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Archive for the ‘Traveling’ Category

24 Hours Off the Beaten Path in Buenos Aires

15 Jul

I spent my birthday in a brief calm, suspended in time between an old life in Argentina and a new beginning in a small town in Southern Chile. The previous day we packed all of our belongings into our two carry-on suitcases, a diaper bag, and a computer bag, and moved out of our apartment in Buenos Aires.  Decision made, airline tickets purchased, and apartment keys returned to their rightful owner, we breathed a sigh of relief as we took a taxi to our temporary refuge on the edge of Palermo Soho.  We had some shopping to do, and several meals to enjoy in our last 24 hours in Argentina.

Before getting commencing our shopping and gluttony, we checked into our hotel, Reyna Violeta, which is a nice budget alternative within walking distance from both shopping and cafes.  One of the owners is a sommelier, so you know you’re in good hands.  For shopping, after browsing through the pricey boutiques of Palermo Soho, we meandered to the outlets in Villa Crespo where we stumbled into some good sales and hit gold with a boutique leather factory, stuffed full of hand-sewn leather jackets and purses.

However, the real star of our mini-retreat was the food, which consisted of the best pizza we’d eaten in Argentina and also a Parisan-style cafe with amazingly fresh and creative food owned by a Frenchman who detested wines aged in oak.

Pizza from La Ruka Palermo

We take food seriously, and during our time in Buenos Aires tended to eat in more than out, and took advantage of the opportunity to buy organic produce and milk from El Galpon market whenever possible.  Eating out in Buenos Aires is tricky, and it is quite easy to spend $50 on a meal for two and leave disappointed with either the food or the service, as we did on many an occasion.

Within Buenos Aires are a few hidden culinary gems which present authentic, well-crafted food within a nice ambiance with professional customer service.  One of these is La Ruka Palermo (Uriarte 1689 at El Salvador), which knows food.  The steak is simply prepared and delicious, and their pizza is the best we’ve had since leaving San Francisco (we miss you Pizzeria Delfina!)  Service was impeccable, and they even brought my daughter crayons and paper to color on, and a plastic cup for her water.  Best of all, if you make it there for lunch on a weekday, you can enjoy a menu ejecutivo special for $10/person, a steal anywhere in Buenos Aires, and especially within fashionable Palermo Soho.

When heading out earlier in the day, we noticed a cute cafe a couple of blocks from our hotel.  It stood out for its chalkboard menus, tables covered in books, and interesting photography.  We stopped by this intriguing cafe called A Nos Amours (Gorriti 4488 at Aráoz), and were amazed from the experience beginning to end.  I was still impressed by the winelist, which was as interesting and quirky as the cafe’s owner, a Frenchman with strong opinions on wine (redundant?!) He doesn’t like oaked wines, so his wines don’t contain it, and all seemed to come from smaller artisan wineries.  The owner is generous with wine samples, and though I didn’t fall in love with anything I tried, I was impressed by the thought and care he puts into selecting and storing the wines.

Pasta from A Nos Amours

Quirky wines aside, food is the reason to head to A Nos Amours as it was  made from fresh, local, organic produce, selected and prepared with care and skill.  We ordered simple things like soup and pasta, and were blown away.  The Frenchman’s take on French Onion Soup was an amazing, savory broth was succulent onions and a large wedge of cheese on top that gradually melts into the soup, simply amazing.  The pasta was perfectly prepared and with vegetables that taste the way only fresh, local vegetables can taste.  The fruit for dessert was organic, in season, and a wonderful finish to one of the best meals we had eaten in quite a while.  The staff were all friendly, and even gave us an orange to take home with us as a snack for our toddler.

This was a birthday to remember.  Our last 24 hours in Buenos Aires, and the meals in particular, were enough to make us want to hit pause, and linger a bit longer in the crazy tango that is Argentina.

 
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Posted in Food, Traveling

 

Argentine Wine Adventures

01 Jul

One fall afternoon we decided to go wine tasting in Mendoza like true Slow Travelers, riding the bus.  From our maps, it deceivingly looked like all that would be required was a quick bus ride followed by a short stroll to reach Alta Vista, the winery producing some of our Argentine favorites.  We made an online reservation and headed out, toddler in tow.

We were running a bit behind, ended up on a local bus stopping every two blocks, and found that a short walk on the map wasn’t so short after all.  To make up time, I carried Siena as J strode ahead to verify whether we were even heading in the right direction as my navigational skills had been a bit off-kilter since jumping continents.  Meanwhile, dusk quickly enveloped us on a back country road in Mendoza’s wine country.

By the time we arrived at the guarded front gates, the only cars in the parking lot belonged to winery employees.  We explained to the guard that we had an appointment, and he then put us on the phone with the tasting room manager who explained that they were closed.  But, I explained, in Spanish, we have an appointment!  Incredulous, he came out to chat with us further and explain that the winery was actually closed.  However, as luck had it, he decided to open the doors to us so we could sample some wine and have a personally-lead tour.

Once we were inside the winery, we had the opportunity to chat with some nice people, watch home videos on our new friends’ cell phones, and sample some interesting wines.  I enjoyed that they had a tasting list, so that those more wine-savvy or adventurous visitors could purchase wines by the glass and taste wines which wouldn’t otherwise be poured.

Already familiar with both their Premium Torrontes, high-end Alto blend, and in love with their mid-tier Atemporal, I was excited to try something new.  Not wanting to take advantage of their kindness, and considering my familiarity with their product line, I limited my tasting to the Terroir Selection Malbec.   This classic Malbec is worth trying, and educational as well as the label shares with you the proportion of grapes from specific vineyards, with a schematic depiction and additional information about the vineyards on the back label.  In the tasting room itself, there are posters further describing the vineyards, their altitudes, and their soil characteristics, in both English and Spanish.

After the personalized winery tour, to our pleasant surprise, we were offered (and gladly accepted) a ride back into downtown Mendoza.  This reminded us, once again, how fortunate we felt to be living in South America.

 
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Posted in Traveling, Wine

 

Caliboro – Italian Wine in Chile

09 Jan

One of the nicest trips we’ve ever had visiting a winery in Chile was our visit to the Viña La Reserva de Caliboro.  Caliboro is a very interesting project, as different from the “typical” Chilean winery of the Grupos (Chilean conglomerates) as can be.

Owned by Count Francesco Marone Cinzano, who also owns Col d’Orcia, an excellent producer of Brunello di Montalcino in Tuscany, the winery makes only one iconic wine, Erasmo.  This in stark contrast to the majority of wineries in Chile that have overwhelmingly extensive catalogs of mostly varietal wines, and um, aren’t owned by an Italian Count.

Caliboro was by far the most secluded of the wineries we visited in Chile.  The wine trade in Chile has made many strides in recent years, including in the realm of tourism.  Still, wineries and wine trails, though evolving, are not as easy to navigate as in the States.  One doesn’t just pop in.  Chile has so many great valleys for producing wine, that often times there aren’t even any other wineries nearby.  The neighbor is as likely a rancher or fruit farmer.

The Count had arranged for us to meet with the General Manager at Caliboro, Cesar Opazo.  As we pulled up to the designated spot in the middle of the Maule Valley quite literally after driving miles and miles on a dusty unpaved country road, we came upon a white pickup truck.  Inside we glanced at a stately looking gaucho, undoubtedly the kind of man  not unaccustomed to real work, but with a refined and dignified air.  He immediately motioned for us to follow him.  Apparently, there were no other people on the road or tourists riding about visiting wineries out here!

Drying grapes for Amarone style wine in Chile

Clusters of grapes hang drying from the ceiling at Caliboro

Cesar escorted us to a country house a little further up the road on a private lot.  The house was a large rustic yet noble country cottage.  After making some introductions, we headed inside and saw several white grapes hanging from the ceiling of the entrance way.  “An experiment” Cesar explained.  It would be the first of many times he would say that.  Apparently they were working on a wine made in the style of an Amarone (they had red grapes drying elsewhere, but were also trying white).

The day progressed very much on South American time.  An unrushed tour of the properties vineyards, as Cesar explained the history of the project, was followed by a tour of the winery and then a long relaxed lunch, featuring a vertical tasting of Erasmo.  Along the way every so often, Cesar would point out a unique varietal, an oak barrel or tank, a strange piece of equipment.  ”An experiment” he would explain.  The vines are dry farmed, typical of Caliboro’s outside the box thinking, and a perfect match to this dry Mediterranean climate.

Lunch was a localvore’s dream.  The tomatoes were from the garden, the tortilla (the frittata, not the bread) was made from the local hen’s eggs, and even the beef was from the very same ranch.

The wines were stunning, showing true aging potential, and a European sensibility that comes from making wine for generations, not just years.  These are wines to sip slowly, and enjoy the nuances as they evolve over the course of a meal.    Every vintage had its own characteristics, making it quite difficult to decide upon the best, though all shared the common characteristics of appearing a bit austere at the first sip, then gradually opening up to reveal layers of dark cherries and wild berries, herbs, and spices in harmony with the oak.  These wines made a lasting impression on us, and are amongst our favorite.

Unfortunately for us and our followers, the wines are already being imported and are distributed by Southern.  While the upside is that you can find these wines in the States right now, because they are lost in Southern’s massive portfolio, they are hard to find in California.  Your best bet is to order online from one of the reputable vendors.

Like Flaherty and Clos Andino, Caliboro is a member of MOVI.

 
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Earthquake!!!

03 Mar

So Jen and I wrapped up our trip to Santiago, knowing we had decided on moving to Mendoza, but also that we would likely be back. On that note, we met with Derek Mossman of MOVI, a group of independent winemakers. We met at his house where he poured for us some of his wines from Garage Wine Co and we talked about the Chilean vs. Argentine wine industry. The trippy thing was, that at some point we talked about earthquakes, and I made the ominous comment that I thought Chile was about due for one.

Well sure enough, a very large earthquake did in fact strike Chile. It was so large, that despite being on the other side of the Andes, we felt it pretty good over here in Mendoza, Argentina. Luckily, we had flown from Santiago to Mendoza a mere 12 hours before it struck, but we had very nearly stayed another day in Santiago.

Having grown up in California and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for ten years, I was no stranger to earthquakes. I woke up to the slight tapping of our hanging closet doors. I must have sensed something was wrong, because I looked over at the window, where sometimes the wind blew in and made the same noise. The curtain wasn’t moving, there was no wind. I bounced up and then I heard a car alarm, confirming my suspicion it was an earthquake. I grabbed baby, woke up mom and we went to the closest doorway, where we sat through an agonizingly long 2-3 minutes of the floors waving and the walls shearing. I tried to make light of it, and downplayed how bad I thought it was for Jen. Siena, born and raised (until now) in San Francisco, slept through the whole thing, and even a diaper change in between aftershocks.

Being from California, we didn’t bother going back to bed until after the first aftershock. It wasn’t too bad, so we went back bed. We woke up for the second aftershock, looked up at the light fixture gently rocking, and went back to sleep again.

The next day we went to the Internet cafe, and tried sending emails, Facebook updates, and so on, so our family would know we were okay. Internet was spotty, as the quake seemed to have knocked out some lines.

We also reached out to our friends in Chile, all of whom thankfully are okay. Matias, of Espresso Bar Cafe reports that there was no damage where he was. Derek was not so lucky, as he writes about here, but the most important thing is that his family is safe.

We are filled with a sense of wanting to help. We haven’t figured out how exactly yet, but I’m sure Derek from MOVI can point us in the right direction.

In the meantime, we urge you to please buy that Chilean wine or organic Chilean strawberries the next time you are in the store. In this small way, you can contribute to rebuilding Chile.

 
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Posted in Traveling