2004 - Catena Zapata, Nicolas Catena Zapata

The 2004 Nicolas Catena Zapata is blended with 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Malbec, and has a deep garnet color. It needs a fair bit of swirling to unlock the scents of stewed plums, boysenberry preserves, and crème de cassis with hints of violets, charcuteries, tar, and clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is concentrated, delivering mouth-coating blackcurrant preserves and firm, ripe, grainy tannins with seamless freshness, finishing long and spicy. It has a long life ahead!

Softened to a sunset brick colour at 20 years old, grilled and smoky turmeric spice on the opening, this has a generosity and warmth to it that is totally delicious. Waves of blackberry and olive pit, oak influence still in evidence, giving campfire notes that weave through the fine tannic frame. 80% new oak for ageing.

(14% alcohol; 5.8 g/l acidity; 3.72 pH): Full medium red. Vibrant, expressive scents of cassis, black cherry, licorice and violet. Densely packed and quite firmly built, conveying terrific juicy intensity and a restrained sweetness to its youthful dark fruit flavors. Some peppery acidity gives this very penetrating wine a slight leanness. With its firm vertebral column, this wine still needs time to gain in pliancy. Incidentally, this was the first vintage of the Nicolás Catena Zapata to include some Malbec vinified with whole clusters, and that no doubt explains its peppery element.