I read an article in The Economist about the Argetinian wine industry and its quest to overtake the Chilean wine industry as the largest in South America. Chilean wines are the most famous in South America and considered by many to be superior to Argentinian wines. However, in reality most Argentinian wines are on par with Chilean wines and even superior. Here is a link to the Economist article:
Unfortunately, the article is now only available only to those who subscribe to The Economist, so I will refer to the article and discuss Chilean and Argentinian wines in a future blog entry. Tonight I want to write about my South American dream inspired by Che Guevara and South American wines?
What, you ask, do wine and Che, a deceased revolutionary, have to do with one another? Simply put, travel. During 1951-52, Che Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado embarked on a journey through Latin America on a motorcycle. His famous journey is well chronicled in his autobiographical account of his trip, "The Motorcycle Diaries." Che and Granado traveled from Argentina to Miami, Florida for over a year. During their journey, they passed through South America’s wine country, which at the time was a shadow of what it is today.
While I have no plans to travel for a year and re-enact "The Motorcycle Diaries" on a 500cc motorcyle, I dream of taking my family on a road trip by car from Asunción, Paraguay to Valparaiso, Chile through Argentina and back over the course of a week or two. I think that the best way to explore South America is on the ground. This route is not considered overly dangerous, and we would visit Córdoba and Mendoza, Argentina, two of the country’s secondary cities, as well as Santiago, Chile. The highlight of our trip would be a multi-day stay at a hacienda (ranch) in the Argentinian wine country near Mendoza, where we would relax, ride horseback, and enjoy Argentinian barbeques and wine in the shadow of snow-capped Andean peaks. We would also tour Argentinian and Chilean wineries and eat seafood in Valparaiso. More than any other trip we’re planning, this is the one I want to do most of all before our tour in Paraguay ends.
I would think the Argentinian wine country could mimic the stressed grapes of France. I.e., there are good years and horrid years and most wine needs aging. But when it’s good, it’s GRAND.
I spent some time there. Simply put, the wine in general rocks. I especially like the Malbecs and the Syrahs, two regional specialties. Enjoy!