2016 Catena Zapata White Stones Chardonnay Adrianna Vineyard

My favorite of the Adrianna whites, the 2016 White Stones Chardonnay was cropped from a low-yielding, cool and wet year, very unusual weather in Mendoza. It's sharp, austere, mineral and long. No matter how impressed I was with the 2015 or the two vintages of the White Bones I tasted next to it, this stole the show. It has a combination of mineral notes that transmit a serious sensation with hints of flowers, spices and herbs that show in a very subtle way. The palate is liquid chalk, with sharp and pungent flavors, nicely textured. It's precise, linear, long and sharp, with great length and persistence. It will be fascinating to see how this wine evolves in bottle, because I think we can have a big surprise in ten years from now. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2017.

(from vines at an altitude of about 4,800 feet, on soil rich in white stones and gravel): Bright, light greenish-yellow. The ineffable nose offers a wonderfully complex blend of white fruits, flowers and minerals. Dry, tight and light on its feet, with its pear, mineral and baking spice flavors a bit compressed in the early going. A distinctly vertical wine but also quite deep. Finishes very firm and long, with terrific salty pungency and slowly building lift. This needs more time in bottle to expand, like so many of the best wines from the 2016 vintage.

Crafted from the coldest and most humid vintage of the last two decades, the 2016 Chardonnay Adrianna Vineyard White Stones seems untouched by age. A vibrant, green-toned wine, it presents aromas of arugula and herbs, along with notes of green apple, peach pit and hints of ginger. Dry, lean and chalky, it glides across the palate with a nimble, Chablis-like texture. This is very impressive for an Argentine Chardonnay, with a mountain heart pulsing in the glass.