Catena Adrianna V. Mundus Bacillus Terrae

You'll be taking a second look at the label of this Adrianna Vineyard. Or a third. Accustomed to the concentration and powerfulness of Catena wines, you'll feel rather unsettled. The best thing is to taste it blind. If your nose and palate are well-trained, you'll perhaps make out the variety (Malbec, with a small percentage of Viognier, a scant 3%), but it'll prove difficult because in this wine the real and sole protagonist is the terroir, the altitude. In truth, a majestic wine that's come down from the heights.

It's hard to describe, as befits the finest wines. Its balance is so good that the best thing we can recommend you do is to enjoy it in small sips; it has such refined concentration that it dissolves on the tongue, its silkiness and sweetness are so splendid it seems to melt. The subtlety of each detail, its freshness, the extremely elegant exuberance it possesses... Heavenly. You'll enjoy it until the last drop, and what a shame there isn't any more! It doesn't come cheap but it's worth every penny.

NOTE about this wine's name: The Adrianna vineyard is located at an altitude of almost 1,500 metres and is named after Nicolás Catena Zapata's youngest daughter. The soils of this parcel are composed of calcium carbonate and marine fossils which used to cover the region millions of years ago. These calcareous layers provide good drainage and are rich in rhizobacteria, the microorganisms that help the vine's roots to withstand stress and absorb nutrients. Hence the term 'mundus bacillus terrae' (earth's microbe world).