First glass was OK, with ripe fruit, with some medium acid and light tannin. But the finish was short, and by the second glass, any semblance of balance was gone, with overripe fruit dominating a bland experience. Perhaps I waited too long, but it is probable that the wine was not structured to begin with, unlike many others in its price range.
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The promise from five years ago is still there, in the form of a beautifully balanced and integrated New World Cabernet Sauvignon that puts many of its price point peers to shame. Medium (+) ruby with garnet hues on the rim. Clean, developing nose with black fruit and oak-influenced aromas. Blackberries, black plums, black currants with baking spice and toast. The palate is dry, but with rich, sweet fruit. The medium (+) tannins are rounded and well integrated and thus seem a little lighter. The alcohol is medium (+) and seems a little higher than the stated 13.9%. The bright, medium (+) acidity is a pleasant, palate-cleansing surprise which keeps you coming back for more. The palate is consistent with the nose and ends with a medium (+) to long finish with some hints of licorice, chocolate and herbs. This is a nimble, medium (+) to full-bodied wine which is good by itself but shines with a good steak. It is drinking beautifully now but has at least another 2 - 5 years left in its optimal drinking window. It has a great QPR. If drinking it blind I might have thought it a Malbec or a Malbec blend, but it has some subtle clues that bring it back to Cabernet S.
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Tuesday Night Double Blind <$30 (Bin 75): Black, stains the glass, dull reddish rim; dark fruit, some vegetal, autumnal, molasses, rustic, very ripe, almost sun-dried; dark fruit, berry, compact, ashy, still juicy, fruity; Malbec or very good Aglianico; very good.
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Decanted for an hour after pouring first through a Venturi. DW and I were very happy with this wine, stand-alone for an at-home movie night. Nothing out of this world, but easily 2 steps above our every-day type wine.
Aging ability probably is 1-2 years, and without a lot of tannin structure I wouldn't expect this to develop too much. Dark berry fruit comes out at once, it is medium fullness, and drinks well. At $40 I agree not good qpr, but at ~$25/bottle I am very happy with how it drinks
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A very flavorful wine, gentle and soft. Aromas of blackberry, chocolate and spice. Taste of blackberry, raspberry, vanilla with gritty, gentle tannins. Served with flank steak, rice and beans.
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WOTN for the 4 we opened. Big plum and cherry profile, rich and full - complemented with a leather and tobacco finish. Even better than my last bottle of 6/3/2011
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Very disappointing wine for the price tag. Very mineral at first almost got the feeling of sparkling water. After 1H on the decanter did not get any better very dry. I would stay away from this for 30+ dollars there are far better wines.
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This wine is a simple drinking, pretty decent wine. Nice integration of oak, fruit and tannins but does not have any "wow" factor or character that would make it special. Fair to poor QPR at $40. Did not officially score as I was at a restaurant with family and the wine glasses we were drinking out of were too small for proper evaluation.
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I continue to have consistent tasting notes/quality statements with this wine... it is a dry (though the polish makes it seem almost medium dry), full bodied, easy drinking, oaked, overt wine for early drinking made in a modern, polished style. I agree with the comments below that at nearly 40 USD it is rotten qpr... at what I found it for (20 USD) I think it is at least competitive for its style... there are no 8 USD wines out there that are in this quality range IMO... at 8 USD for oak influence you get chips (or staves at best) which would provide a completely different experience with integration of oak aromas and textures... this wine saw some expensive French barriques, no other way to get the degree of integration of baking spice/vanilla/oak tannins this wine has... drink up!
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consistent notes with the last 2 bottles, good plum and currant flavors. what I noticed this time was how polished the finish was. Long and smooth, this is a very nice wine.
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Very mundane, uninteresting, and didn't get better after opening up. A very New World, typically Argentinean profile - Cabernet with a little pyrazine greenness and spice, but nothing explosive or mind-shattering at all, and certainly not enough to justify the price tag. It didn't get any better by the second day either, just crapping out and becoming even more mundane. It's well-made enough for the style - acidity and tannins are in balance, but I've had $8 bottles on par with this. I actually poured out the remaining half of a decanter because I was so bored with it, and I almost never pour out wine. Incredibly disappointing.
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Small tasting note from a Store tasting of the majority of Catena's current lineup. Dark purple to black in color. The nose showed black cherry, cassis, a little vanilla, mint, and some oak going on. The palate was similar with black cherry, licorice, mint, and tannin. Decent wine, but kind of pushes it for the price. 90-91
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Frustratingly tight nose with a certain amount of turpentine. Good flavor concentration, firm tannins. A bit one-dimensional, a bit sweet. Short finish. Too expensive.
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Dark colored wine showing moderate to high extraction at the rim and a purple hue... very young looking wine. Aromatically extremely primary with plenty of dark fruits... plenty of barrique influence with vanilla and baking spices... any hints of earth are underneath all of this and not surprisingly not obvious. On the palate this wine has high acidity, a very plush midpalate that has a ton of polish on it (especially for a cab), a very smooth transition into a very high tannin finish that is very polymerized and plush. Balanced wine, good length, excellent intensity, low complexity. Finesse is so so, texture is fine, expression of place is pretty weak really. Overall this is a wine that will be liked by everyone as its texture is so, so pleasing and easy to like. I don't think aging this will give you a lot of positives... they aged it for you with all of the tannin polymerization work that is in the glass.
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This is always very god! I had the 2005 before (which I preferred). There's fruit, acidity and minerality here to balance the great body. Relatively soft tannins. Elegant strength.
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Tried it at Pappas' Argentinian Tasting. Very international in style, this wine is drinking beautifully right now but is likely to improve over the next 3-5 years. In a blind tasting, this could easily be mistaken for a high end California Cabernet costing significantly more. A great wine at a great price.
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6/23/2019 - Hschmitz Likes this wine: 91 Points
Super Alta. De skal bare ligge min. 10 år
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6/16/2019 - Hschmitz Likes this wine: 90 Points
Alta skal altså bare ligge længe. Holder flot.
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3/30/2019 - Hschmitz Likes this wine: 91 Points
Catena Alta skal bare ligge og ligge......2006 dejlig, kan godt ligge 5 år mere. Glæder mig til den næste.
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4/9/2018 - Hschmitz Likes this wine: 91 Points
stadig meget frisk. Kan stadig ligge nogle år endnu
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3/31/2018 - Hschmitz Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dejlig frisk Catena Alta. De skal typisk ligge mindst 10 år for at være super. Kan ligge yderligere 5 år.
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5/1/2017 - gggboss Likes this wine: 90 Points
Top Catena ,light tanins,evoluid,decanting 1 hr!Very good!
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12/4/2016 - Thief wrote: flawed
Completely corked. Wet cardboard. Bummer
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9/24/2016 - Hschmitz wrote: 84 Points
ok, lidt bordeaux-agtig men kort eftersmag.
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8/25/2016 - Hschmitz wrote: 88 Points
Behagelig vino, men ingen kant.
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5/4/2016 - Rich.Herbs wrote:
First glass was OK, with ripe fruit, with some medium acid and light tannin. But the finish was short, and by the second glass, any semblance of balance was gone, with overripe fruit dominating a bland experience. Perhaps I waited too long, but it is probable that the wine was not structured to begin with, unlike many others in its price range.
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5/4/2016 - Arch57 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rather than type a bunch of words on my iPhone I agree 100% with the review by Tannicbeast on this wine!
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1/19/2016 - Songforblue Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drink now
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9/5/2015 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 93 Points
consistent with notes of 8/30/2014 - peaking now, drink up.
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8/25/2015 - navybrat Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still drinking wonderfully. An amazing value.
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8/2/2015 - TannicBeast Likes this wine: 94 Points
The promise from five years ago is still there, in the form of a beautifully balanced and integrated New World Cabernet Sauvignon that puts many of its price point peers to shame. Medium (+) ruby with garnet hues on the rim. Clean, developing nose with black fruit and oak-influenced aromas. Blackberries, black plums, black currants with baking spice and toast. The palate is dry, but with rich, sweet fruit. The medium (+) tannins are rounded and well integrated and thus seem a little lighter. The alcohol is medium (+) and seems a little higher than the stated 13.9%. The bright, medium (+) acidity is a pleasant, palate-cleansing surprise which keeps you coming back for more. The palate is consistent with the nose and ends with a medium (+) to long finish with some hints of licorice, chocolate and herbs. This is a nimble, medium (+) to full-bodied wine which is good by itself but shines with a good steak. It is drinking beautifully now but has at least another 2 - 5 years left in its optimal drinking window. It has a great QPR. If drinking it blind I might have thought it a Malbec or a Malbec blend, but it has some subtle clues that bring it back to Cabernet S.
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9/9/2014 - Rezy13 Likes this wine:
Tuesday Night Double Blind <$30 (Bin 75): Black, stains the glass, dull reddish rim; dark fruit, some vegetal, autumnal, molasses, rustic, very ripe, almost sun-dried; dark fruit, berry, compact, ashy, still juicy, fruity; Malbec or very good Aglianico; very good.
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8/30/2014 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 93 Points
consistent with notes of 5/19/2013 - this wine is holding up very well over time
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6/8/2014 - andtheodor wrote: 91 Points
Surprisingly light and fresh cab, nothing heavy or ponderous. Might last, but no reason to wait, IMO.
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5/25/2014 - navybrat Likes this wine: 91 Points
This is rounding into a great value and very nice cab.
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5/9/2014 - spencermerrell@gmail.com wrote: 91 Points
Decanted for an hour after pouring first through a Venturi. DW and I were very happy with this wine, stand-alone for an at-home movie night. Nothing out of this world, but easily 2 steps above our every-day type wine.
Aging ability probably is 1-2 years, and without a lot of tannin structure I wouldn't expect this to develop too much. Dark berry fruit comes out at once, it is medium fullness, and drinks well. At $40 I agree not good qpr, but at ~$25/bottle I am very happy with how it drinks
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3/9/2014 - mouton45 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Cathy's birthday dinner
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1/25/2014 - spencermerrell@gmail.com Likes this wine: 90 Points
Drinking nice now, but no hurry on this one. Probably doesn't have much room for improvement, but it's holding together very nicely.
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7/27/2013 - dchisholm Likes this wine:
A very flavorful wine, gentle and soft. Aromas of blackberry, chocolate and spice. Taste of blackberry, raspberry, vanilla with gritty, gentle tannins. Served with flank steak, rice and beans.
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5/19/2013 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 93 Points
WOTN for the 4 we opened. Big plum and cherry profile, rich and full - complemented with a leather and tobacco finish. Even better than my last bottle of 6/3/2011
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5/12/2013 - falp wrote: 93 Points
excelent!!!!
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12/27/2012 - cgrohman wrote: 88 Points
fair, not worth the price and can't see it aging well. Fruit forward, not much body.
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11/23/2012 - Sundbyberg wrote: 89 Points
Smooth, harmoneus and very concentrated, but it does not stand out very much. 1 hr decant.
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10/25/2012 - markjanes wrote: 89 Points
All fruit and polish... a 'yum' wine that at $20 ish represents very good QPR IMO.
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9/30/2012 - Marcyrillo Likes this wine: 91 Points
Wow! Great wine for a home barbecue! Soft tanins, great freshness and balance, good complexity. Medium to long finish.
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8/9/2012 - rjc3 Likes this wine:
Good, but I will echo others questions if it is worth the price.
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7/27/2012 - GEDC wrote: 88 Points
Very disappointing wine for the price tag. Very mineral at first almost got the feeling of sparkling water. After 1H on the decanter did not get any better very dry. I would stay away from this for 30+ dollars there are far better wines.
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6/6/2012 - markjanes wrote: 88 Points
notes continue to be exactly the same for this wine...
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6/2/2012 - toddmk wrote:
This wine is a simple drinking, pretty decent wine. Nice integration of oak, fruit and tannins but does not have any "wow" factor or character that would make it special. Fair to poor QPR at $40. Did not officially score as I was at a restaurant with family and the wine glasses we were drinking out of were too small for proper evaluation.
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3/14/2012 - markjanes wrote: 87 Points
I continue to have consistent tasting notes/quality statements with this wine... it is a dry (though the polish makes it seem almost medium dry), full bodied, easy drinking, oaked, overt wine for early drinking made in a modern, polished style. I agree with the comments below that at nearly 40 USD it is rotten qpr... at what I found it for (20 USD) I think it is at least competitive for its style... there are no 8 USD wines out there that are in this quality range IMO... at 8 USD for oak influence you get chips (or staves at best) which would provide a completely different experience with integration of oak aromas and textures... this wine saw some expensive French barriques, no other way to get the degree of integration of baking spice/vanilla/oak tannins this wine has... drink up!
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11/21/2011 - uncle al wrote: 87 Points
An ok wine which doesn't say much. Some fruit but not so well structured.
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6/3/2011 - danielbleier wrote: 92 Points
consistent notes with the last 2 bottles, good plum and currant flavors. what I noticed this time was how polished the finish was. Long and smooth, this is a very nice wine.
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4/21/2011 - jsimmons wrote: 81 Points
Very mundane, uninteresting, and didn't get better after opening up. A very New World, typically Argentinean profile - Cabernet with a little pyrazine greenness and spice, but nothing explosive or mind-shattering at all, and certainly not enough to justify the price tag. It didn't get any better by the second day either, just crapping out and becoming even more mundane. It's well-made enough for the style - acidity and tannins are in balance, but I've had $8 bottles on par with this. I actually poured out the remaining half of a decanter because I was so bored with it, and I almost never pour out wine. Incredibly disappointing.
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3/26/2011 - manonthemoon wrote: 90 Points
Small tasting note from a Store tasting of the majority of Catena's current lineup.
Dark purple to black in color.
The nose showed black cherry, cassis, a little vanilla, mint, and some oak going on.
The palate was similar with black cherry, licorice, mint, and tannin.
Decent wine, but kind of pushes it for the price. 90-91
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2/7/2011 - Jack Cranley wrote: 85 Points
Frustratingly tight nose with a certain amount of turpentine. Good flavor concentration, firm tannins. A bit one-dimensional, a bit sweet. Short finish. Too expensive.
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1/26/2011 - danielbleier wrote: 91 Points
consistent with prior notes.
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1/8/2011 - pmik wrote: 90 Points
Quite rough and closed. Will probably benefit a lot from a few years more. Wait till 2013.
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12/17/2010 - danielbleier wrote: 91 Points
spicy plum, rich flavors, great funk on the nose...not complex, but very solid.
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11/2/2010 - markjanes wrote: 88 Points
Dark colored wine showing moderate to high extraction at the rim and a purple hue... very young looking wine. Aromatically extremely primary with plenty of dark fruits... plenty of barrique influence with vanilla and baking spices... any hints of earth are underneath all of this and not surprisingly not obvious. On the palate this wine has high acidity, a very plush midpalate that has a ton of polish on it (especially for a cab), a very smooth transition into a very high tannin finish that is very polymerized and plush. Balanced wine, good length, excellent intensity, low complexity. Finesse is so so, texture is fine, expression of place is pretty weak really. Overall this is a wine that will be liked by everyone as its texture is so, so pleasing and easy to like. I don't think aging this will give you a lot of positives... they aged it for you with all of the tannin polymerization work that is in the glass.
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10/12/2010 - Skyy wrote: 88 Points
Munskänkarna Argentinaprovning (Landskrona): Mycket mörk blåröd färg, nästan svart
Like rökig doft med lakrits, en hel del syra i smaken, lång eftersmak
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9/7/2010 - Lombardi wrote: 90 Points
This is always very god! I had the 2005 before (which I preferred). There's fruit, acidity and minerality here to balance the great body. Relatively soft tannins. Elegant strength.
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6/20/2010 - TannicBeast wrote: 92 Points
Tried it at Pappas' Argentinian Tasting. Very international in style, this wine is drinking beautifully right now but is likely to improve over the next 3-5 years. In a blind tasting, this could easily be mistaken for a high end California Cabernet costing significantly more. A great wine at a great price.
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