2015 Malbec Catena Alta

As with the other varietals of the range, I also had two vintages of this to compare, starting with the older 2015 Catena Alta Malbec. It is a mixture of grapes from multiple vineyards: Angelica, La Pirámide, Nicasia, Adrianna and Angélica Sur. It fermented in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels and had an élevage of some 18 months in French oak. You can notice the slightly riper year, and it does suffer a bit in comparison with the truly superb 2016 even though it's a noteworthy expression of Malbec with great freshness for the climatic conditions of the year. 66,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2016.