Our JOURNAL

Discover the Wines of South America

Oct 13, 2009 | Culinary, Editorial, Travel, Wine

WORDS BY Liz Caskey

PHOTOGRAPHS BY Francisco Ramírez

  This weekend, I jet to the US for series of South American-driven events. While many of them are with private chef associations like Les Dames d’Escoffier,  Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR), New York Women’s Culinary Alliance, and universities (including my alma mater, University of Pennsylvania), I will be teaching this Master Class at the […]

 

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This weekend, I jet to the US for series of South American-driven events. While many of them are with private chef associations like Les Dames d’Escoffier,  Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR), New York Women’s Culinary Alliance, and universities (including my alma mater, University of Pennsylvania), I will be teaching this Master Class at the French Culinary Institute’s, International Culinary Center on October 28, 2009.

Ok, ok, so here’s my shameless plug to convince all you guys to come to this class, Discover the Wines of South America. It is going to kick total butt and be a whirlwind journey through the region’s terroir–with not a big brand in site. Only, boutique terroir-driven labels. Here’s the write-up:

In recent years, we’ve become entranced with South America. We are vacationing in the jungles of the Amazon, tasting regional cuisines, and sampling an array of new South American wines—and for good reason. Chile and Argentina, in particular, are turning out excellent wines that are giving classic European vintages a run for their money, at very affordable prices. In this class, wine and travel expert Liz Caskey will guide you through an interactive tasting of the best these two countries have to offer, using evocative visuals and informative handouts to demystify the wines being presented. Explore terruño (that’s Spanish for terroir) and learn how Chile and Argentina’s characteristic approaches to wine making, coupled with climatic and geographical conditions, helped European vines take on unique expressions in the soil of the New World. In each glass of wine, you’ll discover rich, dynamic, exotic flavors that are as intriguing as the places from which they hail. Taste and discuss a variety of wines—from Chilean Carmenère to the wholly Argentine Torrontes—that will serve you well as a guide for future exploration.

So just to really sell you into coming, these are some of the rockin’ wines we are going to taste:

Argentina

Cruzat, Rosé Sparkling

Altavista, Torrontes Premium

Mendel, Unus

Finca Sophenia, Malbec Reserva

 

Chile

Aquitania, Sol de Sol Chardonnay

Quebrada de Macul, Domus Aurea Cabernet Sauvignon

Neyén, Neyén (Carmenere-Cab blend)

And perhaps a little extra surprise blend to share with everyone!

Once again, here’s the info to get hooked up. And of course, as a bonus, you will get to meet me and hang out. I would love to get to know you guys.

Date: October 28, 2009

Time: 7:00-9:30pm

Sign up here.

See you there!

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Our Journeys

Argentina

Rich and diverse, Argentina is a country of dramatic landscapes, lush wines, intense people, and a dulce vida attitude that will seduce you to return again and again.

California

There are few places in the world like Napa and Sonoma. A unique microcosm of soils, climates, and geographies paired with their singular pursuit, the love of wine and good food, make it so compelling.

Chile

Chile stretches like a thin noodle along the Pacific Ocean over half the South American continent. Never more than a hundred miles wide, the wild Pacific crashes on the rocky shoreline to the west and the snow-capped Andes form the jagged backbone to the east. This long extension of latitudes is responsible for the country’s thrillingly diverse range of cuisine, wine, and landscapes to explore.

Peru

Peru is a fiesta of tastes, cultures, and history. A country of contrasts, the geography splits into the Andean sierra (mountains), the jungle, the altiplano, and the arid Pacific coast with over 84 microclimates.

Special Edition

Our Special Edition tours are one time, one-of-a-kind journeys. Like in wine, with an exceptional vintage, a winemaker crafts a special edition wine to express that particular grape or harvest conditions. In that same spirit, we craft these small group adventures to explore a one-off destination in the America, and sometimes beyond.

Uruguay

Uruguay is South America’s best-kept secret. A nation of over three million maté lovers, meat-eaters, winegrowers, cheese makers, and artists, what makes Uruguay so irresistible is its low key vibe.

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