Argentinian Wine Tasting TODOTC.com To Do in the Twin Cities Wine Tasting Argentinian Wine Tasting Date: March 12, 2024 Excelsior Vintage Wine Shop 400 MN-7 Excelsior MN Phone: (952) 401-0346 www.excelsiorvintage.com

Premium Argentina Wine tasting with Catena Zapata Winery at Excelsior Vintage Wine Shop

We go to a lot of wine events. Usually about one a week. There are few things in life for us that are more enjoyable and educational. If you fear looking like an idiot, consider this. There are 5000+ grapes used to make wine. This is done at about 100,000 wineries each making 4-10 wines. And every year with the weather, it all resets. There ARE no experts. It is VERY rare after ten years we do not learn something at every tasting.
Wine history is closer to reality than printed history. Look at the map of the Roman Empire, it’s the same map of the wine growing region of Europe. Why did Julius and Napolean go this way not that... find the great wine and go that way… so it takes a couple of days longer… tonight WE DRINK! And sober soldiers don’t always wanna fight. And consider the only vice allowed in most religions… wine. It’s fascinating! Learn some history & geography & agriculture & food pairing… learn about wine.
There are many types of wine events.

1. Wine is poured by a very attractive young person that knows absolutely nothing about wine. I am reminded of a night at Surdyks where there was this nice young lady pouring. When I asked what the grape was, her response was YES! it is grape wine. As the proceeded to read the bottle with her to explain what variety of grapes were in the bottle, what area of the world it was from and a whole lot of other interesting information on a label the size of a soup can. She was fascinated and hopefully started a life on the wine quest many of the rest of us enjoy.

1. A wine tasting at Total Wine or any of 20 places that taste during the week. This is a crap-shoot. The person may know something about wine, or not. I’m reminded of a fun event at the St Paul Bastille Day. We went to the event to see if they had some interesting wines. When we asked what kind of wines they had at the tasting booth, we were told they had BOTH types of wine: Blanc & Rouge. For those not well read, that would be Red & White. It is then you should look for the $3 Barefoot wine bottles. We have tasted at Total Wine, but lately it seems they have only one or two samples.

1. The type of wine tasting we do most weeks is about six wines poured by a wine professional. We go to North Loop Wine & Spirits on Washington, 1010 Washington about 2 miles away, France 44, and a few times to Violets next to the Lowry Bridge in NordEast. Violets is the lesser of the four for the locals like to stand at the front of the table after getting wine so the rest of us can not get or see the wines. There are more than just you in the world. Get your glass and step away so others can get some wine. Typically, at these tastings, have about six good wines. The presenter can usually answer basic questions about the region, grapes, and process.

1. All the event types 1-3 are FREE tastings. Don’t expect wine to die for. But we will find & usually buy a bottle monthly. If you want to go to the next level, you will need to pay. Not much mind you, usually about $20 a piece. We usually go to one or two events of this type in the metro every month. There are normally 2-3 a week in the metro. This is the type I write about tonight. It was Premium Wines from an Argentina Winery, a few over $100 a bottle. You’ll also get someone that knows the wines that can answer your questions. Typically, the group size is under 20 people that have signed up in advance. You will have a chair to sit in and watch a presentation. This is by far our favorite type of event.

1. The next type are wine dinners. Expect to pay over $100 a seat. Not our favorites.

1. Last are massive events with 100 plus people, perhaps a dozen tables and over 50 wines for about $100 each. At those you need to practice pushing your glass through people to get a few drops. We go to a couple of this type of events a year. Don’t expect much wine and you’ll a lot of it’s all about ME Types!

There are three or four good sources for wine events. There is a regular email you can sign-up for at www.LocalWineEvents.com. Eventbrite website also lists a lot of events. Check with your local wine shop they normally have a schedule. Northloop Wine & Spirits has a Thursday email for Friday nights. Also ask your server if they have a website or company site that have upcoming events. You can find links to many of these at our website www.TheMNWineClub.com Hope to see you… Enjoy!
The Premium Argentina Wine Tasting of this article was run by Troy & Jen the great wine hosts at Excelsior wine. They have events about every other week, and we attend about once a month. Their events are usually under $30 a piece with about six wines, a sit-down classroom format and a presenter from either a winery or a local importer to talk about the wines. The tasting usually lasts about an hour.
The beauty in this type of tasting is you can ask very specific questions about the wine and their process that you really do not get at any of the other type of wine events. And typically, you get MUCH better-quality wines. If there is a FREE wine event you will have a TON of people there, charge $5 and you will get a handful. Funny thing about money!
This tasting was for the Catena Zapata Winery of Argentina. The family have been producing great wines since 1902 from Mendoza Argentina near the small town of Ugarteche. They have seven vineyards from which they harvest fruit.
The first wines presented was a Catena Alta Chardonnay. We don’t like Chardonnay that confused us for about five years because everyone likes Chardonnay! Turns out we weren’t the only one. But THIS Chardonnay was aged 14 months on 2-year-old French Oak Barrels. It also was rated 94 points by James Suckling. Of course, we tried it and for a Chardonnay it really wasn’t too bad. It was priced at $35.99.
The second wine was also a Chardonnay from their Adrianna Vineyard. This one was rated 98 points by James Sucking and was very young. It was harvested in March of 2023.  Again, a nice wine. Though we rarely think of Argentina when it comes to Chardonnay. It was priced at $125.99.
The third wine was a Cab Sav with 95 points from James Suckling. Now we are talking and now we are buying. It came from their Catena Alta vineyard. It was from November of 2022. The wine is actually a blend with 5% Cab Franc a signature of a great wine. Argentina was known for Cab Sav before it was known for its Malbecs. And yet it still creates some of the best Cab Savs in the world.  It was priced at $53.99.
The Fourth Wine was a Nicolas Catena Zapa Malbec 2020 for $115.99 Rated 98 by James Suckling. It was varietal 54% Cab Sav, 21% Malbec & 25% Cab Franc. Great wine I think we bought it.
The fifth wine was a Catena Zapa Malbec 2021 for $116.99 Rated 96 points from James Suckling. It was 100% Malbec. It is made in very limited quantities.
The sixed wine was a Catena Zapa Malbec 2019 for $98.99.
The final wine was a Catena Zapa Adianna Malbec 2020 for $134. Rated 98 from James Suckling AND 98 from the Wine Advocate both in 2022. 100% Malbec
So, the value of the wine we tasted was $579 OMG! It was GREAT wine. We took home a couple of bottles.
This was a great tasting of Premium Argentina wines at a great value. And we shall be back!

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