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In Search of Flavor, Episode 21: The Argentine Wine Revolution with Laura Catena of Catena Wines

Jul 1, 2021 | Craftsmanship, Travel, Wine

WORDS BY Liz Caskey

PHOTOGRAPHS BY Francisco Ramírez

“The reason I believe the best wines in the world are made by multi-generational families is that they are made by trial and error. These unique, grand cru plots, like Adrianna Vineyard, are found like that.”

 

Today the passionate Laura Catena, president of Catena Zapata and Luca Wines in Argentina, joins us for a fun, fast-paced episode. She’s a fourth generation Argentine vintner and her great grandfather was the founder of the Catena winery in Mendoza in 1902 after emigrating from Italy. Her father, Nicolas Catena Zapata, often referred to as “the Robert Mondavi of Argentina,” helped facilitate the ascent of Argentine Malbec onto the world stage. Hailing from Mendoza, Argentina, Laura became a medical doctor before she started feeling the pull to get into the family business. She took her love of research and science, and passion for her family’s winery, and came on board. Laura also founded the research-driven Catena Institute of Wine to further study and promote Argentine grape varietals, terroir, and Malbec. She’s a multi-hyphenate who travels, lectures, and spreads the gospel of Argentine wine yet also finds the time to be a wife and mother to her family in San Francisco.

In this episode we talk about:

• Laura’s family background and growing up in an Italo-Argentine winemaking family.
• What led her to become a medical doctor and when she felt called to join the family business.
• How her father, Nicolas Catena, saw the potential for Malbec as one of the great wines of the world.
• The story behind Catena Zapata and how it conquered one consumer, one wine shop one by one.
• The scientific, and cultural basis for terroir, how it applies to Malbec and clonal material, and why Laura
founded the Catena Wine Institute.
• Her own project, Luca Wines, was an effort to preserve the small grape grower traditions in Argentina and how that
has evolved.
• Sharing her love for her country through writing and books published on Argentina and wine culture.

Resources
Luca Wines
Laura’s Instagram account
Catena Wines
Vino Argentino
Gold in the Vineyard
Catena Institute of Wine
Malbec Terroir Study

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