Malbec, As Bravas Cordón El Cepillo, El Enemigo 2017
Parker 96 (2025); Tim Atkin MW 97 (2025); Descorchados 99 (2025); James Suckling 99; Vinous 97 (2025)
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Why this wine
Five and a half years in old foudre and a further year in bottle is unheard-of patience for Argentine Malbec, and it shows in the texture rather than the oak. The fruit is ungrafted, low-yielding and comes from a single 1.7-hectare plot in one of the Uco Valley's harshest corners. It is the range's argument that Malbec can be built for finesse instead of power.
At a glance
- Grape
- Malbec, Semillon
- Region
- Mendoza, Argentina
- Alcohol
- 13.50%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- High
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Red Meat, Barbecue, Cheese
How it tastes
Blackberry, wild herbs, rose petal and cedar on the nose, with graphite, white pepper and a balsamic note behind. Medium-bodied and tightly woven, with chalky, incisive tannins and bright acidity carrying red and blue fruit to a long, fine finish. Malbec, Semillon.
The producer
El Enemigo was founded in 2010 by Adrianna Catena, daughter of Nicolas Catena Zapata, with Alejandro Vigil, head winemaker at Bodega Catena Zapata; the estate placed 17th in the Top 100 of the World's Best Vineyards Awards 2025. As Bravas comes from a single 1.7-hectare plot in Cordon El Cepillo, in the San Carlos sub-region of the Uco Valley, one of the valley's most extreme terroirs: a remote, frost-prone desert at 1,300 metres, planted in 2004 with ungrafted, low-yielding Malbec at 8,000 vines per hectare on colluvial soils over marine limestone. The site is farmed to organic practices without certification, with natural herb and pest control, high trellises, drip irrigation and a manual harvest. After five days of cold maceration the must fermented with wild yeasts in concrete vats at around 26°C alongside a small proportion of Semillon, macerating for some 23 days with 30% whole bunches, then aged 64 months in old foudres and a further year in bottle. The 2017 season followed a cool 2016: a dry spring brought frost that cut Uco Valley Malbec yields sharply, while Andean snowmelt, a mild summer and dry harvest months gave concentration, heightened acidity and vivid aromatics.
Food and drinking
Serve at 16-18°C. It suits rare roast beef, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, smoked brisket or a hard sheep's cheese. Drinking beautifully now and good for another ten to twenty years; an hour in a decanter opens it out. Sealed with a DIAM closure. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.