29
Sep

Tasting Limited Edition “Vinos Mexico 2010″ – Puebla, Mexico

Posted on September 29th, 2010 :: Posted in Alcoholic Beverage, Boutique Hotel, City, Mexico

Last night we got lucky. After enjoying our very first Chiles en Nogada (a delicious seasonal regional specialty) at his acclaimed hotel and restaurant, Mesón Sacristía de la Compañía, owner and director Leobardo Espinosa invited us to join him at a private tasting of a very special wine.

As usual in Mexico, we are so glad we said yes.

Less than a year ago Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderón decided it would be a great idea for many of Mexico’s wineries to get together and produce some special blends as commemorative bicentennial wines. President Calderón likes wine and has even been credited with ditching the Spanish wines historically served on the Presidential plane and replacing them with Mexican wines. Bravo.

Anyway, a group of 21 wineries, large and small, from across Mexico ultimately took up the President’s challenge and they worked fast and furious over the next few months to procure juice from 2008 and 2009 vintages, then blend it into three special bottles. We are familiar with a few of the wineries, but many participants were new to us. The list includes: Adobe Guadalupe, Bibayoff Vinos, Bodega la Redonda, Bodega Roganto, Bodegas Ferrino, Bodegas San Rafael, Bodegas Santo Tomas (one of our favorites), Casa Madero (the oldest winery in The Americas), Casa Pedro Domecq, Cavas Freixenet de Mexico, Chateau Camou, Moebius, Monte Xanic (another favorite), Valmar, Villa Montefiori, Vinicola San Patricio, L.A. Cetto, Vinos Tanama, Vina de Liceaga, Vinedos Aldo Cesar Palafox and Vinedos Azteca.

Together they created three limited edition wines called Vinos Mexico 2010 to commemorate the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence from Spain: one vino blanco Elite, one vino tinto Elite and one vino tinto Premium. The wines were unveiled last night at Restaurant La Noria, a swanky eatery in a former hacienda in a swanky suburb of Puebla during a formal private tasting sponsored by Vineria, the big wine distributor in Puebla. Sophisticated wine writers, hoteliers, wine club members, restauranteurs (and lucky us), got to taste the Elite blanco and the Elite tinto (red).

Mexico Bicentennial wines

The white Elite–a blend of chardonnay, chenin blanc, colombard and sauvignon blanc–starts with a bracing pucker, has a nice green nose and finishes with a lot of oak. There’s also a lot of honeysuckle which starts out lively but bloats at the finish. It’s a bit all over the map, but the effect is pleasing. The wine, made with juice from seven different wineries, improved substantially when poured very cold and it was very good with food–particularly the ultra-fresh ceviche we had to nibble on.

The red Elite is a mind (and palate) boggling blend of 13 varietals including barbera, cabernet-franc, cabernet-sauvignon, carinena, grenache, malbec, merlot, mision, petite syrah, ruby cabernet, sangiovese, syrah and tempranillo. Phew. Really, the task of blending so many different types of grapes from 13 different wineries into a complex wine is nearly impossible. What the winemakers did accomplish is the creation of a very easy to drink, no-brainer, light-bodied red that makes a good alternative to rose and would make an excellent base for sangria.

At 212 pesos (around US$17) for the Elite white and the Elite red and 400 pesos (around US$32) for the Premium red (which we did not get to taste) the wines are priced to try–and you really can’t beat the story behind their creation.

Our home base for this event was La Purificadora hotel where we spruced ourselves up in the solid alabaster shower (yes, even the floor is made from alabaster) and got our fancy clothes back into presentable shape (it’s not easy carting around cocktail party duds in the back of a truck).

Part of Grupo Habita (which readers of this blog already know we love), La Purificador is a favored haunt of politicians and movie stars (there were literally paparazzi stalking famous fellow diners during breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant this morning) and the sleek/chic atmosphere got us in just the right mood for the sophisticated and elite tasting.

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27
Sep

Taco Taste Test – Mexico City

Posted on September 27th, 2010 :: Posted in Blog Carnival, City, Food & Drink, Mexico

This post is part 5 of 5 in the series Mexico City

Tacos are everywhere in Mexico and we’ve eaten more than we can count in the 16 months our Journey has spent here. But there’s something about the pace (need to grab a quick bite on my way to a meeting) and the coolness (need a snack before/during/after a night out) of Mexico City that is uniquely suited to tacos. Result? The town is lousy with taco joints.

Before we get a tidal wave of territorial taco tirades from folks who believe that they (and only they) know where to find the best tacos in Mexico’s capital city let us say one thing: this is not intended to be the last word on Mexico City tacos. Heaven forbid.

Okay, this taco stand is NOT in Mexico City (it's in Tuxtla Guitierrez), but we love the sense of humor in the name.

This is merely our take on the tastiest tacos we’ve tasted in Mexico City (so far) at places that are not mobile street vendors. Here we’ve focused on another level of tacos—one where there are tables and chairs and a permanent location and a cadre of loyal diners. For its combination of value, tastiness and sheer entertainment we prefer Los Paisas, but you be the judge…

A stack of el pastor meat on the spit--El Tizoncito in Mexico City claims to have invented this style of taco.

Name: El Tizoncito

Neighborhood: Condessa (though there are outposts across the city and across Mexico)

Vibe: Holier than thou. This place (the original installment of a chain) claims to have invented the ubiquitous tacos al pastor and its unique method of slowly grilling a cone-shaped stack of meat on a vertical rotating spit (like a gyro). This is like opening up a snack shop in Chicago and saying you invented hot dogs.

Strong suit: Um…

Insider tip: The al pastor tacos at El Tizoncito come with a fairly goopy, slightly sweep sauce on them—something we’ve never seen on any other tacos al pastor and which we do not generally consider a plus.

La cuenta: The al pastor tacos at El Tizoncito were, by far, the most expensive we’ve ever had and really nothing special. In the end, we felt like we were paying for their claim to fame as the inventors.

And this isn't even a particularly busy day at Taqueria Los Paisas in Mexico City.

Name: Taqueria Los Paisas

Neighborhood: On the ddge of the Centro Historic

Vibe: Working man—and it’s always packed with working men and working women. Though there is a long comunal table with stools, be prepared for standing room only and join the crowd on the sidewalk.

Strong suit: A bar of DIY taco toppings which include grilled cactus, chunky potato salad and plump beans in addition to the usual salsas and limes. Pile on as much as you want. The handmade tortillas score points too.

Insider tip: The mustachioed grill master loves to practice his English and show off his considerable taco tossing skills. Smile at him and he’ll give you a goofy show.

La cuenta: 12 pesos (about $1.00) for a huge and hearty taco filled with thin slices of beef bursting at the seams with all the toppings you want. Tacos al pastor and chorizo tacos are even more affordable.

The goofy grill master at Los Paisas puts on a show as he cooks up your food.

Name: Taqueria El Farolito

Neighborhood: Condesa (though there are other outposts around the city)

Vibe: Jealous. It’s just not as cool as El Califa (see below) which is right across the street.

Strong suit: They serve their tacos with two tortillas so you can split up the ample fillings and their beef tacos come with the meat conveniently chopped for less-messy eating.

Insider tip: Our friend Crispin, who used to live and work in this neighborhood, swears by the tacos Campechano with special sauce here.

La cuenta: At 18 pesos for an al pastor taco and 34 pesos (nearly $US2.75) for a beef taco this place is on the pricey side, even for a fancy sit down taco joint in a hip neighborhood.

Name: Taqueria El Califa

Neighborhood: Condesa (though there are other outposts around the city)

Vibe: The model moms, hipster students and other so-called “Califans” seem to be saying “We’re only here to fuel up on our way to (or from) somewhere even cooler.”

Strong suit: All staff members wear black t-shirts with cool graphic representations of their jobs. The delivery guys’ shirts , for example, have stylized moto-scooters on them. Some of the waiters shirts have a classic waiter’s apron printed along the bottom. Other waiters wear a great t-shirt that says “Gringa” on the top (referencing a popular type of snack) over a picture of a buxom, half-clad American pin-up. Also, El Califa also provides a tower of salsas, tasty re-fried beans and fresh tortilla chips on the table.

Insider tip: They’ll deliver (even to your hotel) until 4 am and the place is a convivial mob scene on Sunday afternoons.

La cuenta: Their copyrighted beef “Gaona’s” tacos are 38 pesos (without cheese) but we thought the common, everyday, non-copyrighted bistek (beef steak) tacos were tastier and they were more reasonable at 22 pesos (about US$1.70) and their tasty al pastor tacos were just 11 pesos.

This post is part of the Lonely Planet BlogSherpa Travel Blog Carnival hosted this time by Kat over at Tie Dye Travel. The Carnival is hosted every two weeks by a BlogSherpa member. The topic this time is Food Around the World.

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23
Sep

Big Bicentennial Bash (Best-Of) – Mexico City, Mexico

Posted on September 23rd, 2010 :: Posted in Events, Fireworks, Mexico, Parade, video

This post is part 4 of 4 in the series Mexican Bicentennial

Yeah, yeah. Mexico’s got some world-class problems on its plate at the moment. But sometimes troubled times are the best times to throw a world-class party–it distracts the collective consciousness from the negative and pays due respect to the positive.

And so it was in Mexico this past week as the people marked 200 years of independence from Spain with celebrations that honored the past and, we hope, emboldened many Mexicans to face the future with the power of pride.

We were lucky enough to be part of the goings-on in Mexico City and here we present some of our Best-Of moments from the parade, the crowd, President Felipe Calderón’s ode to the Grito de Dolores (watch our video) all the way to the mind-blowing spectacle of the finale fireworks (watch our video).

Check out our video compiled while we walked through the performers and the crowds across Mexico City and then from the press box in the Zócalo on the night of September 15, 2010, followed by photos of key moments from the festivities.

Eerie Dia del Muerto (Day of the Dead) figures in the parade down Avenida de la Reforma in Mexico City marking the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

Women representing the colorful arts-and-crafts culture in Mexico march in the parade down Avenida de la Reforma in Mexico City marking the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

Mexico-Bicentennial-Aztec-dancers-parade

Dancers in Aztec costumes march in the parade down Avenida de la Reforma in Mexico City marking the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

A woman representing the colorful arts-and-crafts culture in Mexico march in the parade down Avenida de la Reforma in Mexico City marking the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

Larger-than-life Zapatistas march in the parade down Avenida de la Reforma in Mexico City marking the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

When we saw our first bicentennial countdown clock in Mexico it showed more than 600 days until the celebrations. Here's what the clock said as we entered the Zócalo.

The Presidential Palace on the Zócalo all dressed up for the bicentennial party.

The Zócalo, Mexico City's main plaza, was decorated from tip to toe.

A float version of the sacred serpent Kulkukan entering the Zócalo during celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

The parade even took to the sky with this floating Angel of Independence.

This gold and silver inflated dragon reminded us of the floats above the streets of Manhattan during the Thanksgiving Day Parade, only better.

The Coloso, that huge man standing by the flagpole, was not our favorite part of the party but he does represent the strength of the nation.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón waving the flag after a rousing ode to Hidalgo's 200-year-old grito.

VIPs packed the balconies of the Presidential Palace including (from mid left) crooner Vicente Fernandez (white hair), the new Miss Universe Mexican model Ximena Navarrete (in the sash) and in the blue mask, Lucha Libre icon the Blue Demon Jr.

Mexico-Bicentennial-Fire-Presidential-Palace

As a warm up to the fireworks, the Presidential Palace roof was turned into a stage for choreographed fire balls.

A massive fireworks display over the Zócalo in Mexico City marked the end of a night spent celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

A massive fireworks display over the Zócalo in Mexico City marked the end of a night spent celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.

A massive fireworks display over the Zócalo in Mexico City marked the end of a night spent celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain.