So let's start with beer. Beer in Peru is very localized. In Arequipa, you get Arequipena. In Cusco, you find Cusquena. Trujillo offers a Pilsen Trujillo that cannot be found in the south. In Lima, you guessed it... Cristal. On hot and muggy days, you cannot go wrong with Cristal. Think Corona. In fact, throw a limon (peruvian lime similar to a key lime) into it and you hit the jack pot.
Why mention beer? Well because Peruvian wine makes Traders Joe's Charles Shaw (two buck chuck) taste like a 1st growth Bordeaux. However, you can find imported wines primarily from Argentina and Chile. Spanish wines are also common but that ends any sort of reasonable QPR (quality price ratio). US and French wines are priced through the roof and the Peruvians have really not mastered the concept of cellaring (even in retail shops). So for example, at Wong (one of three main supermarket chains in Peru) you will find a bottle of 2001 Lafite in the wine cellar for about USD1000. Problem is that the cellar temperature is 75 degrees. In fact, it is cooler in the main store. Now there are wine shops that do specialize and take a certain degree of care but the bottom line is that this country is not in the business of selling imported wines. Not to knock on the supermarkets because you can find very good deals and that is were we start this blog.
Andeluna 2008 Malbec at Wong on 'super discount' for 28 Nuevo Soles (USD10). This was a good omen because I had overlooked Andeluna when researching the hundreds of wineries in the Mendoza region. Like most young malbecs this was fruit forward (red fruit) but it was very approachable and ready to drink. Next up was the Andeluna Reserve Malbec (ARM) 2005 and 2006 which we drank in sequence while having dinner with my sister and her husband at Panchita. The sommelier and I discussed a few other options but we kept coming back to the Andeluna 2005 primarily because we were looking for a more balanced wine. Do not look for young malbecs to provide balance and finish. The current fad with young Argentine malbecs reminds me very much of the Australian shiraz craze from the 90's in the US. Easy wines on the palate and a bit high in alcohol content which the every day consumer can enjoy. And there are many today that I would not overlook as they are great for larger parties or guests that perhaps are not as particular (for example, my best friend has no issues having a Bud Light in one hand and a glass of 2001 Quintessa in the other).
Aged malbecs or blends from Argentina are what really interest me. Argentine wines are not known to be age worthy but I believe that a change has already started and we will see the high end wines (in particular, the blends) age well. So back to the ARM sequential tasting. The 05 was outstanding, for 250 Nuevo Soles (USD88) it may not have been a QPR candidate except that this was from the restaurant list. The 06 was fair to good but not worth the same price we paid for the 05. How they compared:
05 - Earthy and full bodied. This wine took 30-45 minutes to open up. If available at a retail store, I would expect this to be USD35-40.
06 - Very fruit forward and tight. This wine was not ready to be consumed. After about 30 minutes it did begin to settle down a bit. But a complete contrast to the 05.
Outside of the Andeluna discovery, we also enjoyed a nice bottle of a Matetic 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. Matetic is a Chilean outfit from the Casablanca region west of Santiago that is beginning to get some acclaim. Our take was green apples. We enjoyed this at Pescados Capitales which is two blocks from La Mar on the same street and is the old stalwart in the area. Excellent ceviche! Lastly, we had sushi at Osaka in San Isidro (one of many districts in Lima) and shared of bottle of the Protos 2007 Verdejo. A nice crisp wine which paired well with the wasabi.
Next up Buenos Aires. The blog will get shorter (I hope) and pictures will come your way too!
Recap (for those who don't value my journalist prowess):
Beer
Cristal - Lima (think Corona and add a limon)
Trujillo Pilsen - Trujillo
Arequipena - Arequipa
Cusquena - Cusco
Wine
Andeluna Malbec 2008, Wong Supermarket, USD10, High QPR
Andeluna Reserve Malbec 2005, Panchita by Gaston Acurio, USD88, Good QPR (assume USD35-40 retail)
Andeluna Reserve Malbec 2006, Panchita, USD88, Low QPR
Matetic Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Pescados Capitales, USD53, Low QPR
Protos Verdejo 2007, Osaka, USD30, Low-Mid QPR (I think this is USD10 retail)
Restaurants
La Mar
Pescados Capitales
Panchita
Tanta
Osaka
