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Even though the theme region for this year’s Vancouver International Wine Festival was California, there were many events featuring other wine-making countries/regions. Lucky for me I was able to attend the Gusto Latinoamericano wine lunch at Lift Bar Grill View. As you may have guessed already, this wine lunch highlighted wines from Argentina and Chile.

Event guests were treated to a 3-course lunch here, along with wine pairing. But before that, there was the amuse Argentinean Prawn with Chimichurri. The prawn was sweet and plump, and the chimichurri brought bright acidity. It was paired with the Domaine Bousquet Organic Brut NV — a dry, crisp, easy-drinking bubbly with 25% pinot noir and 75% chardonnay.

For our appetizer, it was a Chilled Seafood Salad, with a mix of wine braised octopus, mussels, clams and squid, along with some chorizo chips and warm garlic bread. The seafood was cooked well; octopus and squid were tender, mussels and clams were juicy and plump. The chorizo chips brought just a tiny bit of heat and salt, and the garlic bread was tasty.

The salad was paired with Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery’s Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2018. It’s different from California chardonnay (of which there were plenty in the tasting room this year). It doesn’t have the vanilla, caramel, buttery mouthfeel that I typically find in chardonnays. It’s acidic, it’s refreshing. It almost reminded me of dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer, a couple of my favourite white varietals. I’m not really a chardonnay person but I would drink this again.

As for main, it was Slow Cooked Beef Short Ribs. The meat was super tender and it absorbed all the flavours from the sauce. It was accompanied with jasmine rice, winter vegetables and spicy corn salsa.

It’s probably obvious, but the beef short ribs was paired with red wine. And it wasn’t just one red; it was paired with 3 red wines.

Viña Santa Ema Amplus Carmenére ONE 2017 – the crimson coloured Carmenere is usually used in a blend so it’s interesting that it’s a stand-alone wine here. It’s often mistaken as merlot. It has an intense colour with a hint of spice. I’m a huge malbec fan but I quite enjoyed this wine and found it interesting.

Bodegas Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec 2016 – this is 100% malbec, but a blend of grapes from 4 mini regions. It has soft tannins and long finish of red and black fruit. This was my favourite wine at lunch.

Bodega Argento Cabernet Franc Reserva 2016 – it had a grassy, herbaceous note with some deep red fruit finish.

Lastly for dessert, it was Chocolate Mocha Cake with Salted Caramel. It was light, mousse like, almost reminded me of tiramisu. It’s creamy, rich but not overly decadent.

The cake was paired with Achaval-Ferrel Mendoza Malbec 2017. It’s a blend of multiple vineyards in Mendoza. It’s simple yet complex on the palate.

Final Thoughts

Often times people opt for tickets to the tasting room in order to try as many types of wine as possible. Attending wine lunches like this during the wine fest actually allows more face time with the wineries/wine reps, to learn more about each wine and have more time to enjoy the wines, while making sure your belly is full. The ticket was only $89 and I thought it’s great value for the money. Ticket to the tasting room ranges from $84-109, and there’re only snacks provided. Ticket to a wine lunch would make a great gift for wine and food lovers.