El Enemigo Gran Enemigo Agrelo Single Vineyard 2013
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El Gran Enemigo SV Agrelo is deep purple with red highlights. Its aromas are intense and elegant. Cabernet Franc brings light notes of eucalyptus and thyme. Malbec brings notes of ripe black fruits, blackberries and black cherries. The oak aging gives a touch of chocolate and vanilla to blend. Excellent balance and elegant. This wine was made in honor of the old Pomerol style where Cabernet Franc was blended with the other Bordeaux varieties.
This wine pairs beautifully with roast chicken, turkey, duck, and other game birds along with seared steak and veal.
Blend: 85% Cabernet Franc, 15% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The nose of the 2013 Gran Enemigo Agrelo Single Vineyard is an explosion of exotic spices and smoke, a mixture of an Argentinean asado and a Moroccan bazaar! Incense, clove, cardamom, curry and smoke. It's Cabernet Franc with 15% Malbec taken from 2.5 hectares in Catena's La Pirámide vineyard around the winery. The palate has a salty twist. This was sourced from deep clay soils. It matured in old oak foudres for 15 months.
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James Suckling
A dense and layered red with dark berry, dark tea and bark character. Full body and pretty. Shows a length and finesse. Drink now or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe malty berry aromas blend seamlessly with darker notes of toasty oak and asphalt. This Cab Franc (with 15% Malbec) feels big and pulpy, but also healthy and juicy. Flavors of blackberry, cassis and mixed herbs finish with oaky notes of mocha, coffee and toasty berry. Drink through 2024.
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El Enemigo translates as the enemy. Nodding to the fact that at the end of any journey, most remember only one battle — the one fought within (the original enemy). This is the battle that defines us. The wines of El Enemigo are a tribute to those internal battles that make us who we are, brought to fruition by a winemaker, Alejandro Vigil, and a historian, Adrianna Catena who share a love of wine and reach back in time to capture the era when European immigrants first settled in Argentina. These settlers sought to make wines as fine, and finer, than those of their old homeland. By 1936, Malbec and Petit Verdot were the most widely planted fine varietals in Argentina, their blend considered the ultimate in refinement and aging potential.
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.