'White Bones' Adrianna Vineyard Chardonnay 2009 - Catena Zapata

Adrianna Vineyard White Bones Chardonnay 2009 — Catena Zapata

This White Bones Chardonnay 2009 from Catena Zapata belongs to the great single-parcel wines of the Adrianna Vineyard, one of Argentina’s most emblematic high-altitude vineyards. Located in Gualtallary, in the Uco Valley, this extreme terroir allows Chardonnay to combine solar ripeness, Andean freshness, limestone tension and mineral depth.

The 2009 vintage offers a rare expression, now evolved, yet still carried by the natural acidity of the site. The wine combines white fruits, ripe pear, white peach, apricot, lemon, hazelnut, light honey, crushed stone, white flowers and marked salinity. A great Argentine Chardonnay, both ample, precise and singularly mineral, often compared with fine Burgundian expressions for its depth and complexity.

Terroir: White Bones, limestone and extreme altitude

White Bones comes from selected rows within < 1.3; font-weight: 400; color: #5b0b16; text-align: left;"> Terroir: White Bones, limestone and extreme altitude

Block 1 of the Adrianna Vineyard, in the district of Gualtallary, at around 1,450 metres above sea level. The name of the cuvée refers to the limestone deposits and fossilised bone fragments found in the subsoil, remnants of an ancient riverbed.

This combination of altitude, limestone soils, very cool nights and intense sunlight gives Chardonnay a particularly distinctive identity: floral aromas, vertical energy, saline sensation, chalky texture and great persistence. Fermentation with indigenous yeasts, ageing in 500-litre oak foudres and bottling without fining or filtration reinforce the pure and expressive reading of this terroir.

Tasting notes

Expression of the 2009 vintage

The 2009 vintage gives this Chardonnay a ripe, dense and textured expression, perfectly held by the high-altitude freshness of the Adrianna Vineyard. After more than fifteen years of evolution, the wine is entering a more patinated phase of complexity, with notes of yellow fruit, fine honey, hazelnut, wax, warm stone and sweet spices, without losing its saline and limestone backbone.

Progressive opening is recommended, without prolonged decanting, in order to preserve the balance between richness, tension and evolved nuances. Serving it around 11 to 12°C will reveal the texture of Chardonnay, the freshness of the Gualtallary terroir and the mineral depth of White Bones.