Mendoza Day 2: Luján de Cuyo

Phew!  It’s been a good while since my last post…  I had a lot going on with friends, trips, family, etc but I’m ready to get back to recording what I’ve been doing.  I’m headed to San Francisco next week but I left things off in Mendoza, Argentina; although I was there over a month ago, I thought I’d finish writing about it.  I also took a trip to Salta and Jujuy after Mendoza, which I also plan post since I really do want to remember the amazing time I spent up north.  There are a few other BA/Argentina related stuff I want to write but that’s something I hope to do over the next month or two.  Now, where was I??

I’d heard good things about a tour company called Trout & Wine from several people so Rita and I trusted them to take us around some of the wineries in Mendoza.  We were happy with their service and our guides (a big thanks to Virginia and Pamela who were both drop dead gorgeous and lovely).  We thought of just going to Luján de Cuyo, a region of Mendoza described as “tierra de malbec” or land of malbec but in the end we visited Valle de Uco as well.  I’m really glad that we did.  In certain ways I think I enjoyed Valle de Uco more than Luján de Cuyo…  But I’m getting ahead of myself here…

Our day in Luján de Cuyo started at Mendel where one of the most respected winemakers in Argentina, Roberto de la Mota, and the Mendel family emphasize quality over quantity.  As we walked into this small bodega we saw malbec vines labeled “1928.”  They have 80+ year old malbec and cabernet sauvignon vineyards in the area, including some in the high altitude regions for their award winning Finca Remota malbec.   The tour was intimate and informative (our guide gave us some of the malbec grapes to taste, which were very sweet and delicious), and we were lucky to see the grape sorting process (the grapes were picked very early that morning).  Because Mendel makes so few bottles of wine we could only taste what has not yet hit the market.  We did a vertical tasting of their malbec, trying to distinguish and discern the difference between the years and where they were in the aging process.  My favorite though, was their UNUS which was a 70/30 blend of malbec and cabernet sauvignon.

Next we went to a much larger and modern bodega called Dante Robino.  Their grounds, facilities, and the modern tasting room reminded me a lot of the bigger wineries in Napa Valley in California.  Along with Chandon, Dante Robino is a large producer of sparkling wines in Argentina and we were treated to a lesson on different ways sparkling wines are made.

We got a chance to taste a torrontés (I didn’t think it was very good), some malbecs, as well as their sparkling wines.  My favorite there was the Grand Dante, a small production malbec.

Our next stop was Club Tapiz where we were treated to an olive oil tasting, followed by a fantastic meal in a beautiful setting.  The place was surrounded by lush greens accented by small ponds and beautiful lavender, and stylishly decorated with ornate chandeliers and rich jewel tones.  We dined on generous portions of escabeche de conejo, salmon ceviche, grilled vegetables, steak (almost the size of my head!), and a refreshing fruit dessert, each course paired with a different wine they produce (and a lot of it).

The last bodega of the day in Luján de Cuyo was Bodega Benegas, which was stunning in its own way.  We stepped through a set of enormous doors to find a cavernous room with large sturdy furniture and walls adorned with an impressive collection of Andean ponchos.  I was quite tired by the time we visited this bodega and while I really enjoyed the visit led by our guide, Ana, none of the wines we tried made a lasting impression on me.

Needless to say, we were full and properly tuckered out by the time we returned back to our hotel.  I took a much needed nap before heading out to dinner.  Now that I’m thinking about it, I can’t believe we even made it to dinner…  We tried for a quick meal at Verolio, a restaurant/olive oil shop on Sarmiento, which turned out to be a comical experience because of how long we (and all the other customers) had to wait for our food.  We just had to laugh and wonder whether they were washing the lettuce leaf by leaf in the kitchen.  At least we fared better than the guy who came in after us that sat for 30+ minutes before the waitress brought him his drink and a basket of bread.  But as I have heard often and have come to say it myself repeatedly, “TIA: This is Argentina.”  It’s part of the charm!

Still two more days left in Mendoza…  next up, the Andes mountains.

Below is a list of bodegas we visited in Luján de Cuyo.  If there is a next time in Luján de Cuyo (I hope), I’d love to visit Achaval-Ferrer, Catena Zapata (drank enough Catena wines in Argentina to fill a bathtub!), and Vistalba…

Bodega Mendel: for visits, e-mail tasting@mendel.com.ar

Dante Robino: guided tours and visits e-mail turismo@bodegadanterobino.com

Club Tapiz: for reservations e-mail clubtapiz@tapiz.com.ar

Bodega Benegas: for a visit e-mail turismo@bodegabenegas.com

Trout & Wine Tours: Espejo 266 in Mendoza

Vines of Mendoza: Great tasting room, wine services (recommendations, shipping, etc), & travel resource (downloadable “insiders’ guide)

Recycling in Buenos Aires: Cartoneros

As beautiful as this city is, everyday I’m tripping over garbage and broken sidewalks everywhere I go (not to mention dog poop).  I used to see people throwing trash out of their car windows or just casually dropping things on the side of the road in India.  On the other hand in South Korea, I hardly saw a gum wrapper on the street or even trash cans- I learned that people take their garbage home and recycle practically everything (I saw at least four separate bins for different types of recycling at a Korean home).  I don’t know what I thought it would be like here but I certainly didn’t think this “Paris of South America” and its proud inhabitants would be such litterbugs!  When I first arrived I was shocked to see so much garbage and so many porteños being so careless about keeping this gorgeous city clean.

At my first apartment I asked my landlord how I should separate my garbage for recycling.  She looked at me, shrugged, and said “no, we just throw everything out together.”  Really?  A few weeks later I asked a long-term expat what I should do and she told me to separate at least the cans or bottles that may have sharp edges or broken pieces, so that cartoneros wouldn’t get hurt.  hmmm..  cartoneros.  Every time I asked about all the trash and lack of recycling in Buenos Aires, everyone said to me “well, at least we have the cartoneros.”

There is organized garbage collection with large trucks like the ones you see in big cities (they seem to come around here more often than in NY and BA smells much better than Manhattan in the middle of summer). But there are also these cartoneros, from the Spanish word cartón (cardboard), who pick up and sort through garbage looking for salvageable items.  They started to appear during the years of economic crisis in Argentina and make a living out of selling recyclable products.  I read that in certain neighborhoods like Palermo where I live, they are organized and function as a cooperative where cartoneros share and divide their work, and split up their profits together.  After failing several attempts at garbage separation and recycling plans, the government here decided to work with the network of existing cartoneros‘ cooperatives a few years ago.  Cartoneros play an important role in the waste reduction efforts in Buenos Aires and is a part of BA’s daily life.

I usually see a guy pulling a large rickshaw and picking up cardboard boxes or paper.

The other day I saw this in front of the Palermitano Hotel in Palermo.  These guys looked like they had an arrangement with the hotel…

Mendoza Day 1: Food, Wine, and Unexpected Archaeological Fun

When I was living in New York and taking classes at Instituto Cervantes I had a wonderful Spanish teacher from Argentina.  I think it was her love of Argentina, her strange accent (most of my other teachers were from Madrid), her intelligence and spirit that first made an impression on me about this beautiful country.  I ended up volunteering for her elder son’s nonprofit organization in Argentina that provides arts education to talented young people and it was this teacher whose photos from Patagonia captured my imagination to make the trip there myself.

Several years back her son got married in the Argentine wine country of Mendoza and since we get a lot of malbec in New York, Mendoza was a place I’d heard a lot about and wanted to visit.  Last week after living happily in Buenos Aires for three months I got a chance to get away from the city to this famous wine region of Argentina where 70% of the country’s wine is produced in over 1,300 bodegas (it’s the 6th largest in the world).

My girlfriend R and I took a mid-morning flight from Aeroparque and were in Mendoza by lunch time (flight time ~1:30).  We checked into a cute little hotel a few blocks away from the city center and were pleasantly surprised that we had a full house/apartment at our disposal, with a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, etc.  We were situated by the pool and as we walked towards our “apartment” I looked up to see grapevines overhead that were drooping heavily with beautifully purple globe grapes.  Melisa, an employee from the hotel, explained that it’s quite traditional to have grapevines planted in and around the houses in Mendoza and that her Grandmother’s house was set up the same way.  These grapes were delicious and juicy, and were part of our breakfast every morning during our stay.

We set out to have lunch at Azafrán, a pretty little restaurant with a nice outdoor seating area just down the street from our hotel.  We had dinner reservations at Francis Mallmann’s 1884 our first night in Mendoza so we were careful not to eat and drink too much at lunch.  I had a yummy tortilla Espanola with caramelized onions and R had a great Caesar salad with grilled seafood.  I really wish we could have had another meal at Azafrán because the food was really quite good and R was crazy about their bread service, which included several different types of bread including one with bacon baked into it.

After lunch we took a leisurely walk through the city of Mendoza, all the way over to the original center of the city and its Plaza Principal.

I walked into the Museo Fundacional to find myself the only visitor.  As I was paying the admissions fee I asked about the location of the ruins of San Francisco, an old Jesuit church and school.  A guy who was sitting by the counter told me that it was closed and I couldn’t visit it, but he offered to give me some information about the history of the plaza area and the work he was doing.  He turned out to be an archaeologist and was very kind to take a few minutes to explain the excavation work going on underneath the plaza.

In 1861 a massive earthquake hit Mendoza, which was then followed by 4 days of fires and 3 days of floods that destroyed the city.  The main plaza was moved to the present day Plaza Independencia when they re-built Mendoza.  This museum had artifacts going back to the indigenous population around the Andes, arrival of the Spanish, and the subsequent development of the life in Mendoza.  As I was walking through the museum the archaeologist (Marco) came around and asked me if I wanted to go see the excavation site under the plaza.  Why of course!  There were a few other visitors that just arrived and he’d take us down below for a peek.  It sure was unexpected and totally fun.

Our fabulous dinner that evening was at Francis Mallmann’s 1884, a restaurant I’d been very much looking forward to going.  We pulled up in our taxi to a large walled structure with a giant door; it appeared from the outside like an entrance to an abandoned medieval castle or a warehouse.  A security guard with a clipboard approached our cab and asked under whose name was the reservation.  Only after we confirmed we were let in through the gates.

The restaurant was spacious and nicely decorated without feeling too stuffy or formal.  The large dining room had banquet seating lining the walls and we could easily look into the kitchen where the staff worked busily to prepare the evening’s meals.  Our bilingual waiter was friendly, ready to give us his opinions about various dishes and navigating 1884′s Bible-like wine list was made easy by the informative sommelier.  We ordered a bottle of 2004 D’Autor from the bodega Santa Faustina (the sommelier seemed to really like this wine and described it as being “special”), which was a blend of Malbec (74%) from Lunlunta , Luján and Syrah (26%) from Medrano, Junín.   It’d been aged in French oak for 17 months and our bottle was one of only 7,500 produced.  It was beautiful…

To eat with this gorgeous wine I started with salt crusted pear with burrata and arugula and R chose prawns in an “iron box,” which was an oblong shaped cast iron skillet.  Her starter came to the table sizzling and smoking, which made the underlying pieces of potatoes and bacon crisp.  We’d gone outside for a quick look before our entradas arrived and saw the giant outdoor parrilla and the wood burning clay oven; no doubt R’s shrimp were cooked there.  Her dish was delicious; mine was creamy (burrata), tart (lemony vinaigrette), peppery (arugula), crunchy (bits of bacon), salty and sweet (salt crusted and perfectly cooked pear) all at once.

For our main, I ordered the lamb which had been cooked for not 7 hours or 8 hours but cooked for 7 1/2 hours (forgot to ask why but maybe there is a reason other than being mysterious and/or poetic?).  It was served with mashed potatoes with slivers of almonds and arugula, and an intensely concentrated sauce which clearly contained red wine.  R chose the “king tournedos,” a center part of beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon and sage (yes, I see the bacon theme).  I didn’t take many photos at the restaurant as R’s camera and her photographic abilities are far superior to mine.  When I get her photos of the evening I’ll update the post…

We shared a dessert to end our wonderful meal (“burnt fruits,” read on the English menu but “frutas quemadas en el horno de barro con helado” sounds so much better…) and then retired to the garden to sip our port and gaze up at the sky.  What a great way to start our four days in Mendoza.

More food, wine, and gorgeous landscape to come!

Azafrán: Sarmiento 765 (between Belgrano and Perú)

Restaurant 1884: Belgrano 1188 (at Presidente Alvear) in Godoy Gruz, Mendoza

Bohemian Boutique Hotel: Granaderos 954, Mendoza

Museo Fundacional: Videla Castillo (between Beltrán and Alberdi), Mendoza

Easter Sunday in BA: Brunch and Polo

I wasn’t sure whether anything would be open or function normally this past week because we had three bank holidays in Argentina leading up to Easter Sunday yesterday.  But R and I had a fun week in the city filled with a bit of everything.  R took two tours on her own, and she’s out and about without me now.  But the two of us walked all over Microcentro, Retiro, and Recoleta, took two aerial silk classes, finally made it to MALBA (ironically the permanent collection of Latin American art was on loan in Houston, Texas and a new exhibition entitled “Bye Bye American Pie” featuring major American artists such as Basquiat and Barbara Kruger, etc. was being featured), went to the other side of town for La Boca, Fundacion Proa, and Puerto Madero, had a ton of fun eating out (Báraka, El Peruanito Ray, El Preferido, Freud & Fahler, Caseros, Malvón, La Dorita, Tea Connection, Natural Deli, oh my the list goes on), an afternoon of outlet shopping in Villa Crespo, and a closed-door dinner at Casa SaltShaker Saturday night.  We’ve been busy!  No wonder R feels as if she’s been here for months.  Yesterday we definitely needed to chill and relax.

I slept in until 10 after getting home late from Casa SaltShaker.  I could tell that R was feeling tired and groggy, maybe a bit hungover.  5 glasses of wine plus a cocktail- that’s more than a bottle of wine each of us had Saturday night.  We needed brunch.  It was another beautiful day in Buenos Aires, and I wanted to be sitting somewhere quiet, green, and pretty.  So we dragged ourselves over to Home, a cute boutique hotel in Palermo Hollywood.

We plopped down in little white pod chairs that were low to the ground and snuggled in.  It only took a few minutes for us to feel a whole lot better.  Soon my little bottle of champagne and R’s mimosa showed up at our table, and well…  ahhhhhh.

After a leisurely brunch of poached eggs & some greens (me trying to eat a bit healthier) and steak & eggs (hangover remedy for R), I was ready for some polo but R was not.  The real polo season was over by the time I arrived in Argentina but there has been some polo activity in the last few weeks in Palermo.  I wanted to see at least one polo match while I was in Argentina so I headed to the polo fields by myself to watch the finals of La Serie Internacional between Chile and Argentina.

As I said, it was a gorgeous day in Buenos Aires and I couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon to watch a polo game.

Hi horses!

Ivy covered stands at campo de polo en Palermo

I'm obsessed with the big blue sky here in Buenos Aires

There wasn’t a big crowd for this finals game but it was fun anyway.  Somehow I ended up sitting in the Chilean family and friends’ section who were hard at work cheering their fathers and husbands with lots of loud screams for Chile!

But Argentina came away the winner in the end.  Unlike the polo games I’d been to in the States, this match had a lot less fanfare and festive ambiance- I suppose the ones I went to were really social gatherings and not competitive tournaments.  The focus here was on the polo playing rather than the big fancy hats, champagne, and picnics.  I really enjoyed watching how skillfully these players maneuvered and rode their magnificent horses.  When they galloped across the field I could almost feel and hear their hearts pumping.  I loved it!

Tomorrow I’m off to Mendoza.  I’m really looking forward to seeing the Andes and the beautiful bodegas of Argentina’s most famous wine region.  I hope to return to BA with lots of photos and maybe a delicious bottle of wine (or two).

 

Home Boutique Hotel: Friendly staff, great spot for drinks, brunch, and fab spa; Honduras 5860, Palermo Hollywood

Asociación Argentina de Polo: I think the polo fields are quite beautiful…  Campo de Polo en Palermo (at Dorrego and Libertador)

For Love of Argentina: Bandera Nacional

Argentines are proud of their traditions, their culture, their way of life, their country, and of their flag.  I see the Argentine flag everywhere, all the time.  It’s as if everyday is Independence Day and the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games.  I won’t be here to see it myself but I’m curious as to whether there would be even more flags on June 20th, Día de la Bandera Nacional, a holiday dedicated to the Argentine flag and its creator, Manuel Belgrano (June 29 marks the anniversary of Belgrano’s death in 1820).

“More and bigger” seems to be the common theme here when it comes to the Argentine flag.  It’s rare to find just one flag flying high on government buildings, and there are GIANT Argentine flags that make me tilt my head and stare with absolute awe.  But it’s not just government buildings and public spaces; Argentine flags can be seen around regular businesses, apartments, and private houses everyday of the week.

The small Argentine flag below the larger one (behind the largest one), flying above Casa Rosada indicates that Presidenta Cristina is in the building

Entrance to Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo, a horse racing venue

San Telmo antique market

If it’s not the actual flag, it’s the unmistakable white and blue wrapped around fences, painted on buses, side of kiosks, walls, and used as primary color scheme for storefront displays.

A very patriotic ham store in Belgrano

I think I’m going to get a little Argentine flag for myself…  Oh, Argentina!

Heladería de la Semana: Nonna Bianca

Last week my girlfriend R arrived in Buenos Aires to spend 5 weeks here with me and travel together.  It’s been wonderful to have someone who knows me from back home, and we’ve had a fun week of eating and walking around the city.  I was so excited about her coming I must have blocked out the fact that she’s mildly lactose intolerant and how that would impact my ice cream shop of the week initiative, not to mention all the pizza I was planning to share with her.  As if staying away from dairy wasn’t hard enough for R, red wine makes her drowsy and affects her sinuses.  wahhh…  Maybe there was a reason why she wasn’t born an Argentine…

But we decided it didn’t matter!  I’ve switched to consuming copious amount of white wine and I’m happy to report that I’m now better versed in all the yummy whites Argentina has to offer (and we threw in some beer in there, too).  R has been a total trouper and joined me on an excursion to El Cuartito last week, which put me in a pizza-fainá-moscato-flan-dulce de leche induced food coma for a few days.  And she has tried a few lácteos including…  helado.  Don’t worry, no harm came to R during our dining adventures.

On Sunday we made our way over to the San Telmo market to feast our eyes on all the fun and interesting antiques and handy crafts.  After some shopping, a couple of choripans (that deserves a separate post), and a pint of beer with live jazz music R said she was ready for ice cream.  Really?  She said she was sure.  She spotted a Freddo but I knew exactly where I wanted to take her.  I have nothing against Freddo and God knows I’m a fan of their minicucu of dulce de leche, but if you could go to Nonna Bianca why go to Freddo?

I really love the rustic log cabin feel of this ice cream store (realize that I don’t have any photos of the interior!)  I haven’t been to Bariloche yet but I imagine places like this exist in the lake district or in the mountains of Patagonia.  There was a long line of customers patiently waiting to get their ice creams but I had to first take a look at the menu to see what interesting flavors they carried.  R, with her lactose intolerance and all, went all out for this rare ice cream treat.  She decided to drown herself in a pool of helado and alcohol heaven, and got a scoop of chocolate New Orleans (it was dark bitter chocolate that had cognac in it) and kinotos al whiskey (kumquat soaked in whiskey).  I opted for a cup of Tramontana (cream, swirls of dulce de leche, and tiny crunchy chocolate cookie balls) and Mantecol (Butterfinger-esque candy bar).  Kinotos al whiskey and Mantecol were two of the flavors I wanted to try at Dylan a few weeks ago, so I was really excited to get them at Nonna Bianca.

My Tramontana was very sweet (too sweet) but I really enjoyed the Mantecol ice cream, and I liked both of R’s choices.  Nonna Bianca has mate cocido con crema (mate tea cooked with cream) and also cerveza (beer) flavors, both of which I have a hard time imagining in ice cream form.  I think my favorite heladería, Jauja has mate cocido con crema as well..  The other day I went back again and tried their lemonjibre and limsau; they were light and refreshing, and I especially liked the lemon-ginger combination.  But next time (I’m sure there will be a next time), I may have to take a chance and give mate cocido con crema a try.

R's kinotos al whiskey being sculpted

Jauja is still number one on my list but I thought Nonna Bianca was pretty great.  Aside from Dylan and Nonna Bianca, are there other small artisanal ice cream shops in San Telmo?  Will need to do a bit more research…

Nonna Bianca: Estados Unidos 425 (between Defensa and Bolívar) in San Telmo

RELATED POSTS:

Heladería de la Semana: Dylan

Heladerías de la Semana: Freddo y Chungo y Volta y Tufic

Heladería de la Semana: Tufic

Heladería de la Semana: Jauja

Heladería de la Semana: Freddo

Green Spaces III: Jardín Japonés

A few weeks ago I wrote about one of my favorite green spaces in Buenos Aires, El Rosedal in Bosques de Palermo near where I live.  On Saturday I visited the Japanese Garden (Jardín Japonés), also located within the park, to see the orchid show entitled “Otoño con Orquídeas.”

When R arrived last Monday it was cold, windy, and grey all over the city.  But after a few days of chilly winds the deep blue skies I love so much here in Buenos Aires returned and the sun came out shining again.  Saturday was a gorgeous day to take a leisurely walk through the tranquil grounds of Jardín Japonés.  I’d been meaning to visit this little zen oasis for a while but just hadn’t gotten around to it.  There are always fun and interesting events at the garden; they offer numerous educational programs like learning the art of origami, Japanese dances, shiastu sessions, and traditional tea ceremonies.  A few weeks ago they even had sumo wrestlers and organized a full day of events to commemorate the one year anniversary of the tsunami.  This past weekend, it was all about orchids.

Jardín Japonés was constructed in 1967 to mark the visits by then-Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko (the first commoner to marry into the Japanese imperial family).  The garden was relatively small but very pretty.  I really enjoyed seeing the simple Asian landscape against the tall concrete apartment buildings of Buenos Aires.

As we strolled the grounds we found a few things a bit amiss and R commented as such.  Most Japanese gardens, as in Chinese gardens, there are no dead-ends, i.e. the path loops around and you never take the same way to return on your journey.  I love this idea of always moving forward but here we encountered a number of dead-ends and found ourselves backtracking several times.  I don’t know much about gardening or about Japanese gardens, but this is Argentina!  I wouldn’t have expected the kind of absolute meticulousness found in Kyoto or Tokyo here.  I was just delighted to have been to this beautiful garden on a gorgeous day.

The pond was full of large koi and the small kids were having the best time feeding them and squealing with delight.

The Japanese restaurant was packed but we had no intention of having sushi or Japanese food so we headed out and did the polar opposite for our lunch- parrilla completa at Las Cabras.  I’m still trying to digest that meal and possibly want to forget it ever happened so I won’t go into it.  Let me just leave this peaceful post by saying that the Jardín Japonés is a lovely place to visit.  I would love to return on a week day with a book and spend an afternoon there.  I can only imagine how beautiful it would be to see all the flowers bloom in the spring.

Jardín Japonés: Av. Figueroa Alcorta and Av. Casares, Palermo; 10:00 to 18:00 everyday

RELATED POSTS:

Green Spaces II: El Rosedal

Green Spaces I: Central Park