WS Grand Tour (Walkaround Tasting) (New Orleans): Not a huge Malbec fan normally but this breaks the mold for me. Drinking so nicely right now. Rich mature fruits, chocolate and spices. Descriptors sound almost port-like but the fruit is more restrained than that and it would be a perfect dinner wine. This is a buy for dinner parties with almost winos.
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Fruit still very strong, along with some pleasant mushroom that adds richness. Smooth, dry, slightly spicy palate. Firm, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish.
Tasted this at Wine Spectator’s Grand Tour in New Orleans. This was a very nice surprise. Who says Argentinian wines don’t age well? My wife and DQ may have liked this even more than I did.
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Mint, blackcurrant, juice soaked pastry, and undergrowth all present on the nose. Beautifully presented in great balance on the palette. The 2014 Caro is the only other of these Argentine Cabernet Malbec blends that I’ve had, but based on this small sample size I will be seeking out as many as I can
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Limited notes taken. A deep purple core fading to a medium ruby outer edge. Damp herbs, soft leather, and baked damsons. Intense, concentrated, and full without overstepping the mark. Excellent.
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Opened two hours in advance of dinner. Put the cork back in and took to a BYOB to meet our friends Tom and Cindi. Dark fruit on the nose, the palate was blueberry, blackberry, tobacco, tree bark and dried leaves leading to a moderately long finish. My wife said it matched up to her lamb chops perfectly. My crab crusted halibut - not so much.
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Dinner with Doug: Pop and pour.Another bottle that didn't meet my expectation. There's some elegant nuance on the nose and it started out with some firm tannin that relaxed over the 2 hours that we drank it. Overall muted.
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Deep purple and barely showing its age. This cab-malbec blend was full-bodied, well-balanced, and still had a few rough edges on the tannins that smoothed out over the course of several hours, and some crisp acidity, which leads me to believe that it has several good years ahead of it (too bad it was my last bottle). The finish just goes on and on. Very enjoyable.
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Il présente un premier nez ouvert de notes grillées et de charbon. Arômes fruitées de confiture aux bleuets...cassis...cerises noirs, d'allumette, de notes animales...charcuterie, d'épices, d'olives et soupçon de pot-pourri...très complexe et intense ! Un vin fruité et souple aux tannins fins. Son fruit est concentré et liquoreux. Frais, rond et fondu. Long et charmeur...notes de fruits noirs mûrs et de moka. Délicieux ! Dans son apogée...boire d'ici 2024. 94++
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showing its age in a good way. Deep garnet, notes of dried blackberry with tertiary flavors of smoke, tobacco and earth. Tannins soft and well integrated with a medium, acidic finish. While this is drinking very well now, doubt it has more than a year (maybe two) left in its prime.
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Mixed WTDS: AKA "Bring a Nice Bottle" (St. Genevieve, Mpls, MN): Very dark red /purple color. PNP, drank a glass over an hour. This was nice wine that had the unenviable position of following the '00 Rausan-Segla. That was a tough act to follow, but this drank well showing a nice core of deep, dark fruits, blackberry, black raspberry, tar and pleasant structure. Well made and balanced.
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Drinking beautifully right now. Very full-bodied and weighty on the palate but also very smooth and reminiscent of a nicely aged, classified- growth Bordeaux. The merlot comes through nicely to help round things out.
Full bodied. Dark cherries and fruits, licorice and spices. Smooth tannins. Excellent and elegant wine. Ready to dring now but can still rest in cellar for few years
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This is an intensely dark color with a brooding nose of black fruits, creosote, creme de cassis new, charred wood and spice. More creme de cassis and black fruits on the palate along with wood spice. This is a brooding wine that is still unformed and clearly in a dumb phase at present. That said, given the pedigree and the INCREDIBLY fine tannins, this should improve over the next few years, but right now it's simply too youthful! drink 2023-2033+ 92+
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The malbec really shows through with notes of licorice and spice. I want to like this wine so much but I guess I just don't like Argentinian malbec blend when subconsciously, I looking for Cali cabernet. Well made wine though.
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Decanted for 2 hours. Delicious with cumin marinated chicken, grilled peppers and guacamole, but lacks the depth I was hoping for given the price point. Might benefit from a few more years of age.
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Very nice Bordeaux blend of cabernet and high altitude Malbec. Fine tannins, blueberries, cassis and a bit of vanilla from the oak. Very austere. Drinking very well at age 10, it could go for another ten years in the cellar. Second bottle of twelve.
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Very Good, but not great. Garnet colored, smooth entry, dark cherry iiqueur notes at first, mid-palate was .... OK. The wine evolved, improved, the medium length finish became more cabernet like, a smidgen of pencil lead and some earth/loamy notes, less red fruit as the night wore on. Served at a family gathering, most liked it, a few really liked it.
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Holidays 2018 (Dogwood Grove): Drinks like a Bordeaux with an Argentinian accent (which is what it is …), but I was perhaps expecting more power here. Structured and defined, with a pleasant nose of cherry liqueur and strawberry, and an elegant palate with resolved tannins and plum and cassis-driven flavors. Finesse and femininity, which maybe was a surprise. At the end of the day, I might prefer my Bordeaux sourced from Bordeaux.
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Needs more age. Big structure to this wine. Red fruits with cherry and raspberry liquor with some spice notes. Silky smooth and long. Very well made. Give at least 5 more years. Good value vs cAlifornia .
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In Spring 2018 this wine is extremely young with no signs of age. It is full-bodied with dark cherry, loamy notes. Tannins are strong and the length of the finish lingers on and on. Rasberry notes follow and one is left with the sense that this is California-like with another decade to go. Classic!
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I started to understand this wine 24 hour after opening. This is a very particular "subtle & fruity" kind of Cabernet... Not my kind (as all Catena's I have tried)... But after 24 hours, it started to show it's character and structure. Nose still very shy & herbal... but palate shows big and full of soft tannins... It has potential, but NEEDS TIME. By now, I'm not sure this a "100$ + Wine", but I will hold my two other bottles... at least 5 more years. 91+
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Outstanding. Will drink my second bottle in five years. Well balanced with a long finish. Great structure. Spice, wood and cassis. Just excellent. Will try to get more.
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Right off the bat, this is rich, but unformed. Spice-driven, with purple and black fruits, creosote and a hint of wood. Full-bodied and very supple tannin. Loaded with salty minerals. The vibrancy and texture of this wine are just fantastic. A bit understated, this could use a bit of flash or volume to justify the price, but there is no doubting the pedigree and undeniable quality. Later: not much different. This is a baby with a long future ahead of it! Drink 2017-2027+ 94+
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Steep price but smooth as silk after a short decant. Very nice bottle with red and black fruits, spice, oak, and licorice. Combination Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. This would probably cost close to double if from California. It can last a long time.
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South or Sweet (Q2 wine party) (The Apartment): (Wine #11 - South America) Would love to see this wine in a few years. We have the Adrianna vineyard (same year and producer) and I think we're going to end up letting that one sleep for a bit more time. Very elegant wine, mostly red fruit but a touch of black, the dominant trait right now is tannin, but that will fade.
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Decanted for 1 hour. Consumed during 4 hrs. Still very Young, Needs a few years. Nice wine, but my favourite vintages of catena are still the 2005 and 2007. 92 pts now, in a few years maybe 93(+)
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#BYOB - Heavy fruit, almond paste, liquorice, vanilla oak and boiled green peas. Good acidity and balance, raw wooden dry finish with distinct tannins. This is an immaculate and high quality wine, but I have very little to say about it and unfortunately this comes on as somewhat of a pastiche new world wine.
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Lots of fruit, almost dense and heavy aromas paired with tobacco notes. This is a warm wine but with a bit of too much of everything, even though that everything is of very high quality. In my opinion, too heavy and too high in alcohol and lacks a bit of elegance – too much of that archetypical new world flavors. When the wine was disclosed I was almost disappointed to learn that this is one Catena’s top cuvee, had expected the Nicolas to have more refinement. Too pricey as well. Check out Catena’s White Bones and White Stones instead. Superb whites. 90-91
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Tasted twice. Black fruit, well-structured, huge body, medium+ finish. Some tannins on the back feel like it needs a few more years in bottle. Recommended.
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Tasted blind as part of WSET Level 3 class. Deep purple in colour. Pronounced intensity nose of sweet plums, stewed tomatoes, blackberry, stewed black cherries, vanilla, nutmeg, cedar, game, earth, violet, lavender, smoke and charred wood. Medium plus acidity, high tannins and full bodied with a long finish. Damsum plums, black cherries, chocolate, ginger, nutmeg, earth, smoke, char, vanilla and dark chocolate on the palate. Outstanding wine, although I'm not sure I'd fork out for it at this price.
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Trialto New World Classics Catalogue Tasting (Fine Wine Reserve): Back on point here and again reminiscent of Bordeaux. Nose balances sawdust, coffee bean, pencil shavings and earth against dark berry and plum fruit. Hindered just a touch by a bit of a plastic note. Palate is a bit more firm than the other wines in the lineup and finishes on some noted tannin. Replays licorice notes on the finish. Decidedly less rustic than the Adrianna Malbec is today, but still shows some old-world sensibility.
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Argentina/Catena Zapata visit, etc; 4/9/2013-4/12/2013: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Malbec. 1997 was the first vintage of Nicolas Catena and it was 90% Cab. big red fruit expression on the nose. wax and pencil. spice and black fruit palate. supposedly, the secret is that there is 1-2% PV or CF in here. again, herb finish on the palate. all of these wines have immediate accessibility to them. 1000-1500cs.
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4/26/2024 - Decanting Queen Likes this wine: 94 Points
WS Grand Tour (Walkaround Tasting) (New Orleans): Not a huge Malbec fan normally but this breaks the mold for me. Drinking so nicely right now. Rich mature fruits, chocolate and spices. Descriptors sound almost port-like but the fruit is more restrained than that and it would be a perfect dinner wine.
This is a buy for dinner parties with almost winos.
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4/26/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fruit still very strong, along with some pleasant mushroom that adds richness. Smooth, dry, slightly spicy palate. Firm, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish.
Tasted this at Wine Spectator’s Grand Tour in New Orleans. This was a very nice surprise. Who says Argentinian wines don’t age well? My wife and DQ may have liked this even more than I did.
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2/2/2024 - Amberissey Likes this wine: 93 Points
Mint, blackcurrant, juice soaked pastry, and undergrowth all present on the nose. Beautifully presented in great balance on the palette. The 2014 Caro is the only other of these Argentine Cabernet Malbec blends that I’ve had, but based on this small sample size I will be seeking out as many as I can
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1/28/2024 - paintinginacave Likes this wine: 90 Points
Limited notes taken. A deep purple core fading to a medium ruby outer edge. Damp herbs, soft leather, and baked damsons. Intense, concentrated, and full without overstepping the mark. Excellent.
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9/29/2023 - markcic Likes this wine: 92 Points
Opened two hours in advance of dinner. Put the cork back in and took to a BYOB to meet our friends Tom and Cindi. Dark fruit on the nose, the palate was blueberry, blackberry, tobacco, tree bark and dried leaves leading to a moderately long finish. My wife said it matched up to her lamb chops perfectly. My crab crusted halibut - not so much.
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4/30/2023 - galewskj wrote: 91 Points
Dinner with Doug: Pop and pour.Another bottle that didn't meet my expectation. There's some elegant nuance on the nose and it started out with some firm tannin that relaxed over the 2 hours that we drank it. Overall muted.
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6/20/2022 - SSGibson Likes this wine: 92 Points
Deep purple and barely showing its age. This cab-malbec blend was full-bodied, well-balanced, and still had a few rough edges on the tannins that smoothed out over the course of several hours, and some crisp acidity, which leads me to believe that it has several good years ahead of it (too bad it was my last bottle). The finish just goes on and on. Very enjoyable.
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1/8/2022 - ChateauDutremble Likes this wine: 94 Points
Il présente un premier nez ouvert de notes grillées et de charbon. Arômes fruitées de confiture aux bleuets...cassis...cerises noirs, d'allumette, de notes animales...charcuterie, d'épices, d'olives et soupçon de pot-pourri...très complexe et intense ! Un vin fruité et souple aux tannins fins. Son fruit est concentré et liquoreux. Frais, rond et fondu. Long et charmeur...notes de fruits noirs mûrs et de moka. Délicieux ! Dans son apogée...boire d'ici 2024. 94++
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12/26/2021 - VinedyRoad Likes this wine: 92 Points
showing its age in a good way. Deep garnet, notes of dried blackberry with tertiary flavors of smoke, tobacco and earth. Tannins soft and well integrated with a medium, acidic finish. While this is drinking very well now, doubt it has more than a year (maybe two) left in its prime.
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10/23/2021 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Wine Spectator 40th Anniversary; 10/21/2021-10/23/2021 (Marriott Marquis): Lovely wine on its own. It's a big Malbec with red fruits and tannin and starting to get leather and just starting to get a bit more secondary. Needs more time but I think this is going good places.
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10/7/2021 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
Still dining outside in MN October (St. Genevieve): Decanted one hour. After a 2000 Rauzan Segla this seemed quite simply. Lots of fruit here, a touch of vanilla. Pleasant enough, soft and smooth.
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10/7/2021 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
Mixed WTDS: AKA "Bring a Nice Bottle" (St. Genevieve, Mpls, MN): Very dark red /purple color. PNP, drank a glass over an hour. This was nice wine that had the unenviable position of following the '00 Rausan-Segla. That was a tough act to follow, but this drank well showing a nice core of deep, dark fruits, blackberry, black raspberry, tar and pleasant structure. Well made and balanced.
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4/5/2021 - Bariloche2000 wrote:
missing at the inventory
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2/27/2021 - Klyman1 wrote: 92 Points
Drinking beautifully right now. Very full-bodied and weighty on the palate but also very smooth and reminiscent of a nicely aged, classified- growth Bordeaux. The merlot comes through nicely to help round things out.
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9/5/2020 - Kenny_Powers Likes this wine: 92 Points
Surprised how much I liked this. Anime change of pace from my usual cab drinking. Paired nicely with some bbq ribs.
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8/9/2020 - MikaK Likes this wine: 94 Points
Full bodied. Dark cherries and fruits, licorice and spices. Smooth tannins. Excellent and elegant wine. Ready to dring now but can still rest in cellar for few years
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7/3/2020 - KenPlace wrote: 92 Points
Beginning to develop tertiary characteristics. Drinking very well. Decanted for 2 hours.
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5/3/2020 - flowersd wrote:
Good
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4/9/2020 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is an intensely dark color with a brooding nose of black fruits, creosote, creme de cassis new, charred wood and spice. More creme de cassis and black fruits on the palate along with wood spice. This is a brooding wine that is still unformed and clearly in a dumb phase at present. That said, given the pedigree and the INCREDIBLY fine tannins, this should improve over the next few years, but right now it's simply too youthful! drink 2023-2033+ 92+
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1/18/2020 - chanukha wrote: 90 Points
The malbec really shows through with notes of licorice and spice. I want to like this wine so much but I guess I just don't like Argentinian malbec blend when subconsciously, I looking for Cali cabernet. Well made wine though.
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9/14/2019 - bobadopolis Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted for 2 hours. Delicious with cumin marinated chicken, grilled peppers and guacamole, but lacks the depth I was hoping for given the price point. Might benefit from a few more years of age.
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7/28/2019 - JackLynch00@gmail.com wrote: 95 Points
Very well made, and drinking beautifully now. Obviously New World with all the bigness that implies, but impeccably balanced.
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7/27/2019 - Bariloche2000 wrote: 93 Points
Excellent wine, ready for drinking but can easily stay another 6-8 years in the cellar.
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2/11/2019 - klaus3974 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very nice Bordeaux blend of cabernet and high altitude Malbec. Fine tannins, blueberries, cassis and a bit of vanilla from the oak. Very austere. Drinking very well at age 10, it could go for another ten years in the cellar. Second bottle of twelve.
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2/10/2019 - Iceman611 wrote: 93 Points
Smooth and well rounded. This is drinking wonderfully right now.
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1/20/2019 - Carlisa88 wrote: 90 Points
Very Good, but not great. Garnet colored, smooth entry, dark cherry iiqueur notes at first, mid-palate was .... OK. The wine evolved, improved, the medium length finish became more cabernet like, a smidgen of pencil lead and some earth/loamy notes, less red fruit as the night wore on. Served at a family gathering, most liked it, a few really liked it.
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1/6/2019 - pgb67 wrote: 90 Points
Holidays 2018 (Dogwood Grove): Drinks like a Bordeaux with an Argentinian accent (which is what it is …), but I was perhaps expecting more power here. Structured and defined, with a pleasant nose of cherry liqueur and strawberry, and an elegant palate with resolved tannins and plum and cassis-driven flavors. Finesse and femininity, which maybe was a surprise. At the end of the day, I might prefer my Bordeaux sourced from Bordeaux.
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12/31/2018 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine: 94 Points
Needs more age. Big structure to this wine. Red fruits with cherry and raspberry liquor with some spice notes. Silky smooth and long. Very well made. Give at least 5 more years. Good value vs cAlifornia .
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12/7/2018 - chanukha Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still evolving and lots of stuffing left. Needs a good hour decant.
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4/13/2018 - Huh wrote: 95 Points
In Spring 2018 this wine is extremely young with no signs of age. It is full-bodied with dark cherry, loamy notes. Tannins are strong and the length of the finish lingers on and on. Rasberry notes follow and one is left with the sense that this is California-like with another decade to go. Classic!
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11/24/2017 - TACAMA wrote: 91 Points
I started to understand this wine 24 hour after opening.
This is a very particular "subtle & fruity" kind of Cabernet... Not my kind (as all Catena's I have tried)... But after 24 hours, it started to show it's character and structure.
Nose still very shy & herbal... but palate shows big and full of soft tannins... It has potential, but NEEDS TIME.
By now, I'm not sure this a "100$ + Wine", but I will hold my two other bottles... at least 5 more years.
91+
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8/25/2017 - franinnyc Likes this wine: 94 Points
Outstanding. Will drink my second bottle in five years. Well balanced with a long finish. Great structure. Spice, wood and cassis. Just excellent. Will try to get more.
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1/1/2017 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 94 Points
Right off the bat, this is rich, but unformed. Spice-driven, with purple and black fruits, creosote and a hint of wood. Full-bodied and very supple tannin. Loaded with salty minerals. The vibrancy and texture of this wine are just fantastic. A bit understated, this could use a bit of flash or volume to justify the price, but there is no doubting the pedigree and undeniable quality.
Later: not much different. This is a baby with a long future ahead of it! Drink 2017-2027+ 94+
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8/7/2016 - fcxj wrote: 88 Points
Enjoyable.
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7/23/2016 - Squilber Likes this wine: 93 Points
Steep price but smooth as silk after a short decant. Very nice bottle with red and black fruits, spice, oak, and licorice. Combination Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. This would probably cost close to double if from California. It can last a long time.
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3/24/2016 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very nice wine. Dark, inky, med bodied. Nice dark fruits. Loganberry, cherry cola, Blueberry pie. excellent wine for the price.
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2/17/2016 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Big blue/red fruit, med tannin & acid, blueberry/blackberry, California cab esque
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9/10/2015 - Iceman611 wrote: 93 Points
Very impressive. Deep broth flavor, very sharp
Acidity, good tannins. Reminds me of Anjelica care a Zapata I enjoyed in Brazil.
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8/7/2015 - Anthony Zullo wrote: 92 Points
Very good....
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5/16/2015 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
South or Sweet (Q2 wine party) (The Apartment): (Wine #11 - South America) Would love to see this wine in a few years. We have the Adrianna vineyard (same year and producer) and I think we're going to end up letting that one sleep for a bit more time. Very elegant wine, mostly red fruit but a touch of black, the dominant trait right now is tannin, but that will fade.
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3/24/2015 - pdev wrote: 95 Points
mostly cabernet 75% & malbec 25%.
Dark cab fruit, pencil lead, excellent intensity, dusty tannins, very well made. Nice complexity.
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10/24/2014 - Romol Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for 1 hour. Consumed during 4 hrs.
Still very Young, Needs a few years. Nice wine, but my favourite vintages of catena are still the 2005 and 2007.
92 pts now, in a few years maybe 93(+)
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6/15/2014 - Lilja wrote: 90 Points
#BYOB - Heavy fruit, almond paste, liquorice, vanilla oak and boiled green peas.
Good acidity and balance, raw wooden dry finish with distinct tannins. This is an immaculate and high quality wine, but I have very little to say about it and unfortunately this comes on as somewhat of a pastiche new world wine.
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6/13/2014 - Mascarello59 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lots of fruit, almost dense and heavy aromas paired with tobacco notes. This is a warm wine but with a bit of too much of everything, even though that everything is of very high quality. In my opinion, too heavy and too high in alcohol and lacks a bit of elegance – too much of that archetypical new world flavors. When the wine was disclosed I was almost disappointed to learn that this is one Catena’s top cuvee, had expected the Nicolas to have more refinement. Too pricey as well. Check out Catena’s White Bones and White Stones instead. Superb whites. 90-91
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5/19/2014 - thetong wrote: 94 Points
2014 Nantucket Food and Wine Festival:
Tasted twice. Black fruit, well-structured, huge body, medium+ finish. Some tannins on the back feel like it needs a few more years in bottle. Recommended.
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4/16/2014 - drunken sommelier Likes this wine:
Tasted blind as part of WSET Level 3 class. Deep purple in colour. Pronounced intensity nose of sweet plums, stewed tomatoes, blackberry, stewed black cherries, vanilla, nutmeg, cedar, game, earth, violet, lavender, smoke and charred wood. Medium plus acidity, high tannins and full bodied with a long finish. Damsum plums, black cherries, chocolate, ginger, nutmeg, earth, smoke, char, vanilla and dark chocolate on the palate. Outstanding wine, although I'm not sure I'd fork out for it at this price.
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9/25/2013 - Wine Canuck wrote: 91 Points
Trialto New World Classics Catalogue Tasting (Fine Wine Reserve): Back on point here and again reminiscent of Bordeaux. Nose balances sawdust, coffee bean, pencil shavings and earth against dark berry and plum fruit. Hindered just a touch by a bit of a plastic note. Palate is a bit more firm than the other wines in the lineup and finishes on some noted tannin. Replays licorice notes on the finish. Decidedly less rustic than the Adrianna Malbec is today, but still shows some old-world sensibility.
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4/11/2013 - nzinkgraf wrote:
Argentina/Catena Zapata visit, etc; 4/9/2013-4/12/2013: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Malbec. 1997 was the first vintage of Nicolas Catena and it was 90% Cab. big red fruit expression on the nose. wax and pencil. spice and black fruit palate. supposedly, the secret is that there is 1-2% PV or CF in here. again, herb finish on the palate. all of these wines have immediate accessibility to them. 1000-1500cs.
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