2017 As Bravas Malbec
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Tasting notes
Representing the current vintage, the 2017 Malbec As Bravas Cordon El Cepillo is aged 64 months in foudre, giving it more time for oxidation to occur and be ultimately long-lived once in bottle. The grapes fermented 100% whole-cluster, it remains grippy and tight on the palate, just beginning to open its layers of red and blue fruit mingled with black peppercorn, cedar, and thyme. While intriguing now, it may easily be put down for another 15 or so years to continue its evolution. Translating as “The Enemy,” this is a partnership between winemaker Alejandro Vigil and Adrianna Catena, a historian and sister of Laura and Ernesto (daughter of Nicolas). Started in 2008, two of the primary focuses are Cabernet Franc and Bonarda, in addition to Malbec and many other varieties, including stellar whites. Every bottle carries the quote, “At the end of the journey, we remember only one battle: the one we fought against ourselves, the one that defined us.”
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Jeb Dunnuck
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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This is the second vintage of the new top of the range produced with pure Malbec from a very small plot in the Cordón El Cepillo with very special soils. The 2017 As Bravas Malbec was cropped from a very challenging vintage with frost and a warm end of the season. It fermented with full clusters in concrete and then matured in oak foudre for 64 months—a very long élevage that stabilizes the wine. It has a moderate 13.2% alcohol through an early harvest, and there is a sense of ripeness, of raw fruit, quite primary and undeveloped, like the wine had been frozen in time; it develops some notes of graphite with time in the glass and an acute floral note with some more time. A triumph over the adverse conditions of the year. 2,000 bottles produced.
About the producer
El Enemigo has quickly become one of Argentina’s top wine estates, specialising in high-altitude, single-vineyard Cabernet Franc cuvées and Bordeaux blends. They also produce a range of single-vineyard cuvées from the lesser-known variety Bonarda.