2016 Malbec Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae

Bright saturated ruby. Pungent, deep aromas of black cherry, raspberry, violet and licorice, plus a wild whiff of gamey reduction. Wonderfully smooth and stylish on the palate, with intense black fruit, crushed stone and violet flavors accented by spices. Hints of cocoa powder and dark chocolate emerge with air but this perfectly balanced Malbec maintains its suave texture and light touch. Finishes with outstanding slowly building length. With its uncommon refinement and equilibrium, this wine could be enjoyed today with great pleasure, but it would be a shame not to give it some more time in the cellar. Catena normally carries out three harvests for this wine but did just one in 2016, noted Vigil, who told me he eliminated the first pick owing to its very high acidity in this cool growing season. Winemaker Vigil noted that the soil in Adrianna Vineyard's Lot 6 is deep loam with some calcaire , while the Lot 3 vines that go into the Mundus Bacillus Terrae bottling are on shallower soil with a more important chalky element.

Cropped from a cooler and wetter year, the 2016 Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae was bottled with six months less time in oak than in other years. The wines are somehow "lighter" and more mineral, and they didn't want the oak to mark them. This comes from deeper soils that deliver more fruit, and of the three reds from Adrianna, this is always the one that shows more gentle, approachable and open, with more fruit up front. There are some notes of tobacco and spices. Considering how young the wine is and the fact that it will not be released for another year, the wine is going to be immediately appealing on release but should also develop nicely in bottle. The 2016 is the most complete of the three vintages I tasted together—2014, 2015 and 2016. They bottled some 5,000 bottles in March 2018.