Catena Zapata Adrianna White Bones Chardonnay 2019 (750ML)

99 JS / 98 WA / 96 VM

#2 James Suckling's Top 100 Wines of Argentina 2021

Honeysuckle, ripe pear and some dried apple. So perfumed. Full-bodied with incredible intensity and length. So much green-apple character and lots of flowers. Dried mango, too. The touch of flor growth in the barrel gives this unique character. Goes on for minutes on the finish. Endless, vibrant acidity. Minerally texture. Drink now or hold.

One of our favorite whites in the world comes from the Catena family, in the Andean foothills of Mendoza. It is a genuinely unique and terroir-transparent chardonnay that rivals the best from Burgundy, expressing an exotically ripe yet mineral character with a sensual texture, as if transmitting the tangy energy of the chalky, calcareous soils rich in marine deposits to the nose and the palate. A thin layer of flor, or yeast, also adds a unique saline smack to the wine during the aging process. —James Suckling

The very minty 2019 White Bones Chardonnay comes from select rows within Block 1 of the Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary. The name refers to the soil underneath these rows, which is layered with calcareous deposits and limestone as well as fossilized animal bones—remnants of a river that used to pass through the region, closer to Los Cerrillos del Jaboncillo; it's an old soil in a new formation. 2019 is a cool vintage, and the wine is only 12.6% alcohol and has notable acidity (8.1 grams), and it always has a more extroverted personality than the more austere White Stones. It has tons of aromatic herbs, thyme, lavender, lemongrass, rockrose and balsamic with some curry (the wine had some aging under flor), and it has a vibrant palate where the acidity is effervescent and lively and the finish salty. It's vibrant and sharp, more in the style of a Chablis. Truly outstanding. This is a very recognizable wine. 6,000 bottles were filled in
May 2020.—Luiz Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate

The 2019 Chardonnay White Bones Adrianna Vineyard is from the eponymous vineyard in Tupungato and was aged for up to 16 months in used French barrels. Pale yellow with golden flecks. The intense aromatic profile is led by herbs such as basil and a crystal-clear lavender whiff, alongside cedar, vanilla and a backdrop of green apple. Broad and creamy on the palate but with a terse texture and superb freshness, this has an unctuous feel. White fruit aromas appear at the back of the mouth. Ending with a lovely, herbal finish, this is a wine inspired by Chablis but possessing a wild purity all its own.—Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media