El Enemigo, 2015 Gran Enemigo "El Cepillo" Cabernet Franc, Pampa El Cepillo, San Carlos, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina.
El Enemigo was established by legendary winemaker and agronomist Alejandro Vigil and Argentinian wine royalty Adrianna Catena in 2008. The idea was born out of a desire to experiment, showcase terroir, and veer off the beaten path if you will. Chart a slightly unconventional course, but anchored in the passion to showcase the character of their vineyards.
If there was a flag-bearer in Argentina for Cabernet Franc, it would undoubtably have to be Alejandro Vigil. He chose Cabernet Franc as the leading grape for El Enemigo because he believes in its ability to be a mirror for terroir - something I believe the grape is capable of as well. The winery produces 5 Cabernet Francs, 4 of which are part of the Gran Enemigo range which are all single-vineyard bottlings.
Each of these single-vineyard Cabernet Francs are coming from distinct micro terroirs within the Uco Valley. The bottling from Gualtallary in Tupungato is likely the most famous, but today we're going to look at the bottling from the Pampa El Cepillo GI in San Carlos.
So, as I have talked about in previous videos, the Uco Valley can be divided into 3 sub-regions: Tupungato in the north, Tunuyán and then San Carlos, which is the furthest south. And of course, we need to remember in the southern hemisphere, as we move south we are getting further away from the equator and into cooler microclimates.
San Carlos is the smallest of these three regions, with about 8700ha under vine. It stretches about 42km from north to south, with the northern border following the Tunuyán River. There are 7 sub-regions within San Carlos, but only two official GIs: Paraje Altamira, which is the largest and tends to get all the attention, and Pampa El Cepillo.
So the Pampa El Cepillo received GI status in 2019 based exclusively on geological and climate data. While it sits at a slightly lower elevation up to around 1100m, it's southerly location makes it the coldest region in the Uco Valley - so cold that frost is a concern here, and the locals have nicknamed the area “la heladera,” meaning the fridge.
So the vineyard where this wine is coming from spans around 9ha, and the vines were planted in the mid-1990s at a relatively high density, 10K to 12K plants per hectare. The vineyard is farmed organically, with drip irrigation installed. The soils here are what we call colluvium, which is soil that is created through the erosion and deposited via gravity, as opposed to alluvial soils that are soils transported by moving water. Which makes these soils more heterogeneous, but they are generally a mix of silty and sand, with marine limestone stones in the sub-soil.
The fruit is harvested by hand, through 5 distinct passes through the vineyard over a 6-week period, in order to obtain slightly different, fruit, acid and tannin profiles with each pass. Each of these lots are fermented individually, in older oak barrels, with a 5-day cold soak, followed by a 23-days on skins. 30% of the fruit is left whole cluster. The assemblage is made after fermentation, and then aging takes place in larger, 100YO oak foudres for about 15 months.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: El Enemigo
Region: Mendoza
Sub-Region: Uco Valley (San Carlos)
Appellation: Pampa El Cepillo
Vineyards: El Cepillo
Altitude: ~1100m
Assemblage: 85% Cabernet Franc, 15% Malbec
Soil: Colluvium (sand-silt) w/ marine limestone stones
Alcohol: 13.7%
