Bonarda is regarded as Argentina’s second national grape variety after the country’s now world-famous Malbec wines, but it is still little-known outside of Latin America. This stunning single vineyard example is the work of Alejandro Vigil, Catena Zapata’s chief winemaker, and historian Adrianna Catena who is the daughter of Nicolas Catena who helped put Argentina on the map for Malbec.
Alejandro and Adrianna joined forces to found their own wine label, El Enemigo, which aims to showcase a new side to Argentina’s winemaking potential inspired both by tradition and by breaking any unnecessary rules of how things should be done.
This particular cuvee is produced from a small 5 hectare plot of very old Bonarda vines which were rescued by Alejandro. The vines are planted on a sandy plot which sits at 650 metres above sea level in Rivadavia in the Mendoza wine region. The grapes are carefully selected at optimum ripeness to maintain quality and fermented in stainless steel tanks. The young wine is then aged in used French oak barrels for 15 months, adding delicate notes of toasty oak and spice to the vibrant dark berry, plum and cherry fruit flavours.