2017 Catena Zapata DV Catena Tinto Histórico Mendoza 750 ml

When James Suckling’s 94-point review for Catena Zapata’s D.V. Catena Tinto Historico was published, the winery’s phone rang off the hook and their email server was swamped—but we were outside the fray, having secured our allocation of this incredible value weeks earlier, a direct result of our members’ enthusiasm for past vintages.

We tasted the Tinto Historico well before Suckling called it “a stunning wine for this price point,” and we knew the 2017 was destined to be one of the quality-to-price champions of the year. It’s the best vintage yet of a wine that is always among our most re-ordered, so we didn’t wait for the scores. And when the 94-point score came out, we weren’t surprised—just relieved to have gotten the jump on our allocation.

Dark reddish-purple, with a nearly black center, we could tell before it reached our nose in the glass that this was going to be a powerful bottle, and it lived up to that promise once we started tasting. The nose is effusive, with blackberries, wild blueberry jam, and black currant aromas, accented by a hint of tobacco and cedar. The palate is plush, with soft tannins and waves of fruit. With plenty of body and a silky, round texture, it’s hard to believe this isn’t a $40 bottle. 

The reason for the D.V. Catena’s absurd level of quality is simple: It’s made by Alejandro Vigil, the quality-obsessed winemaking wizard who earned the first 100-point score for a South American wine from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. As the chief winemaker at Catena, he’s channeled his restless, obsessive spirit into creating a luxury brand in a region known only for bargain wine—though, clearly, his wines don’t always come with luxury prices. 

Vigil makes the D.V. Catena Tinto Historico to honor Domingo Vicente Catena, one of the patriarchs of the family, who was famous in the 1930s for his deep, bold red wines. As was the custom of the time, they were blends of multiple grapes, and so the Tinto Historico is made up of 72% Malbec, which brings power and structure, 21% Bonarda, which softens the blend and provides rich fruit, and 7% Petit Verdot, which contributes color and aromatic intensity.

Those grapes are sourced from four beautiful estate vineyards—Lunlunta, Gualtallary, Eugenio Bustos, and El Mirador—planted at an average of nearly 3,500 feet of elevation. The magic and grandeur of these sites comes through in the glass in striking fashion, as the extreme height has allowed for the slow ripening of the grapes into a dramatic, rich wine.

Add it all up and you get a wine that has earned every one of its 94 points, and comes at a hard-to-comprehend price. Something tells us that when it comes to our members and Catena Zapata, we’re looking at another year of intense enthusiasm.