Wine Tasting in Buenos Aires

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Wine tastingWine tasting options in Buenos Aires has been improving recently. If you are an eno-tourist and have come to Argentina to sample its wines however, it is without question that you will have a more fulfilling experience spending time in Mendoza or one of Argentina’s many other wine regions. Nevertheless, Buenos Aires has a few good wine tasting opportunities. They are simply require a bit of effort in seeking them out. Hence, the following recommendations may prove helpful in your search for catas de vinos in Buenos Aires.

Anuva Wines

This is a great option for an affordable wine tasting of wines from all over Argentina. Anuva Wines is also a wine club and is the only company we know that affordably ships wine to the U.S. They host wine tastings in their Las Canitas tasting room and specializes in wines from boutique wineries that are largely only available in Argentina. The tastings are quintessentially Argentine with a focus on Malbec, Torrontés and Bonarda. The 40 u$d price is great for a tasting with 5 wines, 5 specific food pairings, a comprehensive presentation of the wines, Argentine terroir, history, local restaurant and sight seeing recommendations and refills on the wines you like. Anuva also offers hotel delivery, apartment delivery, handy reusable wine bags, and its wine club and shipping service. Anuva accepts requests for special tastings and can accommodate large groups is enough advance notice is given.

Tel:(5411) 4777 4661
Anuva Wines Website (you can reserve online).

Casa Coupage

Casa Coupage offers one of the most unique wine / dinner experience in Buenos Aires. While not strictly wine tasting, it is definitely worth checking out. The venue doubles as the home of the owners, whose concept is to create a welcoming space, in which visitors can focus on their individual sensory experience and develop their palates through blind tastings. Their Bistro Innovacion happens on Thursday and Friday evenings by reservation only, and includes a generous seasonal menu – food is an integral part of Argentine wine drinking culture. Alternatively, you can arrange for a private tasting session for two to twenty people. In either set-up, the owners communicate wines in an incredibly dynamic and personal way that is truly special and authentically Argentine.

Guemes 4382
Tel: (5411) 4833 6354
www.casacoupage.com.ar

Terroir

This upscale vinoteca in Palermo, is a good option if you are serious about wine and are willing to invest time and money in a tasting. The slightly pretentious venue caters towards an upper class cliental and has a portfolio consisting of mainly high-end wines. Consequently, if you are budget minded you may find the vast cellar here a bit limited, not to mention intimidating. Tastings start at around AR$250 per person and a standard tasting for a group of around eight people will set you back between AR$450-500. The owner puts careful effort into tailoring the tasting to your preferences, but only as long as you have done your research beforehand and have given serious thought to the kinds of wine you want to try.

Buschiazzo 3040, between Libertador Av. and Segui
Tel:(5411) 4778-3443
www.terroir.com.ar

Winery

This vinoteca (wine shop)/resto-bar chain, offers wine tasting at three of their locations: Puerto Madero, Avenida Alem, and Avenida Libertador. For AR$98 you can enjoy a sampling of five AR$50-$70 bottles of wine (four red, one white), as well as an assortment of tapas. Winery is ideal if you enjoy drinking without chatting, as you are left largely on your own to taste wines with simply a sheet of paper on which you can mark your impressions. There is an option, however, to hire an in-house sommelier to guide your session if you prefer a more interactive experience.

Multiple Locations
Tel:(5411) 4894 8205
www.winery.com.ar

Club 647

Club 647 is your best bet for a ‘walk-in’ tasting as well as for excellent wine-food pairing. One of the best new restaurants in Buenos Aires, Club 647 has put much thought into creating a wine menu that complements their amazing dishes. They have designed an extremely user-friendly and clever wine list that is categorized by character as opposed to more conventional varietal or regional groupings. For example, whites are dived in into dynamic sub-categories such as ‘fruity with medium suppleness,’ ‘elegant and supple with yeast notes,’ and ‘fresh, young and light bodied.’ Tailored tasting flights include 4-5 wines and cost between AR$100-$150.

Tacuari 647, between Mexico and Chile
Tel: (5411) 4331 3026
www.club647.com

Gran Bar Danzon

Buenos Aires’ only definitive wine bar, Gran Danzon is another solid alternative if you do not have time to organize or book a tasting in advance. Though the bar does not offer tasting flights, it has the most extensive ‘by the glass’ menu of wines to be found in Buenos Aires, from which you can create your own ‘tasting.’ Prices range from $8-$16 per glass for white wines and $10-$32 for reds.

Libertad 1161, between Arenales and Santa Fe Av.
Tel:(5411) 4811 1108
www.granbardanzon.com.ar/danzon

8 Comments

Dan on February 25, 08

It’s not quite that difficult to find more public venues that offer decent wine by the glass selections – Portezuelo in Village Recoleta, Epicureos in Las Canitas, Club Museo in Palermo, and the wine tasting bar at the Park Hyatt all offer good to excellent selections of wines by the glass. Buenos Vinos offers weekly “intro to Argentine wine” tastings led by local sommeliers, and complete with food. La Cava de Vittorio has weekly wine tastings on Thursdays featuring one winery (different each week) that are free to the public. There are more… those just come to mind at the moment.

Emily Crawford on February 26, 08

Thanks Dan for the comment. We’ve gotten a lot of questions on this topic in our forum so we put Nat on the trail. Thanks for the suggestions!

George Savarese on February 27, 08

Hi Natalie, I work with you Dad and in a prior assignment at Metlife I had the opportunity to Travel to Buenos Aires many times and experinece the wonderful food, wine (Malbec from the Mandoza region is my favorite) and especially the people. I found the article well written and useful if I ever get back to that terrific City. Thanks!

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Iftikhar Shallwani on April 10, 08

HI Natalie,
I need to find some history of wine making in Mendoza and Argentina in general. Can you tell any any good source.
cheers,
Iftikhar.
iashallwani@hotmail.com

Emily Crawford on April 10, 08

Hi Iftikhar,

We are working on a comprehensive guide. But until we have ours up, I would check out the Vines of Mendoza at this link. They have a good introdution.
http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/intro_wines/

Matthew Barker on September 9, 09

This is a handy guide, but what about out the main wine tasting event of the year? Vinos y Bodegas is happening right now in BA, I think?
A few more ideas in this piece on Wine Tasting In Buenos Aires.
Salud!

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