Laura Catena
A Harvard and Stanford trained biologist and physician, Dr. Laura Catena was born into one of the world’s great wine families. In her journey to elevate Argentine wine, Laura became obsessed with understanding what lies behind the most collected wines in the world. After publishing Argentina’s definitive wine guide, Vino Argentino (Chronicle Books, 2010), Laura began to put together the materials for a book that would highlight the historical circumstances and relevant vineyard details that are at the core of the world’s most iconic wines. This book is the result of 25 years of Laura’s research into wine history, interviews and meetings with the world’s best-known wine families, and vineyard studies at the Catena Institute of Wine, which she founded in 1995. Dr. Laura Catena has been named one of the top 25 wine innovators by Grape Collective, and has been an invited speaker at Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience, the Nantucket Food and Wine Festival, the Naples Winter Wine Festival, the MUST Summit, the Master of Wine Symposium, the American Society of Wine Educators, the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter in London and Shanghai, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Vancouver Playhouse, among others. After publishing Argentina’s definitive wine guide, Vino Argentino (Chronicle Books, 2010) and Gold in the Vineyards (Catapulta editores, 2019), now comes her third book dedicated to Malbec, the flagship variety of Argentina. She has appeared in Oprah magazine as one of the World’s Top Women Vintners. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine Magazine, Decanter, and The Economist 1843 magazine, among others. She has a robust social media following on Instagram (@LauraCatenaMD) and Twitter (@lauracatena).
Alejandro Vigil
Alejandro Vigil is the most prestigious winemaker in Argentina. A graduate in agricultural engineering with a master’s degrees in both winemaking and irrigation management, he began his career in Catena Zapata in 2002. In 2007 he was appointed Winemaking Director. Under Alejandro’s direction, the winery was named New World Winery of the Year in 2010 by Wine Enthusiast and Winery of the Year in 2012 by Wine and Spirits Magazine. A naturally restless person, Alejandro strives to channel his creative energy into pushing the limits of conventional viticultural and winemaking wisdom.