Argentina, Chile and a whole lot of wine and food - Part 1

Struggling with knowing where to start when putting an account of recent travels together is a fairly normal phenomenon. The reason for this is simple; when you travel you try to do as much as is physically possible, and then try to find the time post event to make sense of it all, while you are catching up with the massive body of work sitting on your desk, as a welcome home. So given that so much happened over the course of twelve days, I shall begin at the beginning.


Staggering out of the 2010 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival at the end of March into Easter and then on to a plane bound for Argentina, my head was still swimming at the prospect of experiencing South America for the first time. I felt completely unprepared for the hectic schedule ahead of me, but as Rick Stein says 'Just go and experience it.' With those words ringing in my head (after a few glasses of Charles Heidsieck on the plane) I relaxed, sat back, watched a few movies and was prepared to go with the flow.


FIRST STOP � BUENOS AIRES

I have a confession to make; like a converted smoker, I am a tragic Mac user converted from PC, and am having a somewhat indecent love affair with my iPhone. What this means is that before going anywhere I check to see if there are any useful apps that focus on my destination. I found such an app from Lonely Planet on Buenos Aires and promptly downloaded it before leaving Melbourne, and took time to acquaint myself with it on the plane. Brilliant! Background information, where to stay, eat and drink, and what to point my camera at on first visit, eased my trepidation at being alone in BA for two and a half days considerably. Let's face it; the first visit merely gives you a chance to scratch the surface anyway, so the easier this is the more you get done.

Therefore I hit the ground running, and once I had bought the obligatory Duty Free sunglasses at the airport, headed off to get my baggage, hoping to then mosey on down to my hotel in downtown BA. Standing at the carousel of any airport is like watching a movie on human stupidity, with moronic people jamming themselves as close to the carousel as possible, making it virtually impossible for anybody else to get to their bags if they happened to be a little relaxed in getting off the plane. Watching this for a while the alarm bells started to ring when I had one bag, all the annoying crowders had left, the carousel was virtually empty and there were a handful of musicians scratching their heads wondering the same thing as me, 'where the hell is the rest of my luggage?'

It seems that due to our late departure from Melbourne to get on the direct flight to BA from Sydney with Qantas, my other bag was unable to get on the plane. Given that I don't speak a word of Spanish, and that I was pointed in the wrong direction multiple times about who to speak to, I jumped in my cab and headed to the hotel, where I figured it would be much easier and more comfortable to sort out my problems from. This bore out in the end with the concierge crew at the 725 Continental Hotel doing all the leg work for me, while I went out for a light lunch. The errant bag would reappear late the following day.

Importantly I had figured out what I needed and where to go as my first pit stop, and of course it involved a hefty chunk of beef. If you are unaware, beef is the lifeblood of the Argentineans, and healthy (read that as you will) portions of dead cow cooked on the asado (barbecue) are consumed en masse at most meals. The famed parrillas (steak houses), of which there are countless numbers across the country, are tended to by passionate asadores, the sweating individuals cooking your steak to perfection. I chose a humble place in San Telmo called El Desnivel, where the daggy d�cor, good service, great meat and a half bottle of Trumpeter Malbec were terrific; all at the hefty price tag of A$20 for the lot.

Mention must be made of the fact that I had just got off the plane, eaten a huge slab of meat with beer, wine and chips and some funny green stuff called salad, so a walk was an absolute must. The day was a cracker at 24 degrees, blue skies and just enough of a breeze to dry the sweat from my brow after gorging myself. Sacheting in the direction of the ocean toward Puerto Madero, I turned early and wandered through town along Florida, with shops galore, people pushing counterfeit money, offers from women of �� I am not quite sure what, and then it hit me; time for a nap.

The 725 Continental Hotel I stayed at had all the hallmarks of a beautiful old building refurbished tastefully, maintaining the grandeur of a bygone era, with the convenience of comfortable, modern luxury. My king size bed was 'tres comfortable' (damn that's French) and my afternoon nap went off without a hitch. There is a wonderful feeling of freedom in South America with such a venture, as I had no intention of stepping out for dinner any sooner than 10pm, and I woke, tapped out a few emails, had a shower got ready and headed out for some dinner.

Wine is my life. It seemed therefore a good idea to find a place with a focus on wine, and Le Cava de el Querandi in San Telmo had plenty going for it. Famed for the Tango show next door at their big sister restaurant, a helpful Sommelier on hand, good food and some top notch Colom� Torrontes and a 2006 Malbec from Domingo Molingo, both coming from the very high altitude vineyards in Salta, and I was well satisfied. In fact I was so well satisfied, my walk home took a circuitous route through some of the dodgy parts of San Telmo back to the hotel for a cleansing ale and a good nights sleep.

There seems to be a theme creeping into this travel story, and yes, it is all about food and booze, but there you have it, it is what I do. After a surprisingly restful sleep, I woke early but instead of going for a refreshing walk, time on Skype ensued followed by a very light breakfast of yoghurt and fresh fruit. Face it; I knew what was on the horizon for the rest of the day. By the time I broke free of hotel and the Skype machine, wine shops, shopping districts and Qantas for some cash was on the horizon.

The rumblings from my stomach were not hunger pains, as I walked between the shopping strips of Cordoba, Florida, San Martin and Reconquista, they were actually howls of protest. The only thing to do was to check with my trusty Lonely Planet application on my iPhone and see what it came up with. To my surprise I found a Japanese restaurant called Irifune and it was nothing short of sensational. The sushi combination was as fresh as a daisy and the flavours pure and clearly defined. The Torrontes and Asahi that went with it, didn't spoil my enjoyment of the miso, and I left having spent $28 and not being able to fit another thing in.

It was time to ramble further, and I happened across a place simply called Winery, that had a retail shop selling only Argentinean wines (par for the course) and a wine bar downstairs doing flights for a whopping $10 for 5 wines. The line-up was interesting and diverse, and a nice way to check out wines of differing styles, the following were scribbled on the iPhone briefly;


Pulenta Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 - Mendoza
Ok, but a bit simple, varietal and fresh. On the tropical side.

DV Catena Zapata Malbec 05 - Mendoza
Good color, touch rustic and savory, little bitter on the finish, but adds contrast. Not bad.

Petite Fleur (Michel Rolland) Bordeaux blend, 2008 - Mendoza
Clean as a whistle modern style. Fresh, focused and super bright. Not plush, more fine and defined. Long and supple, despite power and weight. Very good.

Escorihuela Gascon Sangiovese. 2007 - Mendoza
Not bad. Varietal dark cherry fruit and slightly brambly assertive tannin and acid. Just lacks a little nerve, but well made.

El Esteco 'Ciclos' Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 - Salta
Slightly dusty Cabernet nose, with good concentration and drive. Again slightly bitter, but in keeping with the high altitude spicy style. A nice drink, but the 07 vintage slightly hollow character comes through.

I had heard about a parrilla back in Melbourne called La Brigada, that was as famous for its football memorabilia as it was for its food. Legend goes that the owner was so obsessed and proud of the meat he prepared, he would ask you to come and choose your cut before it was cooked. This did not happen for me, and in fact the service was disappointing, and while not the worst experience I have ever had, it certainly was not the most memorable. In fact I was so deflated that I couldn't even be bothered finding a cool bar, so I called it a night as the effects of jet lag started to hit home. Time to call it a day.

Stay tuned for more adventures in South America ... coming soon

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