I just spent a week in Buenos Aires, and all along the way tasted delicious (and inexpensive!) Argentinian wines...
I spent the last week in the busy, huge city of Buenos Aires. I was there with three friends, all of us celebrating our birthdays. We found that after our first day we had already acclimated to what Becca called the Argentinian Lifestyle--getting up at 10am, leaving the hotel by noon, walking around for a while, then enjoying a 2-3 hour lunch (we had very simple food, but that's the pace of lunch), and then dinner at around 9pm and asleep by 1am.
Some highlights: We explored the Teatro Colon, which is an intricately designed old opera house/theater that currently employs 1200 people to put on its operas and plays. We also walked around Palermo neighborhood--a bit like New York's SoHo, with elegant boutiques and quiet little streets.
The wines we had were excellent and almost all from the Mendoza region. Wines we enjoyed in restaurants were never over $15 U.S. and most were about $8-$10. And unlike in the U.S., restaurants barely mark up wines, so you can walk into a wine store and get the same wine for almost the same price.
Our best wine and food experience was our last night at Gran Bar Danzon --a hip, lively, dark and modern restaurant, bar and wine bar on the second floor in the Recoleta neighborhood. It was packed at 9pm on a Wednesday night, and we had delicious sushi (they serve all kinds of foods but we were craving sushi) and then chose 4 wines by the glass to try from their large list. The waitress brought all four, each with a little printed tag detailing which wine was which, with a few tasting notes. The pours were generous and it was all done with a great deal of fun rather than serious, quiet wine snobbery.
Our top two favorite wines from that night were:
Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontés (my new favorite white wine grape), 2005. From the Cafayate area within Mendoza. This slightly rich white wine with great acid and fruit balance, has a floral nose, and a creamy texture. Reminded me of a viognier and it was a crowd pleaser with Margot, Ali, and Becca. These wines are made by a well-known woman winemaker--Susan Balbo.
Domingo Molina Malbec (the grape for which Argentina is famous), 2002. Bodega Domingo Hermanos. From the Cafayate area within Mendoza. Delicious medium bodied wine that was totally smooth.
Another favorite during our tastings at other restaurants were two wines by Alta Vista winery. We had a delicious Torrontés 2005 and a rich, smooth Malbec Grand Reserve.
Our other goal while we were in BA was to find the ultimate Alfajores. We tried several and found our favo
rite at a crowded little bakery in the Recolata neighborhood, called Cofiteria Panaderia "La Exposicion" - we also had a delicious chicken empanada there and could have spent several days tasting through their selections.Now that I'm back home I'm off to search for the Argentinian delights available here....
