Catena Zapata & El Enemigo

PRIVATE DEPARTURE DAYS: All year round, from Tuesday to Saturday, according to availability at the wineries! (It is recommended to book at least three months in advance)

Alejandro Vigil, winemaker at Bodega Catena Zapata, is capable of producing some of the best wines in Argentina. His products top the list of the best scores by Robert Parker of Wine Advocate. A wine from his personal project, El Enemigo, in collaboration with Adrianna Catena (the youngest of Nicolas), surpassed Catena Zapata's icons.

Our itinerary for this tour is as follows:

Around 9:45 am, we will pick you up at your hotel located in the downtown area of Mendoza to head towards Maipú, approximately 35 minutes away with the Andes Mountains always in the background.

11:00 am - Guided tour and gourmet 3-course lunch paired with 3 wines from the El Enemigo line at Casa Vigil restaurant in El Enemigo winery (Maipú).

We will start with a quick guided tour of the winery facilities, no more than fifteen minutes. We will learn why it's called "El Enemigo" and hear a lot about Alejandro's childhood alongside his grandfather, who was a fan of Dante's Inferno, which inspired the winery's thematic based on that iconic literary work.

Casa El Enemigo is both the winery and the restaurant (named Casa Vigil) that the famous winemaker Alejandro Vigil opened in his own home. An unforgettable experience in every aspect. The winery is literally in Alejandro's backyard, a small and very informal place.

The first wine released, El Enemigo Malbec, was already marked as "Outstanding" by Robert Parker. The 2008 vintage achieved an impressive 94 points, being acclaimed as one of the best wines in Latin America.

Then in 2018, Alejandro Vigil reached 100 Parker points for Argentine wines for the first time. The two reds, signed by the same winemaker and from the Gualtallary vineyards in Valle de Uco, are: Gran Enemigo Gualtallary Single Vineyard 2013 (El Enemigo) and Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard River Stones 2016 (Catena Zapata)... Both wines were crafted by Mendoza's star winemaker Alejandro Vigil. The judges responsible for analyzing wines from Argentina, Chile, and Spain for Wine Advocate assigned 100 points to this pair of Argentine wines. According to the publication, to achieve the highest rating, a wine needs to be extraordinary with deep and complex character.

This achievement is not only Alejandro Vigil's but also Argentina's as a whole, especially Mendoza, where the wines come from.

Parker's notes once again show how not only Bodega Catena Zapata but especially Alejandro Vigil is at the forefront of oenological trends in Argentina. If you're lucky, you might meet the owner giving advice and talking about the wines to visitors during the tour.

We will enjoy a gourmet 3-course menu prepared by chef Santiago Maestre; each course offers three options that we will choose once seated at our table inside one of the beautiful and mirrored dining rooms at the winery's restaurant. The menu will be accompanied by three labels to choose from in the winery's range of El Enemigo varietals.

3:30 pm - Guided tour and "Blending games" tasting at Bodega Catena Zapata (Luján de Cuyo)

The Blending games proposal we have included offers the following: Creating a blend is an artistic expression that uses different terroir expressions as its color palette. Become a winemaker for a day and learn to translate the vineyard's magic into an extraordinary wine with Catena Zapata... We will taste:

• Catena Appellation White Clay Components: 2 components, Semillon and Chenin
• Catena Alta Malbec Components: 5 components of Malbec from the Catena family vineyards
• Catena Appellation White Clay
• Catena Alta Malbec

17:00 - After this unforgettable experience, we will return to your hotel in downtown Mendoza.

• Transportation to and from your hotel in downtown Mendoza.
• Host guide at the wineries to be visited.
• Visit and 3-course gourmet lunch with 3 varietal enemies at Casa Vigil restaurant in El Enemigo winery.
• Visit and tasting of "Blending games" at Catena Zapata winery.

• Tips for winery guides and waiters during lunch (optional)
• Any item not mentioned as included.