Algodon Food, Algodon Wine Update

I am very excited to tell you about Chez Nous’ Algodon Black Label Burger.   It’s dynamite!  Truly.  In fact, it’s worth the trip down to Buenos Aires for this meal alone.  The burger is made using only the highest quality of Certified Black Angus Tenderloin and braised lamb, and includes a very special whisky sauce that is extraordinary.  You have to taste it for yourself.  Algodon Mansion’s Executive Chef Antonio Soriano has done a terrific job with this (as he has with the rest of the menu), and our Black Label Burger is very appropriately named.

At Algodon Wine Estates, Senior Wine Advisor Marcelo Pelleriti has submitted his latest report on our vines since his last recent visit.  Among other things, Marcelo said that the recent work done on the vineyard is really starting to show and that the vines are looking great.  They’ll soon begin the maturity analysis for our white varieties; Semillon, Chenin and Chardonnay.  Our team is also beginning the micro vinification preparation for our 2010 Chardonnay.  Very exciting.

- Scott Mathis

Algodon Wine and Olive Oil

A list of retail locations detailing where you can purchase Algodon Wine is now available on our Algodon Wine website, and I will post it here as well.

We are also now officially selling our award-winning Algodon Extra Virgin Olive Oil at Algodon Wine Estates.  Here is a photo of the new bottles.  

They look great!

Our wine importer also just sold another 100 cases (that’s about 1,000 bottles) of Algodon Wine to a distributor in Texas!  Congratulations, Jomada!

-Scott L. Mathis

Algodon Wine Estates is becoming more of a celebrity every day!

CUISINE & VINS magazine has named Algodon Wine Estates as the Best Real Estate Development in Argentina!  This will appear in an upcoming issue of their magazine that will hit Argentine newsstands soon.  Algodon Wine Estates will also be mentioned in an upcoming issue of Vogue Latin America & Mexico!  A British television show called "A Place in the Sun" was recently filming at Algodon Wine Estates. The program focuses on buying real estate abroad.  We will be featured on their show, and also on their website (www.aplaceinthesun.com).

Our award-winning restaurant at Algodon Wine Estates has now been branded "Chez Gastón", after its talented Executive Chef, Gastón Langlois.  The restaurant continues to be busy, and that no doubt is the result of Gastón’s talents.

-Scott L. Mathis

Algodon Wine is on the right track!

Happy New Year once again, everyone.  I hope your celebrations were enjoyable.

After a recent private tasting, our wine advisor and Master of Wine Anthony Foster shared with us his personal thoughts on our latest 2008 and 2009 vintages.  He says we have some real potential with this year’s vintages, and that some of our wines are “real stars”.  He even recommends submitting two or three of them to international wine competitions in the future, as he feels confident that they will garner accolades.

Here is a preview of our 2008 label designs.  They look great!

We are also all very happy with the hiring of our new wine advisor, Marcelo Pelleriti.  Marcelo recently earned 98 point ratings for wines with which he was associated with (Chateau La Violette and Chateau Le Gay) from Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate.  Marcelo will join our wine panel in the planning and execution of the betterment of our vineyards, harvest and winemaking.

We are on the right track!

-Scott Mathis

New photos and wine package…

I’d like to share some new photos of our hotel lodge at Algodon Wine Estates, which were taken just last week.  These are a few of my favorites:

 

 

 

The weather is pretty incredible in Argentina right now, and this is the hotel’s high season.  If you’re planning a trip to our San Rafael estate, you may be interested in our latest cooking class and tasting seminar:

Algodon Wine Estates Traditional Argentine Cooking Seminar & Wine Tasting

Learn the secrets of traditional Argentine gourmet cuisine from the Chef of our award-winning restaurant in San Rafael, Mendoza.  Algodon Wine Estates provides the ideal setting, as you experience firsthand the cooking techniques associated with the most delicious regional fare from the wine roads of Argentina.  On the “patio criollo,” our outdoor asado, clay oven and grill will serve as your canvas as you learn the art of preparation to the greatest Argentine epicurean delights.  Guided by our gifted culinary artists, this hands-on cooking seminar includes a 2-course meal that is prepared by you, using only the finest local ingredients from our own plantation and those of our neighbors.  The wines of our vineyards and winery are an essential addition to each meal at our estate, and our knowledgeable sommelier will pair your unique meal with the most memorable Algodon Wine. 

If this sounds like it’s up your alley, click here to get more information.

-Scott L. Mathis

Algodon expands its online horizons

Algodon Wine Estates and Bombal & Aldao are mentioned in Lugares, an Argentine travel magazine.  Pick up a copy if you’re down there. 

A friend forwarded this link to me:  a Google book search of Algodon Wine Estates reveals that on page 81 of George M. Taber’s book In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism, Algodon Wine Estates and InvestProperty Group are both mentioned. 

In keeping up with the times, our Algodon Properties now each have their own Facebook pages.  We’ve included some great pictures, so be sure to check out the photo galleries.  If you happen to be on Facebook yourself, by all means “become a fan” of the properties.  

Click here for Algodon Wine Estates on Facebook. 

Click here for Algodon Wines on Facebook. 

Click here for Algodon Mansion on Facebook.  

We’ll be keeping these pages as updated as possible with the latest photos, events, and accolades, so visit them often. 

-Scott Mathis

Algodon all over the Internet

Hot off the presses!  Algodon Wine Estates appears in Time Out Magazine Buenos Aires!  Time Out magazine is one of my favorite travel guides, as it always seems to provide the hippest and most up-to-date hotspots.  You can see our write-up here. 

Algodon Mansion is also mentioned in Incentive online magazine;  “Ideal for high-end executive retreats or as a treat for a top performer, Algodon Mansion opens next month in Buenos Aires, Argentina, joining other top luxury properties (including Alvear Palace and the Park Hyatt’s Palacio Duhau) in the city’s Recoleta neighborhood.”

Incentive has also written up a piece on Algodon Wine Estates Wine Barrel Ownership Program, which you can read about here.  By the way, a personalized barrel form our wine barrel program makes a great holiday, gift so check our website for our special holiday promotion. 

I ran across this article in The National Newspaper online, where José Luis Clerc appears.  Although it’s about a game upset, it’s still nice that he’s mentioned!

If you haven’t visited our DPEC Partners YouTube channel, do so!  Here you’ll find some great video updates of our Algodon Properties! 

Have a great week!

-Scott Mathis

Argentina News and Truffles

I’d hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving! This week I’d just like to share a few news articles with you that I feel are relevant to our projects in Argentina. The first is a Reuters article that predicts a growth in Argentinean tax revenues as a direct result of a forthcoming increase in tourism, which you can read about here: Link (On a similar topic, Reuters also reports that AMEX is expecting credit card spending to increases at least 10% next year as consumer activity rebounds.) You may remember our announcement not too long ago about the possibility of Algodon Wine Estates cultivating truffles. In addition to our unique vineyard or orchard estate homesites available for private development, we would also plant truffles on estate homesites that are suitable for their cultivation. So, I’m pleased to share this recent media mention of our vineyard estate in Luxury Travel Magazine. The article is headlined: “Indulge in Rare Truffles at the World's Most Exclusive Hotels”, and interestingly enough, Algodon Wine Estates is the only hotel mentioned that will cultivate and harvest truffles for use on its own properties; just one more extraordinary element that sets us apart from the rest. Incidentally, CNN has terrific piece on a North Carolina entrepreneur who is the first person to harvest and sell French black truffles on American soil. It can be a lucrative undertaking if done right. Here’s one more great reason to learn Spanish: The "TED Conference" goes to Buenos Aires in April. Catch it if you can. --Scott Mathis

More Algodon in the media!

Algodon Mansion’s Rent the Mansion package is currently being promoted at Affluent Page Luxury Index. “Why share a hotel when you can have the whole thing?” they ask. From their website: Affluent Page Luxury Index is a luxury consumer magazine devoted to marketing luxury brands and upscale services. Published bi-monthly, the magazine is nationally distributed to readers, with a net worth of $10 Million and up.

Algodon Mansion also appears in the October issue of Argentina’s American Express Platinum Card Magazine, which goes out to over 22,000 platinum cardholders.

DPEC Partners also gets a nice independent write-up on investing in Argentina at Nuwireinvestor.com (I’m also interviewed in the article.)

We received more great news for Algodon Wines; our Sales & Marketing Coordinator at Algodon Wine Estates has done an excellent job getting our wines in some very important wine stores in Buenos Aires and beyond. Our label will now be available in “Wine Gallery” wine shop, located at 1780 Montevideo, in Recoleta. That’s just one block from Algodon Mansion. Algodon Wine can also be found at a “Wine Gallery” wine shop at 1811 Av. Cramer, in BA’s Belgrano neighborhood.

In the press last week; Food and Wine magazine announced their list of the best restaurants in Buenos Aires. Let’s get Algodon Mansion’s Chez Nous on this list next year! In sports news; with Del Potro’s Open win a few months back, the Los Angeles Times dubs Argentina the “Cradle of Tennis Stardom”! We always seem to be in the right place at the right time nowadays! Perhaps Algodon Wine Estates' Tennis Center will be the birthplace of talent for future Grand Slam Winners under the guidance and tutelage of, say for example, José Luis Clerc. Very exciting!

--Scott Mathis

2009 is a gold medal year for Algodon Wine Estates!

It’s a great day! As many of you know, after achieving Great Wine Capitals' prestigious 2010 Gold Medal (National Award) for Best Accommodation in early October of this year, our San Rafael wine estate qualified us to advance to the international award competition, which includes participants from eight major global cities in both the northern and southern hemispheres. These cities represent the "Old" and "New" worlds of wine, which (in addition to Mendoza) include Cape Town (South Africa), Florence (Italy), Mainz (Germany), Porto (Portugal), Bilbao-Rioja (Spain), San Francisco-Napa Valley (US), and Bordeaux (France), where this year's ceremony was held. On November 5, 2010 (last night), the international jury awarded the 2010 Global Winners at a distinguished gala dinner held at Château Giscours, Grand Cru Classé de Margaux in Bordeaux.

We are beside ourselves with excitement to relay that at last night’s ceremony ALGODON WINE ESTATES WAS ANNOUNCED THE 2010 GLOBAL WINNER in the Accommodation category for Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism award competition! This of course comes in addition to our (national level) Gold Medal in Accommodation and the (national level) Silver Medal for Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences, which we received for the 3rd year in a row!

Last year’s Global Winner in Accommodation was Château de Carbonneau in Bordeaux, France. For last year’s competition, 384 wineries and wine tourism businesses from the networked cities and their wine regions entered the “Best Of” awards contest. Annual winners retain the right to post plaques on their properties denoting the accolade, and their establishments appear in the following year's Great Wine Capitals Best Of Wine Tourism brochure; a 30-page booklet with listed summaries of winners and a description of their property with 20,000 copies distributed worldwide.

A BIG congratulations to our wonderful and very hardworking staff, without whom all we have is grapes and buildings! This is a tremendous accomplishment for our Algodon properties! Thank you to all who have made this possible, without your confidence and investment we could not have achieved this truly great honor. Have a great day!

Thanks, Scott Mathis

Tennis Anyone?

Lots of media news: Algodon Wine Estates’ “Migration Package” is featured in the November issue of Travel+Leisure Magazine! Their circulation is 957,987! Incredible! We’re also featured here on EliteTraveler.com! Elite Traveler has 649,000 readers per issue in over 100 countries, with an average household income of $5.3 million. Now that is “elite”! Lastly, Forbes Woman Magazine is promoting this special package for us in their publication. Their ad directs readers to our website for a 20% discount and will appear in the December issue of their magazine.

Construction on the mansion is furiously wrapping up to meet our Grand Opening goal date. Algodon Mansion’s General Manager, Pablo Veloso, tells me that the staffing recruitment for the hotel continues and that in just a few weeks the entire staff will be hired and trained. There will be an intensive and thorough 2-week training course for these new employees before any of our guests arrive.

Here’s a recent photo of the tennis center’s progress at Algodon Wine Estates. The photo shows our hardworking maintenance staff as they tend to the huge expanse of the clay courts. The clay court area is so large that our photographer couldn’t fit it all into the frame. It looks fantastic!

As I’m sure many of you have been reading, Argentina is currently in legislation to settle $20 billion of its outstanding bond disputes. This is great news for their economy in my opinion; a successful renegotiation with holders of defaulted debt should create access to international capital markets for the first time since 2001, and will open the door to foreign investment.

Look out- even Wal-Mart is getting into the action of Argentine investments!

Here is an excellent Washing Post article about Nicolás Catena, an Argentine visionary who saw Argentina's potential to produce fine wine. The article dubs him “Argentina’s Ambassador of Wine.” Catena’s is credited as the “founding father of modern Argentine wine”, and as being responsible for having launched Argentina’s wine boom. His significant role in the wine world is further evidenced by Decanter wine magazine’s honoring him as Man of the Year for 2009.

Here’s some very interesting olive oil news; evidently it has just been determined that it may play a factor in preventing Alzheimer’s. Algodon’s gold-medal-winning Extra Virgin Olive Oil isn’t just delicious; it’s also good for you!

One final thought; did you know that the average Argentine eats approximately 163 lbs. of beef every year? That comes out to approximately two McDonald’s Quarter Pounders every day, all year long.

--Scott Mathis

1st Wine Barrel Program Shipment!

This week I’d like to share some photos related to our personalized wine barrel program. The following pictures are from our partnered winery, Bombal & Aldao, where much of our wine is barreled. The personalize vintages of our first wine barrel program (from our 2007-2008 harvest) have officially been sent to barrel owners, who will be receiving their bottles soon. The above photo is of several barrels assigned to, and labeled with the name of, individual barrel owners. Each barrel contains the custom blend or varietal of each individual’s choosing. The next photo gives you an idea of what our cellar looks like. The following photo shows the custom hand-labeling of our barrel program’s bottles. Each label is customized to the specifications of the barrel owner, including their name, design, and any description or text they might want to appear. As a barrel owner myself, I’m personally looking forward to receiving my “Mathis Estates” bottles any day now! Our bi monthly newsletter is due out soon, and it’s packed full of Algodon Property updates. You’ll be very pleased with Gerhard Heusch’s new rendering of the Grand Center Court for Algodon Wine Estates’ tennis center. The one time dream of hosting Mendoza’s top tennis tournament, The Algodon Malbec Classic, is slowly turning into a reality. Look for our latest online issue of The Algodon next week! --Scott Mathis

First Look at the Hard Court and the Rest…

I love this photo…this will truly be a top notch facility. In addition to this hard court, we also have the 8 clay courts and 3 grass courts. The following photo shows how far our clay courts have come in just a few weeks. As you can see, the lights are in, and the chalk lines have been drawn. Amazing.

I haven’t shared the grass court photos yet, as they have been under construction. The only thing the grass courts are waiting on now is the seeding. The bulk of the construction for these grass courts has been the drainage system- a very essential element, obviously. Here’s a photo of where the grass courts stand now.

Here’s a link to WineSur.com’s announcement of the “Best in Wine Tourism Awards”, of which Algodon Wine Estates won the Gold Medal for AWE’s lodging and a Silver Medal for wine tourism related experiences. We look forward to the final round of competition in Bordeaux next month, which we have qualified for. Cross your fingers, our team has been working very hard! And finally, it appears that golf will be returning to the Olympics at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Exciting news for golf enthusiasts! (-Which includes everyone at Algodon Wine Estates!) -- Scott Mathis

This Week’s Roundup of News and Events…

Press, media, and more press! Here is a terrific piece on Algodon Mansion and Algodon Wine Estates from MartiniLife; a daily email newsletter that shares “the best kept secrets in gear, gadgets, fashion, entertainment, food and dining, travel, and a few things that you just can't live without.” Glad to know we’re somewhere on that list! Algodon Wine Estates was also featured in last weekend’s La Nación, one of Argentina’s leading newspapers! Apparently, Clarín is its main competitor. Here is a rough Google translation of the article: Al pie de la Montaña y Viñedos con (At the foot of the mountains and vineyards). We’ve received some new photos this week that I’d like to share. The first is of our new Algodon Wine Estates signage, which we’ve hung on the winery’s exterior. It really looks great. I feel it lends a personalized touch to the structure, which has in many ways become the iconic symbol of the property.

The next photo is of the glass roof for Chez Nous’ outside dining patio. Very nice! I’m looking forward to the evening when guests of the restaurant can dine on its patio and be able to look up and see the stars and Buenos Aires sky. When I was in Paris on business last weekend, I was invited to an interesting, analogous property to Algodon Mansion, called Pershing Hall. It’s similar to our Buenos Aires hotel in many ways and apparently, it’s a very successful operation. At 350 sq ft, some of their suites are significantly smaller than ours; however they’re getting 500 Euros a night for those. Their top suite is 700 sq ft and it goes for about 1,000 Euros. Their restaurant is one of the most popular in Paris. Here’s an article from the Washington Business Journal (via the Pittsburgh Business Times) headlined Argentina’s travel industry provides business and leisure. The article talks about what a hotspot Argentina is right now, and its growing appeal to Americans. That’s no news to us! Lastly, in economic news, Argentine will reportedly pay off its Paris Club debt over the next five years. --Scott Mathis

Algodon in the Media, del Potro, and More…

Algodon Mansion gets a nice mention in this month’s Delta Sky Magazine! The write-up acknowledges our restaurant, menu, and accompanying estate-grown Malbec. Although, the restaurant details are a bit outdated…we’re happy to have made an appearance. Delta Sky Magazine reaches 5 million readers each month! Algodon Wine Estates is also featured in Area 3 Magazine, a widely distributed publication in Mendoza. The article, which discusses our newly established international wine panel, is unfortunately not online yet- but I’ll be sure to share it with you once it’s up. In the meantime, here’s a scanned photo from the magazine’s hardcopy.

Score another one for the Argentines! Juan Martin del Potro’s U.S. Open win was a surprise to us all, but I’m not complaining! Argentina is everywhere is sports news these days, and that only means good things for Algodon Wine Estates & Champions’ Club! Our new tennis courts and newly expanded 18-hole golf course are literally weeks away from being ready to play. I wonder how del Potro feels about San Rafael, perhaps we’ll see him at Argentina’s first Algodon Malbec Classic!…In other sports news, Argentina’s Rugby team, Los Pumas, have been invited to join the Southern Hemisphere’s Tri Nations. If everything goes according to the plan, Tri Nations will become “Four Nations” in 2012. While we haven’t any immediate plans to construct a Rugby field at Algodon Wine Estates, you never know what the future holds…2016 perhaps?

Our Executive VP & CFO is in Buenos Aires this week and sent the following email to us soon after his arrival: “I only had a couple of minutes today to see the Mansion, but WOW – it’s a MANSION - it just looks fantastic. A person working on every corner, and the progress is enormous. The stairs are in and some of the rooms are basically finished (without furniture). The kitchen crew is working in the kitchen and the light-well is truly the “show-off” center piece. No doubt we still have a lot of work ahead, but things look great. The master suite bathrooms are enormous and the quality is 100%.” He also sent us some new photo updates from Algodon Wine Estates, including this one of the tennis courts, which by the way are looking tremendous. Thanks for the update, Tim!

-- Scott Mathis

Argentine Interview, AM Update, More Media, and Wine News…

I hope everyone had a memorable Memorial Day weekend! For those Spanish speakers (or Google Translate aficionados) check out our interview with Los Andes online published this week (the interview can also be found at AreadelVino.com). Los Andes newspaper is a huge publication, analogous to the New York Times of Mendoza. In the interview we discuss among other things our Algodon Wine, a bit of our history, and the fact that we’ve already invested approximately $25 million in our Argentine properties. The interviewer also touches on the world-wide economic downturn and its effect on real estate developments. I have always been very clear about my optimism regarding the future of Argentine real estate, and that I believe in the importance of diversifying personal investments outside of the U.S. economy and the U.S. dollar. In one of my favorite exchanges, the interviewer asks to what extent our Argentine developments have been affected by the economic crisis:

Question: Did you have to lay off any staff due to the (economic) crisis? Answer: Actually we hired nine people in Buenos Aires for the mansion; a luxury hotel with a restaurant, bar, and wine cave- and two others for the hotel in Mendoza.

Gerhard Heusch emailed me this morning and once again confirmed that the scheduled Algodon Mansion opening date is still intact. They’re working very hard down there, and the work is going fast!

Algodon Wine Estates gets a tremendous write-up from Jim Bryant for Chicago’s (metro area) “Quintessential Barrington” lifestyle magazine. Mr. Bryant’s glowing descriptions of our estate, our wine, our amenities, and San Rafael- go beyond terrific. He also very favorably mentions our partners at Bombal & Aldao and Finca los Alamos.

In other wine news, The LA Times published an interesting article titled Findings of wine contest study hard for critics to swallow. From the article; “…consumers should not always assume that gold medal winners are outstanding wines…retired Cal State Humboldt professor Robert Hodgson said he looked at the results for more than 4,000 wines entered in 13 U.S. competitions in 2003 and found little consistency in what wines won gold medals.” Our Master of Wine, Antony Foster, followed up on this in an email to me. For the most part, he indicated that he’s in agreement with the article, and that he thinks it would be in our best interest to enter our wines in reputable competitions run under international rules. Good advice.

--Scott Mathis

Algodon Wine Sales, Our Neighbors, and a Gold Medal!

Our Chicago area wines sales are looking good. This week I spoke to our Midwest distributer, Jomada Imports, and was told that we’re selling on average 150 cases (12 pack) of Algodon wines on a monthly basis…that’s 1,800 bottles a month. That’s a nice start considering that Algodon Wines are new to the US market and its consumers. Keep up the good work Jomada!

Our neighbor next door to the Algodon Mansion recently finished some exterior construction. It looks good and is a big improvement on what was there previously.

Big olive oil news! Diego Coll Benegas, Algodon Wine Estates’ Director of Project Development, Tourism & Hospitality, just emailed me to say that Algodon Olive Oil won the gold medal in a national competition hosted in Buenos Aires this week. Our gold medal was for the “blended” category. That’s exciting news. I’ve had the olive oil myself, and I have to say that a gold medal comes as no surprise to me. I guess we’ll have to reprint our olive oil’s bottle labels to include: “Argentine judges agree: Algodon Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best!” We will be serving Algodon Olive Oil at Algodon Mansion.

--Scott Mathis

Algodon Pool Tiles, Clerc for ESPN’s Open Coverage, and Media Mentions…

Get ready for blue tiles and sun- and bring your bathing suits! Algodon Mansion’s rooftop pool will soon be ready! We just received a very special shipment of SICIS mosaic tile, which has been imported from Italy, and our contractors will immediately begin laying the surfacing tile. We’ve all been looking forward to this stage of construction on our roof, as it’s the literal icing-on-top. Algodon Mansion’s pool terrace will also feature teak decks and poolside loungers, as well as an intimate open-air bar and lounge.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love tennis, so it will come as no surprise that I am excited about the US Open here in New York. Even more so because our own José Luis Clerc (Algodon Wine Estates’ Ambassador & Director of the Clerc Tennis Academy) will be covering play-by-play analysis for the Spanish-speaking audiences of ESPN International and ESPN Deportes. Algodon properties gets yet another media mention; Examiner.com’s J.S. Fletcher has given both Algodon Mansion and Algodon Wine Estates a nice write up in this week’s issue, which you can check out here.

In wine news, WineSur.com reported this week that Malbec exports have increased significantly this year. We already know this, of course, because we’ve been hearing about it for the last six months; however WineSur provides a chart detailing Malbec’s major importers. The U.S. is in first place with a whopping 52% of the pie chart.

--Scott Mathis

Tennis Courts, AM staff, Chez Nous…

We’re seeing some great progress on the courts! They’re ready for play, and as you can see from the photo, they just need a net and some fences. The Algodon Malbec Classic, hosted at Algodon Wine Estates of course, is not far off…

Algodon Mansion is also really looking great; I was down there last week. Our management team did a great job of interviewing candidates for the hotel and kitchen. Some of our new hires are from one of my favorite hotels in Recoleta. This is an experienced group that will represent Algodon Mansion well.

I spoke with nearly everyone here and we have all decided to rename (or name; since we never officially decided on one) the mansion’s restaurant to “CHEZ NOUS,” which means “OUR PLACE” in French. Our Buenos Aires crew really likes it and how it works with the property and the concept! The menu at CHEZ NOUS is complete as well, and I believe everyone will love it. We are currently having an English translation of the menu prepared, which we’ll share as soon as it’s finished.

All in all, there has been substantial progress on Algodon Mansion. With most of the larger projects complete, we are now primarily just working on the little details. Everyone down there is working very well together, and they (as much as us in New York) are all very excited to see the finish line and a finished product in the very near future...

The Argentine Post directs us to a nostalgic YouTube video of Argentina’s early years. The 1932 travel newsreel is a classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presentation. As I was watching the video, it struck me that this was the same period in time when José Jurado was first making a name for himself in the international golf world.

--Scott Mathis

Louis Vuitton, New Cigar Bar, and Canned Truffles…

As I mentioned in my editorial from the most recent “The Algodon” newsletter (and it certainly bears repeating here), Louis Vuitton and Algodon Mansion will be partnering in a joint marketing campaign of sorts, where the French fashion designer will organize a celebrity photo shoot in one of Algodon Mansion's Algodon Royale Suites. We are also scheduled to host private showroom events for Louis Vuitton’s “top buyers” in our restaurant, and possibly in our suites, in the future. We’re very excited to be working with such an esteemed name and talent, and we hope this is the beginning of a lasting relationship.

Evidently the Alvear Palace is opening its own cigar bar. What a great idea; the more the merrier, I say. This beautiful hotel is Algodon Mansion’s neighbor; it is a Buenos Aires staple and has a great reputation of high-end elegance and sophistication. It represents the kind of old-school luxury and hospitality that is so popular in Europe, and which is also very indicative of Recoleta.

With all the Algodon Wine Estates truffle news in recent days, I was happy to stumble upon this consumer website from a Beverly Hills retailer of truffle and gourmet products. This 7 oz. can of truffles retails for $57 USD. That’s not even for fresh truffles; it’s for canned truffles. I think we’re headed in the right direction…

The Financial Times published a great travel piece titled Old Europe in Buenos Aires, which covers a host of tourism attractions and historic places you may be familiar with from visiting there yourself. From the article; “I think Buenos Aires must be the last remaining European city,” a Viennese friend once remarked. Time and distance have left people here with hazy romantic memories of the Europe they left behind.

--Scott Mathis

Mansion Lightwell, Jurado Memorabilia, & Other News…

I received some great photo updates from Pedro Lagleyze (Algodon Mansion’s Construction & Project Manager) recently, including the following shot of the six-story glass partition in the lightwell that descends to the lobby:

In late November (around the time of Algodon Mansion’s Grand Opening), La Indiana Polo Club will host a post-tournament awards and dinner at the mansion’s restaurant, and cocktails will be served at the rooftop pool bar. This particular tournament is called the J.M Baillieu Cup and it coincides with the Argentine Open. We’ll be having a very busy holiday season this year.

Our Manhattan office recently acquired an authentic “International Newsreel” photograph from 1931 of the Prince of Wales and José Jurado. The gentleman were close friends and known golfing compatriots. José Jurado’s grandson originally developed our San Rafael golf course and winery before it became Algodon Wine Estates. Jurado is hailed as the “Father of Argentine Professional Golf”, and is perhaps best known for his losing stroke to Tommy Armour at the 1931 British Open. His famous double bogey was at Carnoustie Golf Club's 17th hole, and is reproduced on Algodon Wine Estates’ course. Jurado appears in the photo on the far right, and the Prince is next to him:

A caption typed on the back of the photo says; “With a matching beret, the Prince of Wales is shown spending his first day back in England, on the Golf Links at Sunningdale. He played with the Argentine Professionals who are in England to take part in the British Golf Championships.” We will most likely be displaying this photo in the new clubhouse.

Bloomberg.com is reporting that Argentina seeks to return to global markets this year after making $2.25 billion in interest payments. “It’s very important to fulfill our obligations, pay the debt so that the country can return to global credit markets before year-end,” Economy Minister Amado Boudou said. Good news for Argentina.

--Scott Mathis

Organic wine, Olive Oil, Grass Courts, and Hitting the Slopes

According to WineSur.com, Argentine organic wines are growing in popularity. In case you missed our last newsletter, Algodon Wine Estates has set aside 2.1 acres of Malbec vineyards and 2.1 acres of Bonarda vineyards for organic treatment. Organic certification for these vineyards won’t be achieved for three years; however it is yet another income-generating and value-building aspect of our versatile wine estate.

Diego Coll Benegas (Algodon Wine Estates’ Director of Project Development, Tourism & Hospitality) wrote me today to tell me that our olive oil is bottled! I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying it while dining at the estate’s award-winning restaurant; it is truly delicious and is the perfect complement to our wines. The new Algodon Olive Oil labels look great as well. I hope we can show them to you in the next newsletter, which is due out in just a few weeks.

I’ve been in conversations with our design architect, Gerhard Heusch, regarding a new design for Algodon Wine Estates’ entrance/gate in the next phase of construction. I like the idea of incorporating, or rather I’m inspired by, the conceptual design of a traditional Argentine Estancia. My feeling is that this will give the entrance a warm and welcoming aesthetic. Once we have some preliminary sketches, I’ll be sure to share them with you. Also, as construction on our tennis courts continues, we decided to add one more grass court (at no significant added expense), which will give us a total of three grass courts. Had we decided to only construct two, we already would have been highly regarded as an important tennis destination. Three grass courts just ups-the-ante; as we will be the only three-court facility in all of Argentina.

The Argentine Post has an informative piece on skiing in Argentina. Although Bariloche is featured in the article, Las Leñas is also mentioned. As you may already know, Las Leñas, one of the best ski resorts on the continent, is just a 2 hour drive from Algodon Wine Estates. Something to keep in mind when planning your next trip to Mendoza!

Tennis court photo update!

I’d like to share a letter I received last week from Algodon Wine Estates’ Director of Finance and Administration, Rubén Barsamian. Rubén’s been doing a great job in San Rafael pushing the tennis construction forward. Here’s his photo update regarding the tennis courts:

“Scott,

Attached I'm sending updated photos of the tennis center construction. The first one corresponds to the twin clay courts to the west, covered with chipped brick:”

“The second picture shows the already leveled site for the four clay courts that will be built next to the first two. There the bricks have to be placed and leveled and the retaining wall needs to be constructed:”

“The third photo shows the single clay court to the east, near the golf fairway:”

Muchas gracias, Señor Rubén. What a great partner we have in Buenos Aires. Without his steadfast force and direction, we would not be seeing such great forward movement. Our construction team has also finished work on the new canal:

Algodon Wine Estates was featured recently in Los Andes newspaper, which may perhaps be described as the “New York Times” of Mendoza. Check it out even if you don’t read Spanish; there are a few corresponding photos…

--Scott Mathis

Algodon Mansion update, and wine tours

We received a nice Algodon Mansion update from Pedro Lagleyze this week. Some of the highlights include; the installation of the mirrored televisions in the bathrooms; the installation of the lightwell waterfall now that the six-story glass partition has been put up (see last week’s entry); finishing up painting in several suites; and nearly all of the kitchen equipment has been installed. Here’s a photo of the glass ceiling which will cover the outside patio in the dining room:

It looks great. We’re just waiting for the aluminum finishing for it to be complete.

The Wall Street Journal gives its readers some ideas of what to do for summer vacation. Titled “Camps for Grown Ups”, one of their recommendations is to attend a summer Wine Camp in Long Island. The camp “covers the topics of vineyard work, the terroir of Long Island, chemistry of winemaking, blending, and food and wine pairing.” This sounds like our own guided tours and tasting seminars at Algodon Wine Estates. Ours include wine descriptions, terminology and practices. People who take our tour get a detailed tutorial regarding vineyards, planting methods, irrigation, climate, and the manual labor involved in maintaining a successful winery. In fact, if the weather is nice on that day, you can even pick your own grapes. The tasting seminars always end with a platter of smoked cuts, artisan cheeses and olives.

By the way, I’d like to wish everyone here in the U.S. a very happy 4^th of July! Have a great weekend.

--Scott Mathis

Truffles, and a lot of press for AWE!

Our bimonthly newsletter came out this week, and if you’ve already checked it out you will have noticed the introduction to our newest potential asset to Algodon Wine Estates; the cultivation of black and white truffles. We’ll have more information on this as the summer progresses, but in the meantime we’re very excited about the prospect and what it could mean for our estate. I believe we’ve already created an extraordinarily unique and very valuable development there in San Rafael, Mendoza, and recent details such as bottling our own estate-grown extra virgin olive oil, cultivating truffles, making some incredible vintages and providing super-recreational championship golf, tennis, and polo only serves to create even more value in worth as well as in reputation.

Also this week, Algodon gets even more full page write ups; this time in the latest issue of Unique Homes magazine. Titled On Location: The Next Napa Valley. It’s available on your local newsstand, open to page 42! Algodon Mansion also appears at the bottom of the page. Unique Homes magazine focuses on luxury real estate, and targets high-end consumers and sellers. It has a circulation of over 70,000 readers and topics covered include “European castles, oceanfront contemporaries, world-class resort properties and luxurious hideaways.” Algodon Wine Estates is also currently featured on the Elite Traveler website, which receives approximately 80,000 hits per month. We also appear in the newsstand copy of the magazine, which has a circulation of 135,000. They focus on luxury travel and target affluent readers throughout the U.S., so this is another great outlet for Algodon! In just a few weeks we’ll be appearing in United Airlines’ in-flight Hemispheres Magazine which has a print run of 250,000, with a readership of 7.5 million! That’s an incredible number! And last but not least, we also appear in 944 Magazine (circulation: 245,000!) on newsstands now. 944 focuses on fashion, entertainment and luxury lifestyles, with separate editions in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Orange County, Phoenix, San Diego and San Francisco. Topics covered include health, fitness, nightlife, restaurants, latest styles and trends, music, art, film, interior design and travel. This has been an amazing month in the media for us!

In other news, Harpers Wine & Spirit online magazine tells us that Argentine wine exports are up in volume and value. That great news in today’s economic climate! Of course, Malbec is the most exported varietal accounting for a hefty 28% of the volume.

--Scott Mathis

Algodon Wine Estates updates, and other news…

Here is a preview of what our tennis courts may look like after construction is completed in just a few short months. I came across this photo in my email archives, and wanted to share it. These courts were built by the same contractors who are currently building ours. It’s exciting to try and picture. Obviously ours will look even better than this with our Grand Center Court that seats nearly 700 people and is sunken into the ground for panoramic views from above. We’ll also have 8 clay courts, 2 grass courts, and 1 hard court.

Rubén Barsamian sent me the next photo earlier in the week. It shows one of our contractors leveling the courts. As I may have mentioned before, except for the Grand Center Court, as of today the land has all been leveled:

I also received photo updates on the two new reservoirs on our (recently expanded) golf course this week. Here you can see that they have lined the pond in anticipation for its filling:

Very exciting, and all of this will only add even more value to our already remarkable estate.

Earlier this week the New York Times ran this piece on the revitalization of the Barracas barrio in Buenos Aires. This neighborhood is experiencing “spillover rejuvenation from neighboring Puerto Madero and San Telmo, two areas that have benefited from a rise in tourism and a real estate boom. Barracas, near the city’s old ports, means barracks or warehouses. Long since abandoned, many warehouses are being renovated into luxury housing…” Sounds like the “Soho effect”. I’d be curious to know if the article had any immediate impact on real estate sales for the area. I’m betting it did…

--Scott Mathis

Polo, Dakar, GM bailout, and Art…

Hola! Nacho Figueras explains the rules of polo in Vanity Fair Magazine. In case you don’t know, Nacho is synonymous with Argentina polo. Nacho was recently our guest for a wine tasting and cocktail reception at Algodon Mansion. (pictured from left to right: Nacho Figueras, Me, Luisa Aldao, German Neuss, Camilo Aldao, and Nacho’s lovely wife Delfina):

Last weekend he and Great Britain’s Prince Harry played the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic, a celebrity attended charity match at New York’s Governors’ Island. The competing teams were Black Watch and Sentebale, and the British team won 6-5. This brings to mind the construction of Algodon Wine Estates’ own twin polo fields scheduled for completion next year. Polo is very big in Argentina, and our Champions’ Club will feature only the best of these types of facilities.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Dakar Rally will return to Argentina in 2010. The map of next year’s route is now available online, and it indeed runs right through San Rafael! What a great publicity and promotional opportunity for the city, and in turn Algodon Wine Estates. As you can imagine, the hotel was also fully booked when the rally came through earlier this year.

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announces that the country will use $70 million of nationalized pension funds to provide General Motors (Argentine unit) with a loan to help the automaker finish work on a new car model. Finally, here’s a CNN video link to a report on the Buenos Aires International Art Fair (aka “ArteBA”), which has been called “the hottest art event on the planet”. One gallery owner interviewed explains how the combination of Argentina’s weak peso and the world-wide economic downturn is presenting lucrative opportunities for the county’s artists. Evidently savvy international collectors have realized that Argentina offers world-class pieces of art for unheard-of prices, and they are loading up on these great deals. That’s called “getting in when the getting is good” and similarly-minded people are doing the same with real estate there, obviously.

--Scott Mathis