A Buenos Aires food and wine tour, glass by glass

The national government tells the Malbec story plainly. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento brought the grape from France, where it was used mainly for blending, and in Argentina it adapted quickly with excellent results.⁹ Today the city tourism board notes that many call it the national wine, and that 86% of it is concentrated in Mendoza.³

Argentina ranks fifth among the world's wine producers, according to the national government.¹⁰ Winemaking reaches 19 provinces, which explains why a wine list in Buenos Aires can move from the Andes foothills to Patagonia in a few lines.¹¹ Decree 1800, signed on 24 November 2010, declared wine the national drink, and that date is now celebrated as the Day of Argentine Wine.¹

A law followed in 2013, Law 26.870, to spread the culture of making and drinking Argentine wine.² Asking for a Malbec in Buenos Aires is therefore no tourist cliché: it is ordering the country's own drink, by law. The city board suggests it with grilled meat or a cheese board with roquefort, which tells you how flexible it is at the table.¹²

The other drink you will meet is Fernet. City tourism tells visitors who want to blend in to order Fernet, a bitter spirit topped up with cola and loved by late-night crowds.¹⁷ It is an acquired taste, strongly herbal, and usually poured long over ice. Try it once at a bar rather than on a tasting walk, where it would overpower the food.

Buenos Aires also has a serious cocktail scene. For cocktails, the city points to Palermo, Retiro and Recoleta; for wine bars and craft beer, add San Telmo and Caballito to Palermo and Recoleta.²¹ Bars come alive from 10pm and clubs only from around 2am.²² A food tour in the afternoon leaves the evening free for one of these.

Beer drinkers have plenty of choice in the same districts. The city board notes a wave of craft beer halls in Palermo, San Telmo, Caballito and Recoleta, where the favourite order is a cold pint with fries topped with cheese and bacon.²³ Palermo is the obvious base for that kind of evening, since its streets combine the bars and the late kitchens in a few blocks.

A seated tasting is the way to learn the grapes properly. In Palermo, a Malbec-focused session pours for 1.5 hours with local nibbles, costs from $54 and runs whatever the weather. A hotel wine bar in Palermo hosts tastings for 8 guests at most, from $60. Its cellar is down a narrow staircase with no lift, and its listing advises against the visit for children or anyone with limited mobility.

In San Telmo, a tasting of wines from the north to the south of the country runs 1 to 3 hours, from $67. It is held in the cellar of a tango house on Peru street, sets a minimum drinking age of 18 and asks for smart dress, with no jeans, sportswear or sneakers. Bring proper shoes and a collar if that one is on your list.

For vineyards, you have to leave the city. A winery excursion beyond the city limits fills 7 hours with a tasting, a lunch and a hotel pickup in the central barrios, priced from $169. With 221 reviews, it is a tested way to see where wine comes from without flying to Mendoza. Combine it with a food walk on another day and you have a full Buenos Aires food and wine tour of your own.