Preservation of Nature

"We are committed to preserving the nature that surrounds us, which includes genetically diverse vineyards that are more resilient to climate change." Dr. Laura Catena

Clonal and Massale Selection

Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. About 89% of the country’s vineyards are massale selected (think heirloom vines) and ungrafted. This genetic diversity may hold the key to climate change adaptation and vineyard threats.

When I started working in wine in the 1990’s, it seemed like Old Vines were mostly valued in Europe. Then I found that we had thousands of hectares of old Malbec vines in Argentina which were in the process of being pulled out for replanting. “I set out to make wine from these beautiful old vineyards and then to preserve their genetically diverse massale selections.” – Dr. Laura Catena

For over 150 years, vines in Mendoza have been adapting to the local climate conditions. Today, our massale vineyard cuttings are unique in both their pre-phylloxera status and in their epigenetic adaptation to the high-altitude climate.

CLONAL SELECTION: A method of vine propagation in which individual grapevines with desirable traits are selected and multiplied by vegetative propagation. A clonally selected vineyard will contain genetically identical vine material.

MASSALE SELECTION: A method of vine propagation in which cuttings are taken from a selection of best-performing vines and multiplied through vegetative propagation. A massale-selected vineyard will contain genetically diverse vine material.

Catena Cuttings

Many years ago, Nicolás Catena Zapata set out to produce wines that could stand among the best in the world; he understood that plant material and its quality were key to achieving his goal. In 1995, the Catena Institute of Wine began its founding project: The Catena Cuttings.

We selected 135 Malbec cuttings, from our own Angélica massale, ungrafted vineyard (planted in 1924), and from public collections at INTA (Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology) and the Faculty of Agrarian Sciences (FCA). We later planted them in our Pirámide vineyard, in Agrelo, at four cuttings per row. This environment (climate and soil), comparable to Angélica vineyard’s, allowed for the study of the cuttings’ viticultural and enological behavior, leading to the discovery of grape yields variation which can vary by as much as 10 times between the most and least productive Malbec cuttings.

Dr. Nicolás and Dr. Laura Catena then planted only the best selections throughout the family’s high-altitude vineyards in Mendoza. Both the massale selections and individual clones were planted at the Nicasia and Adrianna vineyards, in Altamira and Gualtallary, to analyze the effect of high-altitude terroir on plant behavior. Research on the Catena Cuttings is ongoing at the Catena Institute.

Healthy Vineyards for the Future

Viruses can have a detrimental effect on the quality of grapes, especially in relation to color and aromas; viruses can disturb the ripening process and lower quality and yields.

To map the incidence of the 10 most widespread viruses worldwide, we conducted a collaborative study with specialist Dr. Gomez Talquenca at the INTA Phytovirology Laboratory, analyzing samples from 26 plots across 11 vineyards in Mendoza. Findings (Gómez Talquenca et al, 2023) revealed that vineyards in the Uco Valley region had a lower incidence of the various viral strains detected in Mendoza. Inspired by this study and based on its results, we established our Supersonic Vine Nursery – Viñedo Supersónico – to cultivate virus-free plants.

Supersonic Nursery

The Nicolas Catena Supersonic Vine Nursery is an isolated, virus-free vine nursery dedicated to preserving genetically diverse selections of Malbec, Bonarda, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Criollas, and some specific clones of these and other varieties.

Located in the Rivadavia district in Eastern Mendoza, La Soledad (The Solitude) vineyard, true to its name, is completely isolated. This isolation is intentional and key to its preservation role: to remain healthy, plants must be kept at a safe distance from other vines. At La Soledad, we grow our mother plants and virus-free material under strict biosecurity measures to prevent contamination (which could happen through insects or other vectors).

Old Vines

“The genetically diverse, heritage vines that we have in our family are precious – we call them the family heirlooms. We have planted the massale selection from Angélica in all of our vineyards, and we think these vines are an essential part of the distinctive flavor of our family’s Malbecs. These vines not only represent a moment in history but are also a world reservoir of genetic diversity.” – Dr. Laura Catena.

The “Jardin Eterno” Project

Old vines are at risk of disappearing and with them a vital piece of Argentina’s winemaking history. To preserve the genetic heritage of Malbec we collect massale selections and sign affidavits with vineyard owners for their vine material, to ensure that their families’ future generations have access to the cuttings. This supports our mission of maintaining Malbec’s legacy and strengthening our communities for centuries to come.

Viejito de Rivadavia

Viejito de Rivadavia is another site where we preserve massale selections of over ten different varieties from old vines rescued from vineyards that are being replanted or pulled out. This vineyard is purposely not virus-free. We are believe that within the next decade, virus testing and cleaning will become much less expensive; therefore, our current priority is to preserve the largest amount of genetically diverse vines, and this can only be done if we preserve all material rather than only virus-free material. Our plan is to continue adding new varieties as we get acess to new cuttings.

Malbec: from Mendoza to California

This project began in 2010 in collaboration with Dr. Roger Boulton from UC Davis, with the goal of understanding how grape origin influences the chemical and sensory profile of Malbec wines from Mendoza and California.

The study compared vineyards and wines from different geographical indications in Mendoza and AVAs in California, across two countries and two hemispheres. The results showed that Malbec can express unique chemical and sensory characteristics in both regions. However, Mendoza wines were associated with a greater number of sensory descriptors, suggesting a higher level of complexity.

Floral notes, especially violet, together with red fruit, were distinctive of Mendoza geographical indications, while black pepper and dried fruit aromas were more commonly associated with California AVAs (King et al., 2014; Buscema et al., 2015).

Terroir and its persistance across vintages

“Mendoza is one of the few places in the world with strikingly different wine terroirs within short distances” Dr. Gregory Jones

Mendoza offers ideal conditions to study terroir on a large scale. Its diversity of climates and soils, at the same latitude and across relatively short distances, makes it possible to compare very different winegrowing environments within a single region.

The Winkler Index thermal map seen on the left published in Urvieta et al., (2021) shows how temperature shapes grape growing across Mendoza. Within just 90 minutes, it is possible to drive from the warm Eastern region to the cool, high-altitude Adrianna Vineyard in the Uco Valley, moving from Winkler Region V to Region I.

In 2016, we began this project focused on Malbec wines from 14 geographical indications in Mendoza and more than 32 vineyard parcelas distributed across the Uco Valley, Primera Zona, and the Eastern region, over three consecutive vintages. The results showed that Mendoza has distinct chemical and sensory fingerprints (Urvieta et al., 2024) that vintage plays a major role, and that some vineyard parcels express consistent and predictable characteristics over time.

Cracking the Age Code

In a study conducted in partnership with Dr. Roger Boulton and Dr. Hildegarde Heymann from UC Davis, 41 parcels of Malbec and their evolution of aromatic profiles were evaluated over time, to understand whether the differences observed between Malbecs from different plots and regions at the time of bottling were preserved with age.

Maintaining typicity, is one of the generally accepted characteristics of a great wine. However, not much has been done to evaluate typicity in other regions, and the evolution of wine after the third year of aging in any grape varietal’s wine.

The concept of “aging potential” is often used to describe a wine’s capacity to improve or maintain quality as it matures, yet the sensory and chemical bases for this concept remain insufficiently characterized.

Our findings centered on the chemical composition of a wine and how it changes over time. We wanted to know if that fingerprint of Malbec characterized in Buscema et al,2015 remained over time. It was observed that the polyphenolic profile remained stable after 5 years of bottle aging (Agazzi et al., 2018). The same was true for volatile compounds related to the variety, even after 7 years (Pellegrino et al., 2023)

For more information check out our published research.