AnuvaBlog

It is a privilege to have your Mother cook for you. Especially if she cooks well. On Sunday, Lourdes and I had dinner with the ‘rents and lamb stew was on the menu. Ground lamb, carrots, potatoes, onions, rosemary, barley, and other herbs. Increcible. Hearty and delicious.Lamb is one of those meats that has a supremely distinct flavor and aroma. Quite heavy and dense, it never “tastes like chicken”, but in my opinion is more akin to goat (if you’ve ever had that).THE wine to have with all things lamb is Cavagnaro Reserve Malbec 2004. A heart, complex and long wine in and of itself, Cavagnaro Reserve stands up to the richness and density of the lamb but also makes that meaty flavor “pop”.What an incredible combination.

Last week after nice lazy Sunday rise at 12 pm we made coffee and planned out our day. We felt a bit cooped up this week and jumped at a friend’s  invitation to take a day trip to Mataderos.

In English Mataderos translates to “slaughterhouse”. Mataderos is a section of Buenos Aires traditionally known for its live stock market and meat packing. Cattle were brought to Mataderos to be killed and shipped to other parts of the country. Some times Mataderos is referred to as the “New Chicago”.

Our day however had much more to do with merriment and gaiety rather than carnage and gore.

Every Sunday the neighborhood of Mataderos hosts a bustling street fair. Many buses run out to the fair on a regular basis; click here for details http://www.buenostours.com/feria-de-mataderos

We descended into masses. Street vendors, artisans, and entertainers packed in around the center square as passer bys made there way through. Unlike San Telmo we saw far less tourists, mostly just Argentine families spending a day outside for great food and shopping.

We were surrounded by smoking grills, traditional song and dance, artisan cheeses, massive knives, leather goods, mate gords, trotting horses, leather faced toothless gauchos with riding crops the size of base ball bats. At one point we even saw a performer charging people $2 to beat a fake cat with a stick.

We stopped to watch dancers perform Zamba, a traditional folk dance. Watch a video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VqGpqp3A0U&feature=related  Couples line up facing each other stepping forward and back. Quick steps take them circling around eachother as the women playfully wave scarves above their heads.

We were impressed by the quality of the crafts. Especially  the hand made engraved knives and leather bags. We wandered around admiring the artisanship before looking for the group. We were told “ 3 pm pink café on the corner.” And laughed when we discovered half the buildings are one shade of pink or another.

We found our friend waiting on the corner of the hot pink café directly across from the band stand. We all agreed to be hungry and headed for the smoke. Mataderos is a great place for parilla. You can also find traditional foods from the province like tamahles (steam corned husks stuffed with xyz) and locro (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9yk64pypK4s/RqP9oo4miJI/AAAAAAAAAB8/B-VC89Nom4U/s400/Locro.jpg a delicious meaty white bean stew). 

We opted for churipans and an $8 peso bottle of Vino Patero, Cab Sauv. The vendor informed us they produce less than 4,000 liters per year. Fruity and “boutique” but not quite the quality I have come to expect from Argentine wines. Still better than what I could produce in my basement.

Much more talkative after having been satiated we made our way to the track. We missed the spectacle but Gauchos, which are essentially Argentine cowboys line up and bolt like bats out of hell towards the finish line. Each carries a small metal spear which at full speed they must pierce through a metal loop dangling from the finish line. They charge closely past grandmothers, bundled babies and clumsy children, very exciting. http://img.youtube.com/vi/OCr_D0pyF-4/0.jpg

As they wrapped up gauchos paraded around on their horse as a few children pranced around on ponies and mules. We even saw a dog riding a horse. We made our way back home and finished out the afternoon with bottle of real wine; Cavagnaro Malbec. https://www.anuvawines.com/wine/malbec/cavagnaro-malbec-2004/

The Palo Alto Pinot Noir may find itself on a few Oregon wine shelves sooner than later, and the company wrangled with the problem of pricing it in the Oregon market.  Here is a product, which deserves at twenty dollar plus price tag due to it varietal, quality and complexity, but Oregon is a rare market that is flooded with domestic Pinot Noir.  However, as my first wine mentor told me, Pinot Noir is one of the few grapes that you should be paying attention to the price, because it just can’t be done right cheaply.  This isn’t to say you can’t find an enjoyable cheap Oregon Pinot Noir, but these are generally light, fruity and simple (http://www.buffalonews.com/opinioncolumns/columns/otherlife/story/637547.html) not always a bad thing, but not descriptors for the Pinot Noirs that Paul Giamatti waxed poetically about in Sideways.

                The Palo Alto Pinot Noir does get those descriptors however, whether they come from sommelier Julia Merkel (http://www.dosmalbec.de/CONTACT.htm) “smooth structure, earthy silky mouthfeel with aromas of strawberry style, lush but still complex, not missing the freshness” (http://blog.entaste.com/?tag=pinot-noir) or the kind people at globalwinespirits.com “Shades of wet earth after aging in barrels, fruity, with a very nice persistence in the palate. With undertones of coffee and mushrooms, it fills the mouth nicely, as a good Pinot.” (http://www.globalwinespirits.com/catalog.WINE/Palo%20Alto%20Pinot%20Noir/31021216/%20PALO-en.jsa⁾  Despite such glowing reviews to break into the saturated and loyal Oregon Pinot Noir market with a foreign product you have to undersell the competition significantly.  If you see it on the shelves it is well worth the price, especially if you trying to keep your wine purchases affordable, but want to try a more complex Pinot Noir. 

Warm breezes have been sweeping through the city. Singing birds, blooming flowers, Portenos lounging in the parks signify the change in seasons.  I sat outside and watched the sunset for the first time in months and almost welcomed my first mosquito bite with a large SMACK.

The drink selection is crucial. It is officially white wine season. On a hot day nothing beats a crisp fruity cold glass of white wine. We went with  Las Perdices Sauvignon Blanc perfect for fresh dishes like ceviche. https://www.anuvawines.com/wine/sauvignon-blanc/las-perdices-sauvignon-blanc-2006/ Sauvignon Blanc and fresh sea food are two things you might not expect to find in Argentina but which are done very well.

As it turns out Peruvian restaurants are very hip in the city, most are located Abasto. While boutique wineries like Las Perdices devote their production to creating to a wide variety of styles beyond Malbec and Cab Sauvignon. So fill up and drink to the start of a beautiful summer.