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Vines of Mendoza

Monday, May 26th, 2008

 Luigi Bosca

With over 1,000 wineries, Mendoza really is a wine lovers´paradise. And with only one week to explore, you can imagine the pressure Brel was feeling to sample as many as possible. While our livers may take some time to recover, we really did try our best. Below, our favourite picks:

Trapiche – Fond de Cave
Luigi Bosca* – Malbec Reserva and La Linda
Norton Classico
Ruca Malen–  Kinen¨Malbec 04 and Petit Verdot 06
Punto Final* – Malbec, Reserva and Enamore
Carmello Patti* – Cab Sauvignon, Malbec and Gran Assemblage

And so with a final bottle of Malbec, we bid Adieu to Argentina.
Now you can cry for me.

* They tell us these are available at the LCBO

Lunch antipasto for 4…to be followed by 4 courses…Brel…a little heavier than last time you saw us…Our new NY friends…Catherine and Vinny

See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip and Savour – Brel Style

Monday, May 19th, 2008

 Brel tasting session

“Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. There are five basic steps in tasting wine: color, swirl, smell, taste, and savour. Essentially, a taster is looking for clarity, varietal character, integration, expressiveness, complexity, and connectedness.”

Brel: “Can we have a refill, please?”

We all know some people take tasting to an extreme level. Despite the number of wineries we’ve visited, it all seems a bit pretentious – even for Brendan. Below, Brel tasting notes, as overheard at a recent tasting: 

Mel: “Ugh, I don’t love that.”
Connoisseur Translation: Full bodied, peppery, bold, with hints of spice. 

Mel: “Yeah I could drink a bottle of that.”
Connosseur Translation: Smooth, fruity, yet light on the palate.  

Brel: “We could serve this to our friends. In a decanter. After 1 a.m.”
Connoisseur Translation: Cheap, cheap, cheap. 

Mel: “This one, I like.”
Brendan: “Uh Mel, you’re drinking the spittoon.” 

Mel: “I taste wine. Nothing but wine.”
Connoisseur Translation: Dark, smoky with hints of berries, vanilla and oak. 

Brendan: “Dry on the palate with notes of chocolate…”
Mel: “Chocolate? Did you say chocolate?” 

Wine Connoisseur: “A perfect accompaniment to poultry, pasta and seafood.”
Brel: “We could totally drink this for breakfast.” 

Wine Connoisseur: “Enhances the flavours of red meats, spicy foods and chocolate.”B
Brel
: “The perfect chaser for 5 pints of Tankhouse, 2 jello shots and a Roger Moore.” 

P.S. We actually wrote this on our 4th winery visit, on a tasting placemat. Don’t worry, we’ve taken real notes too and will be posting a guide to great Argentine wines soon.  

Wine, anyone?Brel tasting notesLooks like a little left to me…

Don´t Cry for me Argentina…

Saturday, May 17th, 2008
 Out the bus window..
Don´t cry for me Argentina  The truth is, I never left you All through Puerto Varas  And Santiago I kept my promise You knew I´d be back....
Sorry Chile...our hearts are still in Argentina, so we´ve returned to spend some time in Mendoza, a.k.a. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Final Thoughts…Argentina

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
 Hola Argentina! By The Numbers
  • Number of Purchases:
    • Leather purses: 7
    • Leather jackets: 5
    • Shoes and boots: 7
  • Number of animals who gave their lives for our purchases (including a guanaco): uh, not really sure we want to know this
  • Number of days ... [Continue reading this entry]

Just think of us as coming from the Land of Chocolate…

Sunday, May 11th, 2008
 Mel in her happy place Bariloche, in northern Patagonia, Argentina, is home to more than 50 artesan chocolate shops and over a dozen microbreweries. How do you spell Brel heaven? B-A-R-I-L-O-C-H-E. Set amidst the Andes, Bariloche is also a world-reknowned ... [Continue reading this entry]

World´s Worst Photo of Brendan…or is it?

Friday, May 9th, 2008
 salta-south-055.jpg You know Mel is the one writing this blog when this photo actually makes it onto the site. I just can´t help laughing out loud every time I see it...do I actually date this person? Of course this ... [Continue reading this entry]

Journey to Salta

Friday, May 9th, 2008
salta-north-049.jpg  Gaining an understanding of Argentina means more than just hanging out in trendy restaurants and binging on beef and wine in Buenos Aires. (Not that there´s anything wrong with that.) And so we journeyed to the province of Salta, ... [Continue reading this entry]

A Rant about Rogers

Friday, May 2nd, 2008
An open letter to Ted Rogers:  One would think that being out of the country for 4 months would translate to fewer issues with you, the cable and internet provider from hell. I’m sure you understand our surprise then, to find ... [Continue reading this entry]

Groove Armada!!

Thursday, May 1st, 2008
We are going to Grooooove Armada! Right now!! In Buenos Aires!  Wicked.

Slickers de la Ciudad

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Mel giving her horse some love… Since the City Slickers movies of the early 90’s, Mel has dreamed of staying at a working dude ranch – learning to ride while living the cowboy life. (Surely this is ... [Continue reading this entry]

Free Case of Wine to a Chronicles Reader…

Monday, April 28th, 2008
No, that wasn´t just to get your attention. We are spending the next month in wine country - Bariloche, the Maipo Valley and Mendoza.  So as you can imagine, we don´t want our love affair with Argentinian wines to end. We know ... [Continue reading this entry]

La Cumbre – en Español

Sunday, April 27th, 2008
Mi professora… While it may seem like our trip is all fun and games (and it is, mostly), Mel has been taking private Spanish lessons (3 hours/day) for the past few weeks. Well beyond telling time and ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Pichefying of Brendan, and the Powelling of Mel

Saturday, April 26th, 2008
 Half of Brel deconstructing his sandwich a la Piche With two years of dating behind us, and this many months of intensive dating via travelling, it was only a matter of time before we would start to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Yet Another Brel Attempt to Get Injured, Maimed or Die

Thursday, April 24th, 2008
 Up, up and away… We find ourselves in La Cumbre, a posh town in the northern part of the province of Cordoba, about 800 km from Buenos Aires. Known as a groovy, artsy town, La Cumbre is ... [Continue reading this entry]

Che Chicos! Lessons Learned on the Road Volume Cuatro

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
 Drowning in wine… 1. Unpacking your bags once and settling down for a month: brilliant. 2. Don’t mess with the farmers. See previous blogs on beef strike and field burning. 3. You can never buy too many leather coats, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Buenos Aires – Good Airs??

Friday, April 18th, 2008
smoke-in-ba.jpg The literal translation of Buenos Aires is Good Airs, which is kind of ironic given what’s going on right now. The farmers, having recently given up their plight to restrict beef in Buenos Aires, have taken to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Mel Cries at the Zoo…well, almost…

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
 Not sure he’s entirely happy… I realize that as an animal lover, I’m supposed to be anti-zoo. But I'm not afraid to admit it: I normally really, really like them.  The Buenos Aires Zoo, located in the heart of the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Important Beef Update

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
Lunch for two!  We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog reading to bring you an important beef bulletin. We’re not sure why, but there’s some sort of reprieve going on with the whole beef strike. No need to lose ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Best of Max and Ollie

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
 Our boys - all dressed up for our last night out together Some of you may have noticed the repeat appearances of two scruffy and dishevelled 18 year olds in our photos over the last few months. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Mel’s New ‘Do (and a pic of her wicked new boots)

Monday, April 14th, 2008
The End Result  Buenos Aires is a vain city by any standards: 1 in 10 women have an eating disorder; 1 in 30 people (that’s people, not women) have had plastic surgery; stylishly dressed and perfectly preened people ... [Continue reading this entry]

Tango in BA

Sunday, April 13th, 2008
 The Pros Tango is the soundtrack to Buenos Aires – whether it’s old school tango dancing in the streets, or the sounds of pop/rock songs that have been tango-ized, tango is everywhere. At once both seductive and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Beef is Everything – and so is Timing

Saturday, April 12th, 2008
One of the highlights of Argentina, as we learned from our travels here in 2006, is the beef. Unlike anything we can get at home, Argentinian beef literally melts in your mouth. And while you could piece the cow back ... [Continue reading this entry]

Home Sweet Home

Saturday, April 12th, 2008
 At home in Palermo At long last (sorry Brazil and Uruguay), we have arrived in Buenos Aires, the Paris of the Americas; the land of beef and wine, where history meets style and where thanks to a ... [Continue reading this entry]