2015 Catena Zapata Malbec Mundus Bacillus Terrae Adrianna Vineyard

Of the three single-parcel Malbecs from Catena in the Adrianna Vineyard, this is by far the most radical. From heavy calcareous soils, this is more than fruit - it smells of stones and chalk, has a tense, sharp structure with no hint of sweetness. Fresh and vivacious fruits towards the end. Drinking Window 2019 - 2025.

This is a phenomenal malbec with intense blue fruits such as blueberries and blackberries. Black truffle, too. Full body, bright and juicy with fantastic power and richness yet the acidity and energy just keeps going. Volcanic salt and white pepper. A thoroughly breathtaking wine. Try after 2020.

From what many have called a Bordelais year, the 2015 Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae is slightly riper and a little lower in acidity, meaning it's more "civilized" than the previous and following vintages. All three years come from the same shallow soils that are rich in limestone and have a similar vinification and upbringing. These 2015s are more marked by the vintage than the other two, which seem to be more transparent to the terroir. This is my favorite of the 2015s. 4,800 bottles were filled in July 2017. 2018 - 2024.

(14.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.4 and acidity of 7.2 grams per liter): Dark, bright ruby. Compellingly high-pitched and pure on the nose, offering scents of boysenberry, bitter chocolate, violet, crushed rock and juniper. Then wonderfully chewy and energetic, conveying outstanding inner-mouth rocky perfume and a distinct whole- cluster pungency to its flavors of boysenberry and bitter chocolate. Really extraordinary intensity without weight, like a top Vosne-Romanée. With its perfectly buffered tannins, great suavity and purity and inexorable slowly mounting finish, this wine struck me as a new dimension for Argentine Malbec.