcels according to their soil composition, with each parcel farmed individually. Nearly all of Catena's vineyards are farmed sustainably and organically, focusing on lower yields and biodiversity.

Catena has a broad range of quality wines, and this particular bottling is from their Appellation "Village" wines collection that focus on rural towns with beautiful and historical vineyards in Mendoza. This bottle of Malbec is from one of their six historic family estate vineyards - the Angélica Vineyard in Lunlunta, an idyllic district of small orchards and tree-lined country roads. The Angélica Vineyard, named after Nicolás Catena Zapata's mother, is Catena's oldest vineyard and was planted in the 1930's. Lunlunta is well-known for its ancient Malbec vines and the constant breeze coming from the adjacent river bed. The vineyard is over 900 metres above sea level, while the soils in Lunlunta are alluvial in origin and have loamy clay in the topsoil with 5% surface stones. In addition, the sandy and loamy soils are 50% sand, 30% silt, and 20% clay, with subsoils composed of rounded rocks.

After loving the 2017 when it came to VINTAGES in February 2020, let's see how this latest vintage is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

CATENA LUNLUNTA OLD VINES APPELLATION MALBEC 2018 - Mendoza, Argentina (#11769) (XD) - $22.95
From 65 year old vines, this Malbec has a perfumed, fragrant, and highly aromatic nose that is ripe with complex notes of blackberry, stony mineral, black plum, dark berry, violet, spice, and touches of earth. The stony mineral and touches of smoke really leap out of the glass with time in the glass. It's medium-full bodied on the elegant palate with lovely dark berry, blackberry, stony mineral, violet, and spice flavours backed by fresh, balanced acidity and elegant, fine-grained tannins that have a mild grip on the back palate. Mineral, blackberry, and violets on the long, juicy, satisfying finish. Highly recommended buy to enjoy over the next 4-5 years. Score: 91+ pts

Other fabulous wines from Catena can be found at the LCBO, as well as through their Agent - Noble Estates Wines & Spirits.