Alejandro Sejanovich - Vineyard Director, Bodega Catena Zapata

Bodega Catena Zapata is pleased to announce that Alejandro Sejanovich, who has been a key member of our Vineyard Management team since 1995, has become Vineyard Director as of January 1, 2003. From 1999 to 2001 Alejandro became Chief Winemaker and Vineyard Manger for Luca Winery, owned by Laura Catena and Tikal Winery, owned by Ernesto Catena. During that time, Alejandro continued to work part-time for Bodega Catena Zapata. Alejandro regrets leaving his position with Luca and Tikal wineries but is looking forward to the challenges of being head Vineyard Director at Bodega Catena Zapata.

Former Vineyard Director Pedro Marchevsky has decided to dedicate more of his time to his personal wine projects. Pedro will continue to be retained as Vineyard Consultant for the winery. We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to Pedro for his invaluable contributions to our efforts over the past years. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

Alejandro received his bachelors degree in Agricultural Engineering, specializing in Vineyard Management, in 1992 from the Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. He received the prestigious Medalla de Oro (Gold Medal) award as valedictorian of his graduating class. He then went on to receive his masters degree in Vineyard Management and Winemaking from the prestigious Ecole National Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier in 1994. 

For the vineyard management portion of this double degree, Alejandro wrote his thesis on the use of irrigation in the Mendoza wine country to obtain fruit of superior quality. He has, over the years, further developed his expertise in this important facet of vineyard management in Mendoza to become one of the leading figures on the controlled use of irrigation in the Argentine wine industry. 

For the winemaking part of this degree, Alejandro wrote another thesis on the development of Malbec in Argentina and the different winemaking techniques necessary to produce the highest possible quality. In addition in 1996, Alejandro was in charge of implementing an extensive clonal selection experiment of Mendozan Malbec carried out in Bodega Catena Zapata's La Pirámide Vineyard. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost Argentine authorities on this signature grape varietal.

Since his incorporation into the Vineyard Management team, Alejandro has personally overseen the management of Bodega Catena Zapata's highest quality vineyards. He was in charge of the plantation of our Adrianna Vineyard, which began in 1997. Located in the Gualtallary district of Tupungato, this vineyard site is situated at 1,500 meter (5,000') elevation, the highest in all of Mendoza. Alejandro has gained invaluable experience in the varietal and clonal selection for this vineyard. His management of this unique site over the last 4 years has made him a respected authority on high altitude grape cultivation and its important influence on fruit quality.