![-](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-mqq1i1xa2c/images/stencil/160w/products/78588/5168429/897268_2__86101.1700167913.jpg?c=1)
![-](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-mqq1i1xa2c/images/stencil/160w/products/78588/5168435/897268_1__70295.1700167913.jpg?c=1)
100 points “This is really something. There’s purity and focus to the aromas of crushed berries liquorice and black tea which follow through to an integrated palate of extremely fine melted tannins that spread to the very ends of the wine. This is all about balance and length. It really is an emotional wine. Great follow-up to the 2017 which was also 100 points. Drinkable now but better after 2024.” – James Suckling
99 points “The 2018 Adrianna Vineyard River Stones is always the freshest and most austere of the three single-plot bottlings from the Adrianna Vineyard on Gualtallary… This is markedly stony true to the character of the place.” – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
As Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate says: “This is a superb expression of the austere wildness of Gualtallary.” River Stones hails from a few rows of vines in a cool-climate and high-altitude vineyard which is covered in oval stones hence the name. It’s called the Adrianna Vineyard but this is not just any old plot of vines. Planted in 1992 this is South America’s Grand Cru and will one day be right up there with the likes of La Tâche and Lafite. The stones have a big impact on the temperature controlling drainage reflecting the sunshine holding heat during the night and then cooling the vineyard during the day. Catena Zapata create three Malbecs from the Adrianna Vineyard. Although still rich luxurious and highly aromatic River Stones tends to be the most elegant of the trio.
Matured in French oak for 20 months once poured it begins to gently unfurls in the glass revealing blackberries plum crumble crème de cassis hot sauna stones damp forest floor wildflowers and exotic spices. River Stones Malbec is simply spectacular and clearly South America’s answer to the First Growths. For showstopping drama and elegant ageing this jeroboam is glorious.
Catena Zapata was named “The World’s Most Admired Wine Brand 2020” by Drinks International. Established in 1902 the bodega played a pioneering role in the explosion of Malbec and in exploring extreme high-altitude winemaking. Nicolás Catena Zapata a former Decanter Man of the Year is widely credited with putting Argentinean wine on the world map and should be placed on a level with the likes of Robert Mondavi in Napa and Angelo Gaja in Piedmont. “The most important winery in Argentina” according to Wine Advocate who also notes that: “the name Catena on the label is a guarantee of quality.” The winery is now run by Dr Laura Catena the fourth-generation vintner and a graduate of both Harvard and Stanford Universities who is fast becoming the face of Argentinian wine. When she’s not making wine or writing books she is a part-time physician of Emergency Medicine in San Francisco – a suitably remarkable winemaker for an equally remarkable estate.
SKU No.: 3506368
Style No.: 897268
Region: Mendoza
Grapes: Malbec
Closure: Cork
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 13.9%
Volume: 3000ml
Allergens: Sulphites