AnuvaBlog

If an important wine critic like Jay Miller were to write up a list of the best 300 or so Argentine wines for under $30 US it would not surprise me to see wines in Anuva’s Cellar topping the chart. http://bit.ly/IzlBP 

In his recent review Jay Analyzes Argentina’s potential in the current market. He concludes that Argentina has a strong advantage in the recession to emerge a value champion. Low labor costs + affordable land = better wine in your glass and more money in your wallet.

 Currently the wine imported is of the highest quality. Jay warns that this trend must continue and Argentina mustn’t hasten to open the floodgates, bringing bulk lower quality wine could be troublesome for their budding reputation.

 As an American consumer myself, I encourage you to discover Argentine wine; best bang for your buck. These deals go beyond Malbec as well;

After living in Argentina for a year and only drinking Argentine wine I have found my favorite wines to be varietals other than Malbec. For example Palo Alto’s Pinot Noir- is complex with mushroom, earth and strawberry while Los Quimiles Cabernet Franc has a rich red clay and blackberry freshness.https://www.anuvawines.com/wine-store/red-wine/cabernet-franc/

Looking at Miller’s list he seems to agree # 2 on Jay’s list is CALLEJON DEL CRIMEN PETIT VERDOT 2005

FINCA LA LUZ 92 pts!

Minty fresh with dark fruit bouquet stopped me in my tracks. I swirled and sniffed several  times before taking a sip. A mouthful of dark chocolate and spice, sprig of mint and ripe berries excited my pallet and lingered on my lips.  https://www.anuvawines.com/wine/petit-verdot/callejon-del-crimen-petit-verdot-2005/

CALLEJON DEL CRIMEN MERLOT 91 pts!

CALLEJON DEL CRIMEN SANGIOVESE 2006

FINCA LA LUZ 90 pts!

A sinfully seductive bouquet of smoke, vanilla, and deep red fruits tantalize your senses. In the mouth layers of intense bright fruits of pomegranates, cranberries, raspberries, currants linger for days. This is a wine you’ll want to keep in mind for the holiday season!

https://www.anuvawines.com/wine/sangiovese/callejon-del-crimen-sangiovese-2006/

Take it from Jay; Argentina is producing some stellar wines. And don’t be afraid to try wines other than Malbec. Callejon del Crimen is a good place to start!

HOM Espumante is a sparkling wine produced by Cava La Carmela. To this date it is Anuva’s top seller. We call it “the crowd pleaser”, a great wine to bring to a party and is easy to pair with many dishes.

The wine is a blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. It has a fresh greenish hue indicating young fruit. A steady stream of bubbles and a light green apple, toasty, nutty bouquet draw you in. The mouth is crisp, and delicate fruit which lingers without being sweet

.At the Anuva Tastings we pair this sparking wine with whole-wheat water crackers topped with mascarpone, roquefort and green apple.Why? This pairing works because the creaminess of the cheese provides a base for the acidity of the wine to cut through. While the green apple mimics the tartness and crisp texture of the Hom.At home I would suggest pairing this wine with light appetizers (Melted brie topped with your favorite jam.) Or for this time of year a Fall Harvest Salad:

FALL HARVEST SALAD

Mix of spicy greens, blue cheese, dried fruits, apples, walnuts and roasted squash.The texture and light sweetness of the salad will play perfectly with the freshness and elegance of the wine.

•    Arugula large pack

•    Cranberries 1/8 cup

•    Raisins- Golden 1/8 cup

•    Toasted Walnuts or Hazelnuts 1/8 cup

•    Blue Cheese- crumbled 2 oz.

•    Green Apple- cut into wafer thin slices

•    ½ Acorn Squash, roasted with a pad of butter and brown sugar , skinned and cut into long strips

•    Salt and Pepper•    ½ lemon

1.    Prep Greens by soaking in a bath of cool water, strain and shake dry.

2.    Place greens in Large bowl sprinkle with salt and pepper and a bit of lemon juice

3.    Top with other ingredients and enjoy! Serve with fresh French bread or croissants.

Try this recipie and give us feed back! Or share your favorite wine pairing ideas!

Ok, so we’re getting off the subject of wine a bit… but after being in the U.S. for the longest duration since I left for Argentina more than 5 years ago, I sorely miss the best beef in the world. American steaks simply do not have the flavor or the correct preparation when compared to beef in Argentina.So where should travelers go to get the best steak, beef and asado? (Because keep in mind that asado includes a lot more than just steak and is, in fact, the “real deal.”). I will include places that I do NOT recommend as well for whatever reason.

1. El Primo (in Las Cañitas, Baez 302; in Palermo, Humbolt 1612). Simply great steak but also great parrillada completa (that is the real deal of all the offal (sausages and organ meats)) and a semi decent wine list. Wonderful outdoor seating right on the pedestrian street of Baez as well if you like people watching. Reasonably priced which for me means 50 pesos per person for steak, salad, potato and wine. Get there early (by 9pm, no later) if you want a table outside in the summer.

2. Las Cabras (Fitz Roy 1795), Las Cabritas (Migueletes 840), Las Cholas (Arce 306). All from the same owners with the same design and menu. Great for parrillada completa, only ok for steak. Other beef cuts are good and their provoleta (grilled provolone cheese) is phenomenal. Wonderful fries. No real wine list so get the house wine for 18 pesos per bottle. Great prices! My wife and I routinely go and have parrillada completa for two which comes with several different sausages, asado, vacio (flank steak), molleja (sweat breads), chichulines (intestine), riñon (kidney) and chicken (the absolute BEST CHICKEN) for only 55 pesos. It comes with fries also. Add wine and a salad to that and we get out of there for less than 80 pesos for the two of us. And we have leftovers for a full dinner the next day.

3. El Pobre Luis (Arribeños 2393 in Belgrano). The absolute best mollejas in the city. This is an “Uruguayan” parrilla, which means nothing really except that the sweat breads rock. They also have a specialty dish called a Pamplona which is either chicken, pork or steak wrapped around grilled onions, mozarella and bacon then grilled on the parilla. Reasonable prices and good wine list. Also, no tourists.

4. La Dorita. Really nice steaks and ambiance although a little inconsistent.

5. La Brigada (various locations: Recoleta location may have closed. Estados Unidos 465 in San Telmo). Expensive but perhaps worth it. Good service (and that is saying something for Buenos Aires) and they don’t overcook the steak (which is also something for Buenos Aires). They also have a lot of options and a good wine list.

6. Cabaña las Lilas (Alicia Moreau de Justo 516 in Puerto Madero). Unbelievably expensive. Tourist trap.

7. El Estanciero (Baez 202 in Las Cañitas). Expensive, good service, very nice and very clean. Nothing super memorable here though.

8. La Cabrera (Cabrera 5099 in Palermo Hollywood). This is a place that many have raved about. It is also a place that many have said has no reason to exist. My opinion lies right in the middle. The meat is decent, the service ok, and the ambiance fine. It’s in all the guide books so if you want a lot of tourists when you eat, great. If not, skip it.

www.anuvawines.com

It seems like all of our assumptions have been confirmed and reconfirmed. The hardest hit sectors of the U.S. wine market are fine dining, chain restaurants, and wine shops according to Wines and Vines. The good news is that website and online retail sales have remained constant (good news for me that is), and sales in imported wines from Argentina, Chile and Spain are all way up.

Steve Heimoff’s blog today about how he is frustrated with distributors getting distressed about scores in the mid 80s got me back to thinking about rethinking the rating system or how to “de-criminalize” scores in the mid 80s. The key here, Mr. Heimoff, is that scores in the mid 80s simply do not sell wine.

On the contrary, that level of score will prevent a wine’s sale and distributors, who are in the business of selling wine, will have to sit on product or sell it at a loss.The problem with the 100 point scale is twofold: first, it creates an objective number from a subjective impression but people who read those numbers do not interpret it that way and second, it oversimplifies a complex subject. The public see the higher rated wines as definitively better. Period. Even when comparing wines with totally different characteristics: a 90 point Malbec is better than an 89 point Pinot Noir is better than an 88 point Shiraz is better than an 87 point oaked Chardonnay and as Mr. Heimoff points out, those 4 wines all pair with distinctly different foods not to mention each person will have a person preference for style and variety that have not at all been taken into account.

Rating wine is even more complex that rating other subjective things like gymnastics, diving, figure skating but at least those things have visually verifiable parameters and instant replay. The palate of a wine judge cannot be repeated or shared by anyone in a direct way (are we gonna get into structuralism and post-structuralism again? no.)So what’s the answer? Education?

Not likely. People don’t like to read in general (yes, I realize the irony of that comment in a written medium) and that’s why the point system works so well.I think that a simple answer is to redefine how the points are used or accumulated. I have two ideas:

1. Simply make a “good” wine something that rates a 40. Average would be 30, below average 20-29, very good wines 50-65, nearly excellent 66-80, excellent 80-100. This would create a lot more room to actually differentiate between wines. As it is now, I’ve never even seen any wine, anywhere that has a published rating of below about 84 let alone a 12. They simply don’t get into the press. What does a 12 wine taste like? This limits the usable scale to only about 15 points because nobody cares about the rest. How are the public or wine critics supposed to differentiate between tens of thousands of wines in only 15 points? So suggestion 1 is to actually make the whole 100 point scale usable.

2. The second idea is a bit more complex: break the scale into 10 parts. A scale of 1-10 for the “wine itself”. This would be a simplified version of the current 100 point scale. But then the rest of the ratings would be 10 points for each of the following: pairing with meats, pairing with cheeses, pairing with fish, pairing with salads, pairing potential (breadth), aging potential, or whatever you like, but it has to include the other facets of wine that the current 100 point scale does not. Now that I’m writing this I realize that it would require much more thought, but it’s an idea.

Your thoughts?