El Enemigo Gran Enemigo Agrelo Single Vineyard 2014
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James
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Robert
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El Gran Enemigo Single Vineyard 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.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This just pops out of the glass with perfumed and dark fruits as well as stone and fresh herb. Salt, too. Full body, layered and tight with a mineral and stone undertone. Flavorful finish. So enticing. Cabernet Franc and Malbec.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
More marked by the year, the 2014 Gran Enemigo Agrelo Single Vineyard is more fruit-driven and ripe, more in line with what I saw in 2012 and 2011. The spicy character is there, but it's subtler and there's more black fruit here. Some 6,000 bottles were filled at the end of 2016 or in early 2017.
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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.