2013 Gran Enemigo Single Vineyard Gualtallary Cabernet Franc Uco Valley 300 cl.

The nose of the 2012 Gran Enemigo Gualtallary Single Vineyard almost made me fall from my chair. It is the expression of elegance and austerity coupled with strong minerality. It is mostly Cabernet Franc from a very chalky vineyard in Gualtallary at 1,430 meters altitude that fermented together with a small percentage of Malbec. In 2012 they fine-tuned the élevage and fermentation, which was in rolling 500- liter barrels that were new in 2006 (so by then quite neutral), where the wine was kept for one more year and then transferred to 1,000- liter egg-shaped cement vats for one further year. This reminded me of my favorite Bordeaux, Lafleur, because of the elegance, the refinement of the tannins and length. It has citric, effervescent acidity that makes you salivate. Winemaker and Owner Alejandro Vigil has done a very strict selection of the soils in the field, and only kept the very center of the vineyard where the high density (12,000 plants per hectare) generates a lot of competition, because the plants from the borders have more space in the sides, which means in 2012 he could only fill 1,800 bottles. Awesome, and ultra fresh for a vintage like 2012. Bravo!

Bright ruby-red. Pungent yet reticent aromas of blueberry, flowers, mint and smoky minerality. Wonderfully tactile, creamy and deep but with its chewy, sweet mid-palate energized by strong acidity and piquant notes of flowers, pepper and salty crushed-stone minerality. Finishes very smooth and extremely long, with suave, firm, thoroughly ripe tannins coated in fruit and saline extract (the actual level of dry extract here is a very high 36 grams per liter, according to Vigil). This extremely youthful, primary wine is still in diapers and will require patience. An extraordinary Argentine Cabernet Franc.