Recently a group of students from Vamos Spanish Academy and myself decided to check out the monthly wine tasting run by Urbano Wine Tour, and we were so glad we did! This unconventional wine tour was so much fun and a must if you are lucky enough to be in the city when this party kicks off. It started when we meet at the designated street corner in the microcentro, we were meet with a little booth and a lovely tour host who took our money in exchange for the official Urbano wine glass. We were then given directions to the 6 individual tasting stations, all within a 2 block radius and all equipped with plenty of wine and a knowledgeable sommelier or two. The unique thing about this wine tour in particular is it is not at the traditional locations of a wine tasting but instead we found ourselves in some unusual settings all adding to the fun. And naturally all the wines on offer were from around Argentina making this an experience you could only have in Buenos Aires. In fact almost all the wines were from Argentina’s most prized wine region; Mendoza and after an evening of sampling the best this region has to offer I now have another destination to add to my must see places of Argentina list. If only I had made it for the National wine festival held early spring each year.
Also read: HOW I BECAME A BETTER EDUCATED WINE DRINKER IN ARGENTINA
Every month there is a different meeting point and different places hosting a tasting so there is always an air of adventure on the tour even if it is not your first time. This month, the first spot we tried was actually in a hairdressers, complete with a customer in the background mid haircut (I hope they gave her a glass or two of the delicious wine for her troubles). Here we were able to sample a syrah and a cabernet sauvignon from Alfredo Roca, a family run winery from San Rafael (Mendoza). After a few crackers and some lovely chats we moved on to the next spot this time a furniture shop. We sipped oh so carefully on our red wines amongst beautiful rugs and sofas. This time there were a few different wineries on offer, first I tried the malbec from Finca La Coti (Mendoza). I also got to try an amazing syrah from Vinos Luna Roja (Mendoza) and now post a couple of wines we wandered down the block on this autumn evening to found our next glass.
Next we found ourselves in a charming small restaurant, complete with pizza pie tin decorations across the walls. Here we had two wines, a malbec and a cabernet sauvignon from Sin Palabras (Mendoza), the malbec being my favourite of the night! So happy I took note so I can keep an eye out at the supermarket, it will be a refreshing change to to my usual blind choice when it comes to wine shopping. After an entertaining conversation with the sommelier we were off again, finding ourselves now in a hotel lobby. The hotel was oldschool fancy, full of shiny brassy railings and mirrored surfaces. Here in this oh so fancy setting we enjoyed our only box wine of the night, I wasn’t complaining though as the sommeliers were happy to have us pour our own. It was a cabernet sauvignon produced by Finca La Escondida and don’t let the box packaging fool you, this is seriously good wine.
Also Read: GOOD ARGENTINE WINE ON A BUDGET
Heading round to the home stretch of this 3 hour tasting we hurried along to a tobacco specialist for the malbec and cabernet sauvignon from SinFin Bodega (Mendoza). This time i didn’t get to try both as we were running short on time, entirely due to our slower pace easing into the night at the hairdressers. So a word of advice for anyone joining this tour in the future is to make sure you pace yourself, about one new tasting station every 30mins to ensure you don’t miss a spot. The final location of the night was a gardening shop with a whopping 3 wineries to sample. A malbec from each, Pecado (Mendoza), Tracia Honores (San Juan) and Norton (Mendoza). Another quirky spot to finish the night enjoying our final glasses of wine.
We all had a seriously great time on this wine tour, so many great conversations flowed together with the wine amongst us students and as well with other locals on the tour. It was a fun time trying to use the Spanish that I have learnt so far, after a few glasses making mistakes and sounding silly don’t seem as scary. This tour gets an A+ from me and I will definitely be back next month!
If you want more information about Wine Tours come to Spanish Immersion School in Argentina or us at Viamonte 1516 +54-11-5984-2201
