The Masters of Food and Wine held their third annual event here in Mendoza last week at The Park Hyatt Mendoza. Internationally acclaimed chefs created gastronomic materpieces paired with amazing wines from local wineries. The festivities were kicked off with the Opening Cocktail and wine tasting. Many small and outstanding local producers were in attendance for the estimated 1200 guests that frolicked in the Salon de Espejos, as well as outside on the terrace, sampling tapas from the reigning chefs tables. Some highlights included savory tacos, chorizo and quail with a succulent sauce and sushi (we are starved for sushi here in Mendoza!).

The Vines Vinoteca hosted chef Bejamin Ford, son of Harrison Ford, on our outdoor deck where he delighted guests with a tasty rabbit tapa. The Vinoteca itself was turned into a veritable pastry shop with all sorts of sweet niblets.
Over the next 2 days, there were various lunches and dinners at the founding wineries, where the international chefs displayed their skills with the local produce and meats.

I attended an beautiful luncheon at Bodega Zuccardi with chef Andrew Ormsby. He created for us

• Mushroom and Jalepeno strudel
• Squash 3 ways- Ravioli, a delicious pure, and a fried squash blossom
• Lamb chops breaded with a potato pure and delicate sauce
• Valentine’s Desserts

The afternoon was a mixture of good food, delicious wines, laughter, new friends and lovely memories.
If you can come next year, you should begin your travel plans now!

There
For a spanish article on the event, check out: http://cavaargentina.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6533&Itemid=354

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So I was like most people, dubious at best, about the pairing of chocolate with different wines. However, to my surprise there are numerous combinations that are delectable and exciting, while others are fairly horrid. Working with Chrissie Bettencourt, a native of Canada who is our resident chocolatier, we had the laborious task of distinguishing which wines and chocolates had that perfect chemistry, that magical interaction of molecules that enhance the taste buds and make your eyes wide with sensory recognition.

We are pleased to present these combinations at our Chocolate and Wine pairing event tonight at The Vines of Mendoza Tasting Room, just in time for Valentine’s Day. For a sneak peak on one of the combinations we are offering 25% off our Amauta blend from bodega El Porvenir- (this wine is an awesome find from the northern province of Salta and one of my current favs)
But in the meantime we would like to share some tips that are very important when deciding upon your own chocolate decandence. Let us know if you find some pairings of your own that simply should not be missed!

How to Buy Chocolate

 

1.       Cocoa Butter: Buy chocolate that has cocoa butter and not “non-cocoa butter fats”.  (ie:  butter oil, milk fat, partially hydrogenated oils etc.) 

 

2.       Fresh Chocolate: Buy chocolate from a chocolate maker rather than the supermarket. 

 

3.       Cocoa= Quality:  Make sure that the first ingredient listed on the wrapper is cocoa (cacao).  This can also be called cocoa liquor, chocolate liquor or cocoa mass. 

 

4.       Vanilla:  If vanilla is listed, look for one that uses natural vanilla instead of extract.  Vanilla extract often masks or overpowers other flavours in the chocolate.  It also often leaves a distinct chemical flavour in the mouth. 

 

How to store chocolate

 

·         Chocolate should be stored between 60F (16C) and 68F (20C).

·         Try not to let the chocolate be subjected to oxygen or humidity.

 

How to pair wine and chocolate

 

1.       Experiment, experiment, experiment:  there are many guidelines out there on what chocolate should be paired with what wine, there really are no set rules.  One 70% chocolate can be totally different from another 70% chocolate, therefore affecting how it matches with the wine.  Have some fun with the tasting and this way you will be surprised at what unanticipated results you will come out with!

 

2.       Complements and Contrasts:  Start with the basics, complements and contrasts in flavours.  Complements= red wine + dark chocolate and white wine + milk chocolate.  Contrasts = red wine + milk chocolate and white wine + dark chocolate. 

 

3.       Familiarity:  Start off with either wines you know and like or chocolates you know and like.  Having one half of the pairing already familiar to you will make it easier to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

 

4.       Taste:  First taste the wines and chocolate individually and separately.  Don’t worry about picking out specific flavours, instead focus on whether the wine or chocolate is acidic, tannic, fruity, spicy etc.  What kind of finish does it have? These are the basics in pairing to ensure there will be a harmony in the mouth and not a battle of flavours. 

 

5.       Use a “many to one” approach:  To make things simpler and also easier on your palate, pair either one chocolate with three or four different types of wines, or one wine with three or four different types of chocolates. 

 

6.       Start with general and then go to specific:  Some questions to ask yourself as you are going through the pairing:

 

a.       Do I like the pairing?

b.       Does the wine make the chocolate taste better or worse?  (the acidity in the wine made the chocolate aftertaste unpleasant)

c.        Does the chocolate make the wine taste better or worse?  (making the wine taste bitter or sour)

 

7.       Whites:  Semi dry white wines such as Torrontés Riojano, Viogner, a demi sec sparkling or a late harvest.

8.       Reds:  Wines with a good structure and soft tannins. Some varietals such as Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Also Port Style reds.

 

(Info based on book by Clay Gordon, “Discover Chocolate” with a touch of Chrissie and Mariana.)

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Wine & Chocolate

Los invitamos a un evento muy especial.
Maridaje de chocolate y vino.

Viernes 13 de febrero a las 20 hs.
A cargo de Chrissie Bettencourt
$60 pesos – Cupos limitados

We invite you to the most special event,
Wine and Chocolate Pairing

Friday February 13th, 8pm
By Chrissie Bettencourt
$60 pesos.

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Recently we have tasted more and more amazing Sauvignon Blanc’s from Mendoza and particularily from the Uco Valley. O.Fournier impressed us with their vibrant, citric, and lively Sauvignon Blanc as well as those from Altosur are constant favorites. I also recently came across an article from a local magazine that also profiles this growing phenomenon of popularity, beware its in spanish.

The options for pairing with food are also quite interesting, so I thought I would share the recipe that they included so you can try it at home. (however, I am leaving it in spanish and metrics, because some day we will need to learn this handy system, and it should be your spanish homework for the weekend!) Credit to: MDZOL.com
Fetuccini: (If you are lazy, just buy some fresh pasta)
500gr de harina (flour)
4 huevos (eggs)
50cc de aceite de oliva (olive oil)
200cc de agua (water)
Sal y pimienta (salt and pepper)

Salsa:
200grs de cascaras de langostinos con cabeza (shrimp- I recommend without shells)
200cc de caldo de verdura (vegetable stock)
16 langostinos grandes (large shrimp)
30grs de manteca (butter)
100cc de cognac
100cc de vino Sauvignon Blanc
400cc de crema de leche (heavy cream)
100grs de almendras tostadas (toasted almonds)
Sal y pimienta  (salt and petter)

*  Procedure:

Para la pasta colocar la harina en la mesada, hacer un hueco y agregar sal, pimienta, los huevos y el aceite. Amasar hasta que la masa quede lisa. Dejar descansar tapada 1 hora en la heladera y estirar con palote o pasta linda. Cortar a cuchillo haciendo un rollito con la masa estirada. La salsa puede resultar rara pero es una delicia. Saltear en manteca las cáscaras de langostino, agregar el cognac, el vino blanco y dejar que se evapore el alcohol. Pasar esta preparación  por una licuadora y colar. Calentar este jugo junto con la crema, sal y pimienta. Servir la pasta con la salta y los langostinos y almendras salteadas. Recomiendo no poner queso parmesano a esta preparación.

* Maridaje

Lo maravilloso de beber un Sauvignon Blanc es la frescura asegurada que sentimos en boca. Es un vino altamente seductor, pero tiene quienes lo aman y quienes lo odian. Su color siempre presenta un amarillo claro, con notas en nariz que recuerdan las notas cítricas, los espárragos y el pipi de gato. En boca su acidez permite combinarlo con platos complejos. Elegimos esta variedad por su intensa acidez, frescura y notas cítricas que combinan perfectamente con las notas marinas de la salsa.

Also try our Trazos de Autor, also great example of Mendoza Sauvignon Blanc to pair with this pasta meal.

For translation help try: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

Good Luck!

(Also this is a post by Emily under my pseudonym for the week)

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We are always combing through the web for interesting posts on Malbec, Mendoza, and the Argentina wine world, and while this post is a bit dated, August 2008, I thought it was such a great review that I wanted to share.

So check out the Global Nomad:

Especially if you’re a beginner when it comes to Mendoza wines, your first stop in the city should be their tasting room to pick up the short, 4-page “Insider’s Guide to Mendoza.” (Much of the same info is available on their website, but the clear, well-organised insider’s guide was the most useful tool we found after a map.) With literally hundreds of bodegas and at least as many restaurants all spread out over a huge area, Mendoza can be daunting. The Vines guys have obsessively visited, sipped and chewed their way through as many as humanly possible, and distilled their experience into some fantastic top picks, best-ofs and favourites that virtually guarantee you can’t go wrong. Trust me, I’ve tried out a lot of them, and they were spot on every time.

I’ll get into some details in my following posts, but if I have one piece of advice when it comes to wine touring in Mendoza, it’s this: talk to the Vines of Mendoza for maximum fun and minimum time-wasting! (Oh and no, I got absolutely nothing for saying all this…trust me I wish I did.)

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