Argentina's Bodega Catena Zapata reports best vintage in a decade

Argentina’s Bodega Catena Zapata’s head winemaker has described the 2019 vintage as “one of the best” of the past decade.  

Characterised by “perfectly healthy grapes”, the timing of the harvest was vital in achieving such quality, according to Alejandro Vigil in the winery’s 2019/2020 report released today.  

“We have thus obtained wines of great concentration and colour and of splendid acidity. We also predict an extraordinary ageing potential,” said the report.  

Last year’s summer started with higher than usual temperatures but then cooled down in February, with less snow in the winter months resulting in water shortages which led to total yields dropping by up to 30%.   The 2019/2020 harvest season was extremely dry, with rainfall 40% to 70% lower than the historical averages depending on individual regions, added the report.

Meanwhile, river flows were between 40% and 60%” lower than the average, and 11% lower compared to the 2019 harvest season.   There were concerns that some grapes would have to remain unpicked, while some of the vineyards best grapes remained on the vine following the government's quarantine restrictions on March 19th. However, a reprieve came through when wine was deemed an essential food product, and harvest was allowed to continue through the first week of April.   This is the earliest harvest that many winemakers can recall, according to the Catena report.