2018 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec High Mountain Vines- Argentina, Mendoza (7/31/2021)
Day 1: Always like this producer and their base bottling usually delivers. This so far does not. Manufactured taste with ripe fruit, black licorice and spices. Not balanced at all. Very disappointing on a wine normally reliable. NOT recommended. 84 points
Day 2: A bit thin and lacks complexity. This tastes like a cheap wine and very disappointed as it used to be a go to Malbec. Maybe the vintage but this is poorly made. 84 points
Day 3: Sadly this wine is a former favorite but this vintage is terrible. Sweet and lacks complexity. Wondering if 2018 is a bad vintage or this winery is slipping on their lower end offerings. 82 points
Recommedation: Don’t purchase. (84 pts.)
2018 was an excellent vintage in Mendoza, so the second reason applies here…for some reason I’ve never been a big fan of Catena, but they do have some lovely Bordeaux blends from the late '90s that are still drinking well.
Not sure what happened to this bottle but looking at my notes of past wines always around 89. Will have to seek out another bottle but this one was terrible compared to the past.
It would be interesting to compare the Catena with the entry level 2018 Achaval-Ferrer Malbec, I think that both retails at the same price point. My bias towards Achaval suggests that it would perform much better than Catena.
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