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Laura Catena Works On Two Continents - As Physician And Winemaker

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Laura Catena is an energized, intelligent, modern-day polymath: a fourth-generation winemaker at the renowned Bodega Catena Zapata winery in Mendoza, Argentina, as well as a physician in San Francisco; she is a graduate of Harvard and Stanford, as well as an author and mother of three.

When we spoke recently, Catena explained how input from her medical background helped improve operations at her family’s already iconic winery.

“There are all these vineyard viruses, and microbes in soils we’re studying that are essential for plant health. I understand how viruses work, how bacteria work. I think there’s a lot of crossover in my skill set. Also, you’re always in a team as a doctor. That helped me bring a teamwork culture to Argentina, where, when I started, it was all top down. The owner of a winery only talked to three head people. They said hello to other people, but they had no idea what anybody else was doing. That’s not how it works in a hospital. You're talking to the nurse, to the clerk, to the EKG tech—so this culture from medicine works really well in any kind of organization.

“I’m between San Francisco and Argentina. Back and forth. My children are in school. When they were little they’d go to school in both places. Half and half. It was kind of crazy, but I think that it was good for them. It’s not just about the language, it’s another culture. Our kids got a tough skin in Argentina.

“I think the future for Argentina is proving itself in high end collectible wines. And that’s why I want to show my region. Malbec is an ancient variety; since Roman times. It was widely planted in the Médoc at the time of the 1855 classification.”

Catena has assiduously researched ancient French texts to learn more about the history of Malbec in Bordeaux.

“We have this incredible variety, the survivor of 2,000 years that can make these beautiful, aromatic, concentrated, smooth wines. And I think the world has not yet seen the highest level that Malbec can reach. There’s also the Malbec Cabernet blend that has been lost in Bordeaux but now exists in Argentina. There’s also the regionality of Malbec—the flavor of Malbec from the different parts of the valley. From Salta, from Patagonia, that people don’t yet know. I think there’s a huge amount of work for me, for all the Argentine producers, just to show the real subtleness—le gout du terroir—the taste of place from Malbec. I think there’s also beautiful Chardonnay, there are blends, there’s so much that Argentina still has to communicate to the rest of the world."

The Catena Zapata Malbec is truly surprising—not aggressive or tannic, but more like a Burgundian Pinot Noir—subdued and elegant. Laura explained why.

“I think Malbec has a kind of smoothness comparable to Pinot Noir. It’s why in the old French texts they say that Cabernet Sauvignon needs to be always blended with Malbec.

“Now that I’ve run a family winery for all these years, I look at the impact we’re going to have on the people in the vineyards, the impact we—Catena—have on the rest of Argentine wine. My father was the pioneer in making high quality Argentine wine. So, to me, the impact of a responsible business—we’ve done a lot of work on sustainability in terms of not using pesticides, preserving traditions in the countryside. All this work—I’m sure it’s more consequential than the few patients I see as a doctor. The doctor as a profession provides instant gratification. And business, or a vineyard, is long term gratification. I will soon retire from medicine, but do some volunteer work. Because it’s too exciting what’s going on in Argentina now.

“The one great thing about Argentina is you are never comfortable. They say that in business, that’s a good thing, right? You should never think, ‘Oh, I’ve made it.’ As an Argentine, you’ve never made it. Because today you could have money, tomorrow it’s all gone because of some inflation event, or devaluation, or whatever. You’re always on the go, you never sit down to ponder your success, because there’s always a new threat on the horizon or a new ambition.”

“Young people that are interested start working at the winery after high school. If they show interest in doing college and masters education, we allow them to work and help pay for their studies. We do that on a regular basis and have done that for dozens of people.”

At the recent Naples Winter Wine Festival in the U.S. state of Florida, Catena donated an auction package to benefit the Naples Children & Education Foundation. This included a six-night trip to Buenos Aires and Mendoza for two couples—including a tango show and dinner, a culinary tour of three top restaurants, an evening at Teatro Colón and two nights at a retreat in Mendoza. The proceeds of the $260,000 winning bid will go to helping disadvantaged youth and students in Collier County, Florida. Before the auction, Catena visited some of the children who benefit from this event.

“This is my fourth time coming here over the last eight years. I went in the morning to see about the children, what this money supports. I always go because it motivates me to try to get my lot bid up high, because the impact that this money makes is real. I think the way this charity is run—with making sure that the work being done is real and provides value to the community—means that’s money well spent.”

Having dwelt in both the countryside and city, she appreciates the need to teach children the benefits of country life.

“In Argentina vineyard workers used to go to the vineyard with their kids in the summer, and their kids would run around, like I did. I’d go with my grandfather to the winery and run around. But they don’t take their kids to the vineyard anymore. We have a daycare, a pre-school, for all the kids of the vineyard workers. The school is great for kids. However, those kids never see the vineyard. So, they have this fantasy that it would be better to be a bartender in the city–which might be better for them depending on what they’d like to do. But they are completely missing out on what it would be like to live their life in the countryside where they can live in nature. You know the salaries are not as high as a very good job in the city, but the cost of living is lower and now with the internet you can have Netflix in the middle of the countryside. You have a movie theater at your house, and a social life—you have your family there.”

For this polite, energized woman full of curiosity—what does the future hold? She may retire as a physician, but never as a winemaker. When asked, she laughed.

“I will not retire. Catena’s work to their death! I’ll do some volunteer work as a doctor and be living in both places, though more in Argentina.”

There are definite benefits to living in two hemispheres.

“I go to Argentina when it is winter in the northern hemisphere. So, I pretty much have 70% of my year in the summer. It’s nice.”

[Catena’s new book—Gold in the Vineyards—is reviewed here.]

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