Malbec Argentino is made exclusively from pre-phylloxera massale selections in two Catena Zapata family vineyards. Angélica sits in Lunlunta, in Mendoza’s traditional Primera Zona, planted between 1922 and 1924; Nicasia lies south in Altamira, in the Uco Valley, at around 1,095 metres. Laura Catena has explained the blend as more than a stylistic choice: because Angélica is the warmer site and Nicasia carries the same plant material in a cooler one, blending the two contributes natural acidity and cool-climate texture, offering a way of preserving old-vine character under a warming climate. The fruit undergoes an extended cold maceration of between two and ten days below 10°C with 10 to 30 per cent whole cluster, fermenting for roughly 17 to 28 days, with total maceration running approximately 25 to 38 days. The wine is then raised for 15 to 18 months in French oak barrels of first, second and third use.

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

What does pre-phylloxera mean on this label?

It refers to the vine material rather than the wine's age. Malbec Argentino is made only from massale selections descended from Malbec as it existed in France before phylloxera devastated the vineyards there in the nineteenth century. Those selections survived in Argentina, and Catena Zapata draws them from the family's Angélica and Nicasia vineyards — which is why the house says that whatever the vintage, this wine is really more than a hundred years old.

Which vineyards go into Malbec Argentino?

Two family sites. Angélica, in Lunlunta within Mendoza's traditional Primera Zona, carries vines planted between 1922 and 1924 and is the warmer of the pair. Nicasia sits south in Altamira in the Uco Valley at roughly 1,095 metres and is cooler, contributing natural acidity and cool-climate texture from the same vine selection.

What is the story on the label?

It is the history of the Malbec grape told through four female figures. Eleanor of Aquitaine stands for the variety's birth, at the bridge in Cahors where it came into its own. The Immigrant represents the crossing to the New World. Madame Phylloxera personifies Malbec's death in the Old World, which made its rebirth in the New possible. The fourth is the house itself, standing for birth, earth and the riches of the New World.