Catena first came on our radar because of their collaboration with the Rothschilds on their CARO line. They’re also the winery responsible for Alamos – a very respectable value label that we’ve previously enjoyed quite a lot. So it’s with quite a bit of anticipation that I’ve been looking forward to their mid-range Catena line. Since it was one of the few bottles of wine I had left after the move, I decided to open the bottle and give it a try.
The Catena has all the marks you would expect from a South American wine in this price range. Refined, controlled, with full dark fruit flavors, and a medium tannin profile, the Catena is a pleasure to drink. This is a bright cab, but it still maintains the cool character that seems to characterize so many Argentine wines we sample. If there is anything to complain about, the Catena does seem to suffer a bit from a slight tartness that you don’t expect to find in a middle range South American wine. Whether I just got a bad bottle or it’s a wider problem I can’t say, but even with a bit of pucker, this is still a wine I enjoyed.
At $23 a bottle, the Catena cab is not an inexpensive wine. While the Catena is certainly good, it just isn’t up to par with other $23 wines, and really isn’t on par with less expensive labels from Chile. I would easily pick a Santa Rita Medalla Real, or Los Vascos Reserve over this wine, and would without hesitation select the less expensive 50/50 Cab/Malbec blend from CARO instead. The Catena Cab is good – just not quite as good as it should be.
Score: 86