28 Feb: Insane Winery Lunch AND Chocolate Para Fanaticos
Crazy lunch that Jill created a slideshow for in an attempt to capture PART of it. And dinner later included the irresistible Chocolate For Fanatics.
So after the dinner last night that had us both practically falling asleep during the waning courses of the meal, we got up at 6am of course. This was so that we could head to the airport in Santiago and fly to Mendoza for the final stretch of the trip.
The flight was quick and our guide dropped us off at our hotel but our room wasn't yet ready. The road in front of the hotel was one way until last week but now is clearly painted with a yellow line for a lane to go the other way. As our driver turned onto the street to drop us off, cars were driving the wrong way straight at us and he had to honk and wave multiple times for them to move over to the correct side of the line. Ok. Since our room wasn't ready we hung on the free wifi for a bit until he returned to take us to/from Familia Zuccardi, a Bodega (winery) in Mendoza.
What a hilarious ride we had. Anything quoted is from him. "Good wine doesn't make you drunk. If you drink cheap wine, you'll get drunk." Later along the way he asked us to explain "white trash" which had us laughing quite a bit. He asked if "rednecks" was termed from being out in the sun unprotected.
He asked where we were from and when we said Seattle he said "Super Sonics" and he isn't the first to have that strong association. I had to explain that the team was sold and moved (not merged with another team like he thought at first when I explained things) to Oklahoma City. SHOCKED. "Oh My God! For me, Seattle is same as SuperSonics!!"
He asked more questions after the shock wore off. I explained that Howard Schultz sold the team to someone he knew would move the team. "I imagine people want to kill Howard Schultz!" (Re-emphasizing that this is not the opinion of Marc and Jill but of a fan who lives in Mendoza, Argentina) Then later, "Now that you tell me this, I can't take coffee at Starbucks anymore."
So he dropped us off and the insane lunch began. They did a traditional grill of many things with plenty of wine but words can only tell so much. They brought out some white wine (Torrontes and Chardonnay/Viognier) to start and some *amazing* empanadas to start. Then several huge salad plates with delicious food and the red wine started. We had Syrah, Bonarda, and Malbec along with this wonderful food that included them bringing out meat 3 times and they asked if we wanted more later on too. Since we were asking questions about the wine, the sommelier brought out some wonderful Tempranillo too.
After all of this, we got dessert and a dessert wine called Tardio. Keep in mind that this was our lunch for the day. I had a coffee because the food was so good that I figured the coffee would work and I've basically not taken coffee this trip because it has NOT been good. Those are the written words, but perhaps watching the slideshow of this lunch would be better.
Now, we ALSO got a tour of this winery and there was an Irish couple on the tour so we had a great tour with them along with the guide who is from the States but doesn't get to speak English very often anymore. Every winery tour still seems to teach us something. They are experimenting and several of the wines are really good.
We were taken back and given a break at our hotel. We walked around a bit and the city is so busy with locals and just a real town. It was fun to walk around.
Eventually we got taken to our dinner at a place called Francis Mallman 1884. We both were't quite sure where we were being dropped off, but once we walked into the courtyard, it was this amazing building that was impressively restored from the late 19th century. The dining areas were quite cool but I think only Jill (or perhaps some of our photos) can describe them. This meal was wonderful too so let's just say were both full from these two meals.
Jill asked for the dessert menu because she figured something would entice me. She tried to get me to go classic Argentinian with dulce de leche but I couldn't be talked out of Chocolate Para Fanaticos (Chocolate for Fanatics). Three chocolate things appeared on a plate untarnished by fruit as it should be. This plate was as wide as a fork or spoon and definitely longer and full of chocolate goodness.
The taxi home featured a driver who visited Atlantic City and won. He used the proceeds to drive across the country through Chicago ("cold!") and to Vancouver, BC.
So after the dinner last night that had us both practically falling asleep during the waning courses of the meal, we got up at 6am of course. This was so that we could head to the airport in Santiago and fly to Mendoza for the final stretch of the trip.
The flight was quick and our guide dropped us off at our hotel but our room wasn't yet ready. The road in front of the hotel was one way until last week but now is clearly painted with a yellow line for a lane to go the other way. As our driver turned onto the street to drop us off, cars were driving the wrong way straight at us and he had to honk and wave multiple times for them to move over to the correct side of the line. Ok. Since our room wasn't ready we hung on the free wifi for a bit until he returned to take us to/from Familia Zuccardi, a Bodega (winery) in Mendoza.
What a hilarious ride we had. Anything quoted is from him. "Good wine doesn't make you drunk. If you drink cheap wine, you'll get drunk." Later along the way he asked us to explain "white trash" which had us laughing quite a bit. He asked if "rednecks" was termed from being out in the sun unprotected.
He asked where we were from and when we said Seattle he said "Super Sonics" and he isn't the first to have that strong association. I had to explain that the team was sold and moved (not merged with another team like he thought at first when I explained things) to Oklahoma City. SHOCKED. "Oh My God! For me, Seattle is same as SuperSonics!!"
He asked more questions after the shock wore off. I explained that Howard Schultz sold the team to someone he knew would move the team. "I imagine people want to kill Howard Schultz!" (Re-emphasizing that this is not the opinion of Marc and Jill but of a fan who lives in Mendoza, Argentina) Then later, "Now that you tell me this, I can't take coffee at Starbucks anymore."
So he dropped us off and the insane lunch began. They did a traditional grill of many things with plenty of wine but words can only tell so much. They brought out some white wine (Torrontes and Chardonnay/Viognier) to start and some *amazing* empanadas to start. Then several huge salad plates with delicious food and the red wine started. We had Syrah, Bonarda, and Malbec along with this wonderful food that included them bringing out meat 3 times and they asked if we wanted more later on too. Since we were asking questions about the wine, the sommelier brought out some wonderful Tempranillo too.
After all of this, we got dessert and a dessert wine called Tardio. Keep in mind that this was our lunch for the day. I had a coffee because the food was so good that I figured the coffee would work and I've basically not taken coffee this trip because it has NOT been good. Those are the written words, but perhaps watching the slideshow of this lunch would be better.
Now, we ALSO got a tour of this winery and there was an Irish couple on the tour so we had a great tour with them along with the guide who is from the States but doesn't get to speak English very often anymore. Every winery tour still seems to teach us something. They are experimenting and several of the wines are really good.
Eventually we got taken to our dinner at a place called Francis Mallman 1884. We both were't quite sure where we were being dropped off, but once we walked into the courtyard, it was this amazing building that was impressively restored from the late 19th century. The dining areas were quite cool but I think only Jill (or perhaps some of our photos) can describe them. This meal was wonderful too so let's just say were both full from these two meals.
Jill asked for the dessert menu because she figured something would entice me. She tried to get me to go classic Argentinian with dulce de leche but I couldn't be talked out of Chocolate Para Fanaticos (Chocolate for Fanatics). Three chocolate things appeared on a plate untarnished by fruit as it should be. This plate was as wide as a fork or spoon and definitely longer and full of chocolate goodness.
The taxi home featured a driver who visited Atlantic City and won. He used the proceeds to drive across the country through Chicago ("cold!") and to Vancouver, BC.