El Enemigo, 2015 Gran Enemigo "El Cepillo" Cabernet Franc, Pampa El Cepillo, San Carlos, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina
Cab Franc du Jour #74
El Enemigo was established in 2008 by legendary winemaker and agronomist Alejandro Vigil and Adrianna Catena. The project was born from a desire to experiment, showcase terroir, and chart a slightly unconventional course while remaining anchored in a shared passion for expressing the character of their vineyards.
If there is a flag-bearer for Cabernet Franc in Argentina, it is unquestionably Alejandro Vigil. He chose Cabernet Franc as the leading grape for El Enemigo because of his belief in the variety’s ability to act as a mirror for terroir, a quality that is central to everything the project represents. The winery produces five Cabernet Francs in total, four of which are part of the Gran Enemigo range, all single-vineyard bottlings from distinct micro terroirs within the Uco Valley. The Gualtallary bottling from Tupungato is perhaps the most celebrated, but today we are looking at the expression from the Pampa El Cepillo GI in San Carlos.
San Carlos and the Pampa El Cepillo IG
The Uco Valley is divided into three sub-regions: Tupungato in the north, Tunuyán in the centre, and San Carlos, the furthest south. In the southern hemisphere, moving south means moving further from the equator and into progressively cooler microclimates, and that is very much the case here.
San Carlos is the smallest of the three sub-regions, with around 8,700ha under vine, stretching roughly 42km from north to south with the Tunuyán River marking its northern boundary. There are seven sub-regions within San Carlos, but only two hold official GI status: Paraje Altamira, the largest and most widely recognised, and Pampa El Cepillo.
Pampa El Cepillo received its GI designation in 2019, based exclusively on geological and climatic data. While it sits at a somewhat lower elevation of up to around 1,100m above sea level compared to the highest sites in the Uco Valley, its southerly position makes it the coldest region in the valley. Frost is a genuine concern here, and the locals have nicknamed the area la heladera, meaning the refrigerator.
The Vineyard
The vineyard spans around 9 hectares, with vines planted in the mid-1990s at a relatively high density of 10,000 to 12,000 plants per hectare. The site is farmed organically with drip irrigation installed. The soils are colluvium, meaning they were formed through erosion and deposited by gravity rather than by moving water, which distinguishes them from alluvial soils and makes them more heterogeneous in composition. They are broadly a mix of silt and sand, with marine limestone stones in the subsoil.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-harvested through five distinct passes over a six-week period, each pass capturing slightly different profiles of fruit, acidity, and tannin structure. Each lot is fermented individually in older oak barrels, preceded by a five-day cold soak, with 23 days on skins and 30% whole cluster retained. The final assemblage is made after fermentation is complete, and the wine then ages in large, 100-year-old oak foudres for approximately 15 months.
Wine Details
Producer: El Enemigo
Region: Mendoza
Sub-Region: Uco Valley (San Carlos)
Appellation: Pampa El Cepillo
Vineyard: El Cepillo
Altitude: ~1100m
Assemblage: 85% Cabernet Franc, 15% Malbec
Soil: Colluvium (sand-silt) w/ marine limestone stones
Alcohol: 13.7%