Winemaker Notes
This Cabernet Franc is ruby red in color with soft violet tones. The nose has intense aromas and concentrated notes of cassis, ripe currants, and sweet spices including black pepper and cloves. His tenure provides integrated oak notes of cedar and vanilla. Fresh impact and excellent structure on the palate, reminiscent of ripe red fruits with hints of eucalyptus and tagged black pepper. This wine has an excellent balance and elegance with a well-structured, persistent finish.
Pair this Cabernet Franc with grilled game meats.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another outstanding vintage of Cabernet Franc, the medium-bodied 2023 was blended with 10% Malbec and is expertly balanced, high-toned in acidity and herb, with lovely red berry fruit and notes of peppercorn. Fermented on native yeasts before aging 15 months in mostly foudre, with a touch of barrel and concrete, it's complex, cohesive, and polished from start to finish. Drink now through 2037.
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James Suckling
A fruity cabernet franc with aromas of ripe black cherries, currants and hints of tobacco, dark olives and spices. Sappy and deliciously fruity, with a medium body, a juicy core of fruit and fine, linear tannins. Drink now or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Fresh in feel, with a graphite and thyme underpinning to the pure strawberry and Santa Rosa plum core. This is sleek and refined on the finish, making for a quaffable style, but with enough tannins for short-term cellaring. Drink now through 2036.
The wines of El Enemigo are a tribute to those internal battles that make us who we are. Winemaker Alejandro Vigil and historian Adrianna Catena reach back in time to capture the era when European immigrants first settled in Argentina. These settlers sought to make wines as good as or finer than those of their old homelands. By 1936, Malbec and Petit Verdot were Argentina’s most widely planted varietals, and their blend was considered the ultimate in refinement and aging potential.
Enemigo thrives in the thrill of experimentation and delights in the new and unconventional. It was born from a desire to carve a unique path and a shared obsession with terroir—each bottle an unfettered song to the wild, free-spirited soul. The wines reflect the freshness and character of each individual vineyard: a pure expression of terroir.
Cabernet Franc, a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the subtler and more delicate of the Cabernets. Today Cabernet Franc produces outstanding single varietal wines across the wine-producing world. Somm Secret—One of California's best-kept secrets is the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Barbara. Here Cabernet Franc shines as a single varietal wine or in blends, expressing sumptuous fruit, savory aromas and polished tannins.
By far the largest and best-known winemaking province in Argentina, Mendoza is responsible for over 70% of the country’s enological output. Set in the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains, the climate is dry and continental, presenting relatively few challenges for viticulturists during the growing season. Mendoza, divided into several distinctive sub-regions, including Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, is the source of some of the country’s finest wines.
For many wine lovers, Mendoza is practically synonymous with Malbec. Originally a Bordelaise variety brought to Argentina by the French in the mid-1800s, here it found success and renown that it never knew in its homeland where a finicky climate gives mixed results. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir are all widely planted here as well (and sometimes even blended with each other or Malbec). Mendoza's main white varieties include Chardonnay, Torrontés, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.