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Buy any 6 bottles and save 5%. Buy any 12 bottles and save 10% (excludes wines on offer). Free UK delivery on orders over £100. Tel: 02922 337454
Buy any 6 bottles and save 5%. Buy any 12 bottles and save 10% (excludes wines on offer). Free UK delivery on orders over £100. Tel: 02922 337454
The Somm 6 Mixed Case Wine Republic

2018 ‘As Bravas’ Gualtallary Malbec, El Enemigo

Gualtallary, Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina

*En-Primeur offer, wines arrive November 2026*

Chalk Fury

El Enemigo’s 2018 As Bravas Gualtallary Malbec is a rare, radical expression of high-altitude Mendoza, built on purity, tension and limestone precision rather than simple power. The nose is dark and vivid, with fresh black cherry, blackberry, violet, peppercorn, crushed stone, cured meat and graphite. It feels almost architectural, a wine of shape, nerve and immense inner drive.

On the palate, it is dense but fiercely bright, with Malbec’s dark fruit held in a taut mineral frame. There is chalky grip, sharp acidity, fine tannin texture and a long, ultra-pure finish that seems to narrow into stone, spice and black fruit. This is not plush, easy Malbec. It is severe, brilliant and unforgettable, a bottle for collectors who want Argentine wine at its most ambitious.

For when
A once-in-a-cellar bottle needs a serious table and absolute attention.

Pairs with
Dry-aged rib of beef, fire-grilled lamb, venison, slow-braised short rib, black garlic aubergine, wild mushrooms, aged hard cheeses or a full asado.

El Enemigo is the cult project of Adrianna Catena and Alejandro Vigil, two of the most influential figures in Argentine wine. Launched in 2024, As Bravas is an homage to the female spirit, its name meaning “the brave ones” in Galician and “the angry ones” in Portuguese. It honours courage, brilliance and resilience, while recognising anger as a force that, when channelled with purpose, can break silence and drive meaningful change. From a tiny, high-altitude Gualtallary site, this is Malbec stripped back to stone, structure and truth.

*En-Primeur offer, wines arrive November 2026*

Whats in the bottle
93% Malbec, 7% Sémillon

Notable Awards
100 points, James Suckling

£89.95 - £89.95
£89.95
£89.95 - £89.95
£89.95
Availability:
12 in stock, ready to be shipped

El Enemigo, produced by Bodega Aleanna, is one of the most exciting and respected names in modern Argentine wine. It was created by Adrianna Catena, youngest daughter of Nicolás Catena Zapata, and Alejandro Vigil, chief winemaker at Catena Zapata and one of South America’s most influential winemaking figures. Together, they have built a project rooted in history, site expression and a willingness to challenge what Mendoza wine can be.

The name El Enemigo refers to the internal enemy: the voice that accepts compromise, comfort or convention. That idea runs through the wines, which are often bold in concept but precise in execution. The estate is especially admired for its Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Sémillon and site-driven Malbecs, with a focus on altitude, limestone soils, concrete fermentation and long, patient ageing.

As Bravas is one of the most important recent chapters in the El Enemigo story. It combines technical brilliance with emotional force, honouring female courage and resilience while showing Malbec in a leaner, more mineral, deeply serious form. For collectors, it is a new Argentine benchmark.

The 2018 As Bravas Gualtallary comes from a microscopic 0.9-hectare site in Gualtallary, one of the most prized high-altitude zones in the Uco Valley. The vineyard sits at around 1,500 to 1,580 metres above sea level, where intense sunlight, cool nights and limestone-rich, stony soils help build concentration, acidity and finely etched tannins.

The wine is predominantly Malbec with a small proportion of Sémillon, an unusual but telling detail that adds lift, tension and aromatic complexity. Grapes are hand-harvested and rigorously selected, with fermentation carried out spontaneously and extraction kept gentle to preserve the wine’s natural energy and precision. Ageing takes place for 64 months in large 2,000-litre oak casks, giving the wine extraordinary depth without burying the mineral character of the site.