The architecture is impossible to ignore. And so is the setting.
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Happy #MalbecWorldDay to wine lovers worldwide!
For the past ten years, I've loved exploring and learning about Argentine wine, and I'm just getting started! Who would have thought that a random vacation to Buenos Aires would turn into 10 trips to Argentina, leading my first group trip to Mendoza, and interviews with some of the country's top winemakers? Man, it's been fun.
Thanks to Catena Zapata, Bodega Cuvelier Los Andes, Trapiche Argentina, Flechas de los Andes, Bodega Lagarde, Viña Cobos, Achaval-Ferrer, Bodega Familia Zuccardi, BODEGA VISTALBA, SuperUco, Wines of Argentina, Clos de los Siete and everyone else for their education and genuine hospitality.
Want to see what we brought back from the most recent trip? As I’ve said before, you can often get Argentinian wines at similar prices in the states. For that reason I focus on Argentina-only bottles, limited editions, and exceptional values I happen to come across.
If you want to understand Argentine wine and what makes it special, this new video from GuildSomm and Wines of Argentina is a must-watch. It interviews many of our heroes in the business. www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=i1Io5Ra_gBwThe Wines of Argentina by GuildSomm.
The daily chef special at Restaurant UCO in Buenos Aires. Organic eggs, zucchini, eggplant, and sun dried tomato. Still the best breakfast I have had in Argentina. I would show you the impossibly perfect medialuna and house-made granola and organic yogurt, but I already destroyed them.
Attack Of The Killer Cerveza
One of the biggest challenges facing Argentine winemakers in the domestic market is the rise of craft beer, which is being embraced by the younger generation.
Historically, Argentina had one of the largest per-capita wine consumptions in the world, but that is rapidly changing. Craft brewers are opening around the country by the dozens.
In my conversations with winemakers like Daniel Pi of Trapiche and Adrián Manchó of Cuvelier Los Andes, I hear a concern that the industry may have made enjoying wine too complicated.
They wonder if newcomers to wine feel like they're "getting it wrong" if they don't taste the notes of plum and leather and the scent of black fruit that the reviews described.
It's all gotten just a bit precious.
So I found both of them encouraging an approach that is a little bit more playful and less serious.
As Adrián Manchó put it, "there are the wines you Think, and there are the wines you just Drink."
And there is a place for each.
We'll drink to that.
See, it’s not all steak here! Lightly grilled peaches, bresaola, zucchini, arugula and goat cheese. #eatyourgreens
La Morada is still one of my favorite places to stay in the Uco Valley. Comfortable accommodations, homemade breakfast, and enviable views of the Andes make for the start of a perfect day in wine country.
Absolutely epic visit with the winemaking team at Cuvelier Los Andes. One of my favorite spots on earth. If anyone in South America is making better quality for the price, I haven’t tasted it.
Time for the tasting menu at Bodega Familia Gimenez Riili. One of the few family owned wineries left in the Uco Valley.
When the top winemaker at one of the world’s largest wineries agrees to spend two hours with you, it’s a helluva start to your Mendoza trip. My interview with Daniel Pi of Bodega Trapiche and Tres14 and his understudy, Sergio Casè, coming soon. Sneak preview: Bottles were uncorked back to 1978!
If you visit Duhau restaurant at Buenos Aires’ Park Hyatt, ask and the sommelier will likely have a few bottles that are off the list. Never had a Malbec this many years old, but it’s surprisingly complex and wonderful. A nice acidity and brightness you wouldn’t expect from the earlier era.
This is where we’ll be recovering from jet lag next Wednesday! Can’t wait.
If you love evening cocktails outdoors, this is your place.
Introducing our new feature - the quarterly Honor Roll. Here's what we're drinking right now and why you should be, too.
MalbecsOnly Honor Roll – Spring 2019 – Malbecs Only
malbecsonly.com
Posted on March 18, 2019March 18, 2019 by stephenMalbecsOnly Honor Roll – Spring 2019 Here are the wines we’re drinking right now that are an exceptional value for their price range, vintage after vintage. Cuvelier Los Andes Colección – The renowned Cuvelier Family is best known in France for...Today on the Costco Wine Blog, they're featuring Black Tears, a steakhouse favorite from the Tapiz winery.
Tapiz was taken over by Jean Claud Berrout, the recently retired winemaker from Petrus, and since that time all of Tapiz's labels have skyrocketed in quality. Well worth a read.
costcowineblog.com/2013-tapiz-black-tears-malbec/
2013 Tapiz Black Tears Malbec - CostcoWineBlog.com
costcowineblog.com
Tapiz's Black Tears Malbec is drinking really nice right now and turned out to be exactly what I hoped - a delicious wine deserving of its price tag
Tapiz makes one of the best Merlots in Argentina, the label is Las Notas de Jean Claude.... remarkable !!!
Love Black Tears
First bottle in Napa. (This one’s from Sonoma, actually.) #malbecsonlyvisitsNapa #howtheotherhemispherelives
Very, very good. Elegant and substantial, clearly made with great finesse. Favorite wine of one of my hosts. Robert Parker himself reviewed this (95 points) and says, “The 2014 Mekarra Proprietary Red is a Cheval Blanc-like blend of 52% Merlot and 48% Cabernet Franc from his vineyard in Knights Valley. It is a sexy, open-knit, expansive and savory style of wine, with loads of Christmas fruitcake, licorice, black cherry and blackcurrant jam, a touch of asphalt, and a long, full-bodied, voluptuously textured finish. It is very much in keeping with the easygoing but alluring and sexy style of the 2014s in Northern California. Drink it over the next 15 or more years.”
Seeing How The Other Hemisphere Lives
As you know, this blog is all about the celebration of Argentine wine - and it always will be. But I've been invited to visit friends in Napa Valley next week.
I think it will be fascinating after four trips to Mendoza, to compare and contrast what the California wine community and tasting experience is like.
I already have some built-in assumptions about what I'll find - too expensive, too jammy - so it will be very interesting to see what reality is.
Unfortunately, the weather will be quite cold and rainy, but there should be ample red wine to warm things up! Look for frequent posts on Facebook from the trip.
Look forward to reading about your CA Experience.... Cheers from the Realm of Malbec !!!
So, how was your evening?
#PaulHobbs #Mendoza #WorldClass #Malbec
If you've wondered what going to Argentina wine country is like, there's a wonderful new series on Amazon Prime - "It Starts With Wine" - and episode 2 features Laura Catena in Mendoza. It's very well shot, and you see some really nice footage of the country and its traditions.
Watch It Starts With Wine Season 1 - Prime Video
amazon.com
In this first season, we travel to Uruguay, Argentina & California to meet some of the world's best winemakers, growers and personalities, along with chefs and celebrities, to offer an inside look at the cultures that surround the wine lifestyle.The last night of service at Atlanta’s best restaurant, Better Half, deserves one of America’s last bottles of this.
Paul Hobbs’ Bramare line includes these regional versions, and then a more expensive, single-vineyard line. Both are excellent for their price point. This bottle retails for around $40 USD.
The Argentina peso is nearing 37 to $1 USD. Mind-boggling.
First he was the wine manager of the UK's Gaucho restaurant chain who was bold enough to go to an all-Argentinean wine list. Now he's the brand ambassador for Wines of Argentina. Get to know Phil Crozier.
www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/08/qa-phil-crozier-wines-of-argentina/
Q&A: Phil Crozier, Wines of Argentina
thedrinksbusiness.com
Its people. Its personality. Its energy and curiosity. Its openness to the outside world. A combination of the old and the new. A great winemaking history. It has a story that needs telling. I find that new winemakers are very keen to tell this story through their wines.Incredible! Two wines made by Alejandro Vigil, one from Catena Zapata and one from his personal winery Casa El Enemigo Vigil, have scored 100 points in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.
Congratulations to this renegade wine maker we had the pleasure of meeting on this year's #MalbecsOnly2018 tour. English translation in the comments.
"Alejandro Magno": Vigil logró 100 puntos Parker con dos de sus vinos - Punto a Punto Mendoza
mendoza.puntoapunto.com.ar
Tanto con el Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard River Stones 2016, de la bodega Catena Zapata, como con el Gran Enemigo Single Vineyard Gualtallary Cabernet Franc 2013, de su proyecto Aleanna (compartido con Adrianna Catena), el enólogo mendocino Alejandro Vigil ha obtenido el puntaje perfecto, seg...
"Alejandro Magno": Vigil achieved 100 Parker points with two of his wines - June 29, 2018 With the Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard River Stones 2016, from the Catena Zapata winery, as well as the Great Enemy Single Vineyard Gualtallary Cabernet Franc 2013, from his Aleanna project (shared with Adrianna Catena), the Mendoza winemaker Alejandro Vigil has obtained the perfect score , according to La Nación. Moreover, in the top ten of the list are six wines of his authorship, how you can see below: 100 pts Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard River Stones 2016 100 pts Great Enemy Single Vineyard Gualtallary Cabernet Franc 2013 99 pts. Per Se La Craie 2016 98+ pts. Per Se La Craie 2015 98 pts. White Stones Chardonnay 2016 98 pts. Zuccardi Family Finca Piedra Infinita 2015 98 pts. Great Enemy Single Vineyard Gualtallary Cabernet Franc 2014 98 pts. Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard River Stones 2014 97+ pts. Noemía 2016 97 pts. Chakra 55 2017 "It is a recognition of the region, a recognition of Argentina," he told La Nación Vigil, after learning about the scores. "It is, in addition, the proposal of work that I have carried forward in the last 20 years, thinking of Argentina and thinking of the terroir," he added. The review of Argentine wines 2018 published in Wine Advocate was prepared by the critic Luis Gutiérrez, after tasting more than 1,200 Argentine wines. Until now, no Argentine wine had obtained 100 points from the magazine created by the influential critic Robert Parker.
Pulled out this rare South American beauty tonight to enjoy with the Coravin. Five different varietals from seven different vineyards across Mendoza. Vines ranging from 6 to 87 years of age, aged 18 months in new French oak. Delicious blend.
An Excellent Blend, mostly unavailable in the USA. The regular Encuentro varietals are more widespread, but it’s this blend and a 100% Pinot sparkler that are the two best offerings from this line of Wines.
Looks great. Stephen, how do you like your Coravin? I’ve been looking at them but have yet to decide which model.
See Tim Atkin’s Top 100 Argentinean wines here.
The article is in Spanish but the labels read the same!
www.clarin.com/sociedad/eligen-100-mejores-vinos-argentinos_0_BJF-9xjRz.html
Eligen los 100 mejores vinos argentinos
clarin.com
El británico Tim Atkin difundió su reporte anual. También reconoció a tres enólogos. El ranking.Thanks to Joanna Morris Hurley for this tip. We can't believe how much Argentina's currency has devalued. Even since our #MalbecsOnly2018 trip in March, the currency has dropped from 20/1 US Dollar to 24.45 (as of today).
Sad for our many friends down there, but it does create some opportunity for wine buyers and visitors.
Thanks to The Points Guy for this great information.
www.malbecsonly.com/?p=822
Plummeting Peso creating even more value for Argentina visitors? – Malbecs Only
malbecsonly.com
Posted on May 24, 2018May 24, 2018 by stephenPlummeting Peso creating even more value for Argentina visitors? The Points Guy just published a piece that suggests this is one of the best times to visit Argentina in years. We are amazed that even since our #MalbecsOnly2018 trip in March, the currency....There are only two pieces of wine journalism we spend money on every year - one is a subscription to RobertParker.com and the other is the annual Argentina Wine Report from Britain's Tim Atkin.
The new report is just out this week, and it's worth every penny of the $27 download. It includes tasting notes on over 900 of the country's best wines as well as drinking windows.
We've tasted several of Atkin's top-rated wines and find that his tastes largely match ours. This is worth your money.
www.timatkin.com/reports/2018-argentina-special-report
Rest assured we’ll be giving you the scoop on this restaurant (and its wine list).
Here are the stories that made a splash in the Atlanta food world this week.
Look at this Vertical of one of the Uco Valley’s best wines! Yes please.
Grupo Clos de los 7 on Twitter
twitter.com
“Súper Vertical de Val de Flores #2002 #2003 #2004 #2005 #2006 #2007 #2008 #2009 #2010 #2011 #2012 #2013 #2014”Happy #MalbecWorldDay, from the page that celebrates it every day! MalbecsOnly.com
After 10 days on the road in Mendoza and Buenos Aires, it's fair to say our #MalbecsOnly2018 group have have been no strangers to indulgence.
Lavish meals, incredible tastings, inspiring sites, too many memories, a photo cloud that's bursting at the seams. After a while, it can all become a bit of a blur. Which is why it takes a truly unusual hotel to stand out - which is what we have found at the Fierro Hotel Boutique Buenos Aires in the Palermo Hollywood barrio.
In our experience in Argentina, there are intimate boutique hotels that are warm and welcoming (like Casa Glebinias and Miravida Soho), and there are giant hotels (like the Four Seasons and Park Hyatt) that offer 5-star indulgence and posh amenities.
The Fierro brilliantly bridges that gap. From homemade scones, the trip's best medialunas, and impossibly fresh homemade organic yogurt to the rooftop pool, huge contemporary rooms (4 to a floor) with wet bar, fully-stocked wine refrigerator and Nespresso machine; comfortably huge dual-nozzle showers with enough glorious water pressure to wash a small vehicle, and the on-point front desk team, the Fierro is the kind of place where you would love to just check in for a few months and let the rest of the world take care of itself.
The cuisine at UCO Restaurant, the onsite restaurant, arguably justifies its ranking among BA's best restaurants. Chef Edward Holloway has developed a menu that respects Argentine tradition without being slavish to it - there are cues from Peru and other South American countries. The trophy dish is Patagonian lamb shoulder slow cooked for 18 hours, and it's as good as it sounds. The South American paellas are more like dense broth-cooked risottos than the yellow rice dishes we've come to identify with Spain. We tried both the rabbit paella and the Peruvian seafood rice dish and both were among the favorite bites of our travels.
The wine list, quite simply, rocks. Premium bottles, reasonably priced and thoughtfully curated. No, you're not going to find as many $4000 bottles here as the Park Hyatt. (But really, unless you were planning to sell an organ, you'll find more than enough to hold your interest here.)
We attended a free wine tasting at the Vinoteca, the attached wine shop, and despite having just returned from 12 winery visits in Mendoza (this is where we receive the grapes, this is where we fill the tanks, blah, blah, blah), the information offered by Manuel (complete with charts, maps, and photographs) was fresh, relevant and added to our depth of understanding of Argentinean wine.
This is also the most time we've spent in Palermo Hollywood (through the years I've always been partial to Palermo Soho) and have discovered that this neighborhood has charms of its own. Fewer designer clothing stores, yes, but a little more chill - and maybe a bit more of a genuine neighborhood feel (think Tribeca as opposed to Soho.)
We invited longtime friends from Buenos Aires over to the hotel for dinner, and al fresco dining at Uco served as the perfect backdrop for our happy reunion.
We'll be back.
There is no better place to celebrate life with friends than Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, with some help from our friends at Catena Zapata
We are LOVING our first stay at Fierro Hotel Boutique Buenos Aires. The restaurant, Uco, is among the best in the city and the breakfasts are legendary, with daily specials and what may be the world’s fresher homemade yogurt. More photos and info on this wine-centric boutique hotel soon.
What a day crossing the Andes from Chile to Mendoza. Ever-changing vistas and a first rate introduction to Argentine cuisine. Something we’ll always remember. #MalbecsOnly2018
What an enormous honor for Catena Zapata! The world’s most-awarded winery, as chosen by Vivino users.
twitter.com/catenamalbec/status/975754317981462529?s=21
Catena on Twitter
“Over 26 million users voted in @Vivino’s 2018 #WineStyle Awards, recognizing the best and most beloved wines from around the 🌎. Immensely honoured to have received the distinction of #Vivino’s Most Awarded Winery - a triumph for us, and for Argentine Wine. 🇦🇷🍷 #CatenaDream https:/...
Planning dinner for our first group trip to Argentina next week. Research, research....
Beautiful stain down the front of the Gran Malbec complements of me. Got most of the wine in the glass ...
Two big Malbecs from Mendoza.... not sure what sort of availability they have in the US...?
Coming soon: our first group tour! Follow #malbecsonlytour2018 for photos and posts.
Stephen Curry is leading a group of good friends to #Mendoza #Argentina this month and (if we don't kill each other) this will be the first of many MalbecsOnly group trips!
On the agenda:
Surprise tastings, guests and activities.
Top wineries like Catena Zapata, Clos de los Siete, Bodega Flechas De Los Andes, Viña Cobos, Bodegas Salentein.
Amazing food from acclaimed chef Nadia Haron, Bodega Lagarde, La Azul Resto, Francis Mallmann's Siete Fuegos and more.
We can't wait to see everyone!
Próximamente: ¡nuestra primera gira grupal! Siga # malbecsonlytour2018 para fotos y publicaciones.
Stephen Curry lidera este mes a un grupo de buenos amigos de #Mendoza #Argentina y (si no nos matamos entre nosotros) este será el primero de muchos viajes grupales de Malbecs.
En la agenda:
Degustaciones sorpresa, invitados y actividades.
Las mejores bodegas como Catena Zapata, Clos de los Siete, Bodega Flechas de los Andes, Viña Cobos, Bodegas Salentein.
Comida increíble de la aclamada chef Nadia Haron, Bodega Lagarde, La Azul Resto y más.
No podemos esperar para ver a todos!
Like our page to see photos from our trip! Siga nuestra página para ver fotos de nuestro viaje!
Congratulations Steve !!!
This is wonderful Stephen!
Great article in today's NY Times. Thanks David Bernard for the find.
www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/travel/36-hours-in-mendoza-argentina.html
36 Hours in Mendoza, Argentina
nytimes.com
The gastronomic scene has been growing by leaps and bounds. And then, both within and beyond the city’s boundaries, there’s the wine: malbecs, torrontés and more.First warm day of the year! Celebrating.
What a beautiful, beautiful bottle of wine from Finca Sophenia. Can’t wait to be back in Mendoza next month! It’s our first (hopefully) of many group trips to Argentina.
In honor of the Southern snowstorm, the Coravin is going to open one of my oldest bottles.
It's really good now.
How was it?
I bought this on your reco. Haven’t had it yet though.
Good one!
Catena’s appellation series continues to impress us with its quality and value. Our personal favorite: the Lunlunta Malbec 2014. You definitely get the dark and red berry aromatics they describe on the label. As well as the “lengthy mid-palate and ripe silky finish.”
Enjoying the last of Thanksgiving weekend with good friends and this really nice blend from Riglos. 21 months in French oak. Lordy! But after decanting it reveals notes of anise and a beautiful flavor.
First let me say, it was my fault I got lost. Very lost.
As in, by myself at 11 pm in the dark on dirt roads lost. Not one electric light anywhere on the horizon.
As in, upset man on a motorcycle chasing me to tell me I was trespassing, lost.
It's indeed possible to run away to the end of the world, to a paradise where no one can find you.
But first, you have to find it.
La Morada de los Andes gives you excellent directions. They tell you not to use Google Maps, or Apple Maps. But do we Gringos listen? Noooooooo.
Welcome to the boundaries of civilization, where your faith in technology has to be surrendered. And your faith in humanity can be restored.
Because Marcela was waiting up to make me empanadas. At 9 PM, at 10 PM, at 11 PM. Way past her bedtime. Way past when she was supposed to go home.
My last-minute plans for Mendoza started with reservations for the usual places. Mendoza City, or Chacras. But after briefly visiting the Uco Valley and staying at the Vines of Mendoza, I longed to return.
The Vines is amazing. But $800/night just isn't a reality for some of us. So using Google Maps, I set out to find a place that could give me similar views, in a similar setting.
TripAdvisor confirmed that this little place called La Morada was getting stellar reviews.
And I could tell it was right across the street from The Vines. Well, sort of. If you mean down two miles of unmarked, private dirt roads is across the street.
(Roads that both Google and Apple refuse to include in their mapping. Since you have an entire world to run away from, maybe it's for the best.)
La Morada is a modern, welcoming guesthouse with every convenience, set in the middle of a burgeoning vineyard project. Its four rooms may be the most comfortable way to experience the solitude of the Uco Valley.
And if you get lost like me? Put The Vines of Mendoza in your GPS. Pull up to the guard gate, and they'll point you towards the entrance, just a hundred yards down the street. That's what finally did it for me.
Wherever I go, wine creates friends.
And this visit to Mendoza was no exception. Which leads to my visit to SuperUco.
This particular visit to Mendoza wasn't particularly well-planned. I just sort of, showed up.
Despite my lack of planning, my driver from La Morada de los Andes was able to make things happen: "We have a tasting at SuperUco. But we have to be there in TEN MINUTES!"
We scrambled into the truck and I made it over to the last seat at a tasting that was well underway.
It didn't take two minutes for the coincidences to kick in. I was surrounded by a table of Americans. Not just Americans, but fellow Atlantans. We discovered common friends, common interests, and the conversation flowed as freely as the wine that was being generously poured by the Michelini family.
The renegade Michelini brothers are known for pushing the boundaries of Argentine wine, as evidenced by their labels Zorzal and Passionate Wines. They were the first in the region to experiment with egg-shaped concrete tanks, when everyone else was still dumping everything into oak barrels.
But it's SuperUco, a surreal, modernist building that houses a completely biodynamic bodega near Tunuyán, that is their true realization of a dream: an uncompromising taste of the terroir of the Uco Valley.
Chickens and other farm animals roam freely among the grapes, leaving their "presents" to fertilize their two hectares of soil.
Here the brothers Michelini are making wines from high-altitude vineyards in Gualtallary, Los Chacayes, and Altamira, ranging from 3,000 to 4,500 feet. The alluvial and colluvial soils are the result of erosion from the pre-Andes of millions of years ago.
As the English translation of their website puts it "the roots grow embraced to the stones, from which they take the nutrients and their unique character."
Enough with the geology lesson. How do the wines taste? Freaking great.
In fermentation here, the wines here never touch stainless steel. They are in materials like concrete, and wood. Whenever there is a natural option, the Michelinis opt for it. They use indigenous yeasts. They never filter the wine. They never use sulfates, or overextract.
It's an uncompromising approach that results in wines with a personality all their own. They've even trained every vine into a heart shape, the vineyard's personal signature.
In the States, you can find wines ranging from Calcareo Rio de Los Chacayes at around $35 to Calcareo Granito Malbec for about $75. Only in Argentina can you purchase their icon wines, the top of the line Genitori Gualta and Genitori Mio ($175).
One can always debate how much a top wine should cost, but the answer of course is to try them for yourself, and decide just how much a taste of freedom is worth.
We love making trips with Miguel Sanz of Driving Mendoza Wine Tours. Highly recommended.Matheu and Casey at Vistaba Winery today
