Masters of the Universe

What do you have to do to be a Master of Food and Wine? Apparently sign up for the Park Hyatt Mendoza´s Masters of Food and Wine extravaganza. This four-day series of culinary events is the biggest gourmet blockbuster ever to hit Mendoza and is attracting global attention. Well-known wine writers, infamous foodies and notorious bon vivants are flying into this province to experience what promises to be an epicurean blow-out of gastronomical proportions. Star chefs from all over the world will be demonstrating their art in Mendoza´s best wineries and winery lodges. Simultaneously a wine fair takes place in the Park Hyatt. Events run from February the 15th to the 18th.
For more info go to www.mfandw.com.ar

Expose yourself to Expo

It has often been noted that Mendoza´s Wine Harvest Festival can be a little short on wine. Vendimia is all about street theatre, parades and beauty queens. Often the only wine in hand is a Tetrapak launched from a winery float by an over-enthusuastic girl in a sash. This year however sees the opening of the first Expo Vinos en Vendimia. The four-day event promises to be the wine jamboree that we have all been waiting for. Premier tastings, an art show, live jazz and a wine auction are just some of the events planned in Palmares Open Mall from the 1st to the 4th of March.
For more info go to www.vinosenvendimia.com.ar

Happy Paddys

What do winemakers drink when they are socialising? Beer apparently and lots of it. For this reason, The Grapevine, in association with Irish winery (you read correctly - Irish winery) El Commandante have decided to do their piece for the community and organise a Saint Patrick's Day Festival. Live music, beer and shiny blow-up shamrocks are planned for the weekend beginning the 16th March. The venues: Finsin, Lupolo and the Irish Bar.

Neighbours

Inmobiliaria is a word many foreigners have a problem with and it is not just because it is unpronounceable. Real estate agents here are notorious for bumping up the price when dealing with non-Argentines as a kind of punishment for our bad Spanglish. Rental agencies are also prone to charging three times what the locals pay if the potential tenant has the indecency to wear badly pressed shorts and flip-flops. Add to this the requirement that a foreigner must find a gullible Mendocino father-in-law super quick to sign a document promising he will pay your bills and the whole flat-hunting venture can be challenging indeed. A new company called Lugar intends solving this problem. It specialises in renting fully furnished apartments in Mendoza City Centre to foreign people who wish to live here. No garantias are required, nor commissions paid and the rents are the same as what the local

Group Therapy

It is a terrible affliction and affects many. You find yourself in Mendoza for a few days only and want to try as much good wine as possible. Problem is most of the restaurants sell only mediocre wine by the glass and it is not practical to buy too much good stuff as it all comes by the bottle. You find yourself in the absolutely tortuous situation of being surrounded by great wine but unable to try all of it. It just so happens that The Grapevine runs a support group for sufferers of this problem. It is called The Grapevine Wine Tasting Evening and it gathers every Monday night at 7pm. Everybody contributes 90 pesos, and with this loot we raid the higher shelves of Marcelino Winestore for wines normally reserved for millionaires and moguls.
Marcelino Wine Store, Marcelino and Benegas (see map). For more info call the Grapevine on 4255613.

Stormy Weather

The 2007 harvest has got off to a rocky start with wild New Year weather prompting Uco Valley department San Carlos to declare a climatic emergency. A prolonged hail storm late on January 26th affected 500 hectares and spared few of the region's growers.
Hail is a grape-grower's worst nightmare and this year many in Mendoza province have been hit, with the south suffering worst. Producers in General Alvear reported 60 to 100% crop losses, and in San Rafael, where stones as big as tennis balls battered 3000 hectares, tourists reportedly fled in panic and physical damage alone was estimated at 17 million pesos.
While the weather has been a disaster for unlucky individual growers, wine lovers need not cry into their copas. Mendoza's bodegas are well prepared for hail and source their fruit from a broad zone so hail losses won't put a dampner on what industry insiders are tipping as a classic vintage.