Wine for sale: El Enemigo
PRODUCER OF THE WEEK
El Enemigo
An historian, a winemaker and a sworn enemy - it sounds like the start of a joke, but it is in fact, what makes this Argentinian winery what it is. The winemakers endeavor despite difficulties and the inner critic. The wines they produce are fresh and rich with emulating those of its Bordeaux ancestors.
El Enemigo
El Enemigo, meaning enemy in Spanish, is one of the countless projects led by the Argentinian Catena family. In 2009, Adrianna, Nicolás Catena Zapata’s fourth daughter, and winemaker Alejandro Vigil founded this estate in Mendoza. It sits on a bed of limestone and Andean alluvial soil, creating an oasis of freshness in the furnace that is Mendoza. In the face of difficulties, they live by the mantra that “at the end of the journey, we remember only one battle: the one we fought against ourselves, the original enemy, the one that defined us”.
True to their roots, the winemakers planted French, Burgundian, Italian and Argentinian varieties: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah-Viognier, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Torrontés. And they let the terroirs speak for themselves, because as Alejandro puts it, “it’s the land that counts in a good wine”. So the mix of Argentinian and French techniques, with drip irrigation, spontaneous fermentation, vinification in concrete eggs and mature barrels create amazingly rich and fruity wines.