2016 Catena Zapata Nicasia Malbec, Mendoza

Bright ruby. Captivating floral and spicy high tones lift aromas of blackberry, cassis and dark chocolate on the subtle, complex nose. Juicy, penetrating Malbec with sharply delineated black fruit, violet and spice flavors carried on the back end by brisk acidity (actually 6.5 grams per liter) and strong salty, chalky minerality. In its focus and youthfully lean style, this is hardly your typical Argentina Malbec. But this wonderfully suave yet powerful wine opens out and rises spectacularly on the saline back end, where the crushed dark berry flavors are perfectly supported by noble tannins. A knockout! Winemaker Vigil's use of a bit of Cabernet Franc in his top Malbec bottlings always leaves me wondering why more of his colleagues don't take this approach.

95+ points Stephen Tanzer vinous.com

The 2016 Malbec Catena Zapata Nicasia Vineyard is from a vineyard in the Paraje Altamira, which had the advantage of the good drainage of its soils and the benefit of the cooler year, resulting in some 30% less grapes. There also was more severe sorting that seems to have paid off, going back to a fresher expression of the place. The wine combines ripeness with elegance, and it's powerful and varietal, with a textured palate showing the limestone mother rock that provides a chalky sensation. This is really good, but the 2017 was really impressive. 13,200 bottles produced.

Catena is one of the quality leaders in Argentina and it's also a large winery, so they combine quality and quantity. Furthermore, they are one of the pioneers: They were the first to plant vineyards in Gualtallary, which is nowadays considered one of the highest potential zones in the country, but they were deemed crazy when they planted there. The wines are phenomenal, true to their place and vintage, and the accompanying notes merit reading to see what each of their wines is. Comparing 2016 and 2017, it seems like 2017 was better in Altamira and 2016 was a great success in Gualtallary, but there's a lot more information on each wine. They also have a new range of non-sulfur wines called La Marchigiana. Note: A few of these notes were already published several weeks ago, before the wines were offered by the négociants in Bordeaux.

95 points Luis Gutierrez robertparker.com