"For some growers, the 2021 vintage, marked by some rain in February that tempered harvest temperatures in March, represents the closest thing to a Bordeaux year in Mendoza. In this sense, 2021 was an ideal vintage for grape varieties of Bordeaux origin. This unique situation is clearly reflected in Malbec Nicolás Vineyard 2021, which unveils a new label for this vintage after being aged for up to 21 months in French oak barrels. The wine blends 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Malbec and 10% Cabernet Franc from Uco Valley vineyards. Deep purple with a garnet hue, it opens with delicate Bordeaux-like nuances of cassis and ash, tobacco, black fruit and cherry. Expressive and compact, with notes of cedar on a long, persistent finish. 2025-2045" (Vinous 2024)
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Eye
Deep purple color, clean and brilliant.
Nose
Smooth and nuanced, with an aromatic palette of blackcurrant, black cherry, tobacco and white pepper, deliciously complex and spicy.
Mouth
Silky and elegant, it gradually offers magnificent balance and harmony, the flavours comforting the palate with their similarity to our Bordeaux blends, but offering delicious spice right through to a persistent, textured finish.
Serve
At 16-18°C
Open
2 hours before
Drink from
2025
Drink before
2045
Food and wine pairing
Enjoy with duck parmentier with truffles, thin slices of Wagyu beef, an Argentinian Asado...
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate
Wine rated (2023 guide) 96+/100 (Extraordinary wine)
Domaine noté Recommended (Wine producer recommended by Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate)
About the wine:
Nicolás Catena Zapata 2021 was produced with a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Malbec and 10% Cabernet Franc from the Nicasia and Adrianna vineyards. It was fermented in small oak barrels, concrete and stainless steel tanks and matured in 2,000-liter oak foudres for 18 months. It's a powerful yet fresh red, with 13.7% alcohol and gentle acidity, perhaps because the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested earlier (and with lower yields) and the clay soils were abandoned in favor of stonier plots. The wine is more fluid and elegant. 2021 is a fresh and very good year, in line with 2019, and the wine shows the classic herbaceous and spicy character of Bordeaux varietals, with pungent notes of black pepper, and is spicier due to the high Cabernet Franc content. 2024-2034
Jancis Robinson
Recommended area
Vinous
Wine rated (2024 guide) 96/100
About the wine:
For some growers, the 2021 vintage, marked by some rain in February that tempered harvest temperatures in March, represents the closest thing to a Bordeaux year in Mendoza. In this sense, 2021 was an ideal vintage for grape varieties of Bordeaux origin. This unique situation is clearly reflected in Malbec Nicolás Vineyard 2021, which unveils a new label for this vintage after being aged for up to 21 months in French oak barrels. The wine blends 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Malbec and 10% Cabernet Franc from Uco Valley vineyards. Deep purple with a garnet hue, it opens with delicate Bordeaux-like nuances of cassis and ash, tobacco, black fruit and cherry. Expressive and compact, with notes of cedar on a long, persistent finish. 2025-2045
James Suckling
Wine rated (2024 guide) 97/100
Recommended area
About the wine:
Sweet tobacco, cigar box, berries and minerals. The nose is a little zesty and lemony. The palate is very refined and juicy, with lots of fine tannins. Silky, fluid and linear, with a very elegant, soft finish. 46% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Adrianna vineyard and 44% Malbec and 10% Cabernet Franc from the Nicasia vineyard. Very refined, long and Bordeaux-like. This wine is already drinking well, but it will stay that way for a long time.
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