Born into a family of winemakers, Dr. Laura Catena is the fourth-generation vintner of the Catena family, renowned for its pioneering role in Argentine viticulture. Her father, Nicolás Catena Zapata, is often credited with putting Argentine Malbec on the global map, a legacy Laura has carried forward with grace and innovation.
But despite those deep ties to winemaking, Catena initially pursued a career in medicine. Alongside her work with Bodega Catena Zapata, where she founded the Catena Institute of Wine and Luca Winery, the first Argentinean winery to bottle old-vine Malbec, she worked as a practicing emergency room physician for 27 years.
In 1995, the same year she completed her residency and began practicing emergency medicine, Catena founded the Catena Institute of Wine, an organization dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of Argentina’s terroir and, with it, the potential greatness of Argentinean wines.
“My first big project at the Catena Institute was to make a selection of Malbec from our old Angélica Vineyard — a massale ungrafted vineyard planted in 1922 to 1924 — to plant in our new Uco Valley and Gualtallary vineyard sites,” she says. “Back then, we didn’t realize that what we had was the equivalent to vineyard gold. Due to its economic and political isolation from the world throughout much of the 20th century, Argentina continued farming in the traditional way: ungrafted, genetically diverse massale vineyards [replanting with cuttings from exceptional plants], no pesticides, and mineral irrigation water from the Andes.”
Rodrigo Zoicer PH
Today, the institute’s work continues to focus on soil health, climate adaptability, and the preservation of heritage grape varieties. It also collaborates with universities around the world for the greatest reach, resources, and impact.
“We have a vine nursery that we call ‘vivero supersonico’ — the supersonic vineyard — where we hold large numbers of genetically diverse cuttings of Malbec, Bonarda, Criollas, Cabernet Sauvignon, and others, disease-free, for the generations to come,” says Catena.
Her appreciation for old-vine heritage was also the key driver behind the creation of Luca Wines, a pioneer in working with small family-owned vineyards and the first Argentinean winery to bottle old-vine Malbec. Catena’s wines are celebrated for their complexity, structure, elegance, and authentic sense of place, unmistakable in their individuality and impossible to replicate anywhere else in the world.
As the managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata, a position she has held since 2012, Catena has revolutionized the production and perception of her family’s wines, with a special focus on elevating old vines and preserving historical sites. Under her leadership, the winery implemented eco-friendly practices that include organic farming, water conservation, carbon emission management, lighter glass packaging, and renewable energy use, among others. It follows the Bodegas de Argentina Sustainability Code, an initiative started by Catena in 2008 and launched in 2010 that now includes more than 200 certified wineries, and is a member of The Porto Protocol and Sustainability Wine Roundtable nonprofit organizations.
In 2024, she tapped into her medical background to launch In Defense of Wine, where she shares news regarding negatives about alcohol consumption, but reframes it through a more holistic medical lens. “I created [the site] to highlight the most accurate science on moderate consumption and health,” she says. “For people over 40, current scientific data supports the role of alcohol in moderation as health-neutral and pleasure-positive. The key is moderation, though, because excess alcohol consumption and binge drinking are quite harmful.”
Her medical background helped instill the methodical, research-driven mindset she applies to the wine business, and the expertise she now draws on to argue in favor of moderate alcohol consumption, rather than complete prohibition, as part of a healthy lifestyle.
“Understanding the science behind the impact of alcohol consumption is important to the many drinkers around the world, myself included, who derive great pleasure from having a glass or two of wine with dinner — an 8,000-year-old tradition in some parts of the world,” wrote Catena in an op-ed on her website titled “What the Headlines Get Wrong About Alcohol and Health.”
In 2025, the Catena family also launched a brand of no- and low-alcohol wines called Domaine Elena de Mendoza (Domaine EdeM), which she believes are essential to advance a future of more mindful consumption.
“These days, I’m thinking a lot about the role of wine in moderation as part of a pleasurable and healthy lifestyle,” she says. “Wine enhances the pleasure of food, it connects us to the land, it connects one generation to the next and to the one after. It carries mystery and historical significance, and it maintains farming communities.”
Food & Wine’s Drinks Visionaries program showcases the people who have changed how we drink, from bartenders and restaurant owners to distillers, winemakers, and beyond. Discover the rest of 2025’s honorees here.
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