Entries by jen

For people like me (project managers), unexpected project changes can be painful, causing us to grit our teeth and begin throwing out terms like "scope creep," "change control," and "risk mitigation." J. and I had a very clear plan upon arriving in Argentina,which was to to focus on small, undiscovered wineries not yet exporting to the US and introduce these hidden gems to our friends back home. Upon settling in here, we've realized that most-if-not-all of the better wineries in Mendoza are already exporting their wines to the US. This throws our original plan out of the window and caused a few sleepless nights for this project manager! Fortunately, I've spent so many years married to an entrepreneur that I've learned how to think like one, and we've shifted the focus of our business to align with a few of the opportunities present in front of us and are now implementing a new and improved business plan.

We've found that spending some time to understand the business environment and the culture has been critical in shaping our business into one that fits the business needs here, rather than one that looks great on paper. An example of this is that leaving a day-long seminar defining the American market for Argentine winemakers, we realized that many of the "experts" in Argentina rely upon outdated data and are sharing conclusions with winemakers that won't help the winemakers sell their products to Californians. We chatted about what a dis-service this is doing to the small producers trying to export their wines, and noted that the scarcity of local expertise on what Californian wine drinkers want hurts the small family business the most, as they don't have a team of people analyzing various markets.

Upon reflection, we realized that within our small family we have 20 years of consulting experience, a master's degree, an internationally recognized wine accreditation, great people skills (mostly Siena, but J too!) and experience managing at least four businesses and a cafe. We have friends in prestigious restaurants, wine shops, and cafes in California, as well as friends who just love wine, and on top of this are native Californians and foodies so have a depth of knowledge about wine coupled with doing business in California that sets us apart from the various "experts" in Argentina. We hadn't originally planned on offering consulting services, but upon further consideration we realize that the insight we have into the strategic markets of San Francisco and Sacramento could help the small family wineries in Argentina and Chile, so we'll be consulting once again! Our niche is providing consulting and brokering (introducing wineries to importers) services to help smaller Argentine businesses sell their products in California. We are naming our new company Baby Siena Wines.

As we settle in, we have begun shopping for an apartment to produce some rental income from tourists seeking vacation rentals as there is a scarcity of nice, clean, furnished apartments for short-term rental (as we don't consider units with stained sheets, broken furniture, dirty plates, or moldy showers to fall into the category of "nice".) This is another business venture which we had not envisioned prior to arriving in Mendoza and seeing the opportunity for additional tourism-related services such as lodging. There is a great return on investment for rental properties in Argentina, though virtually no mortgages so you have to show up with a suitcase of money and pay in cash, so I guess we'll need to buy appropriate dark sunglasses and suitcases for transporting the money!

Managing rental property coupled with wine consulting and brokerage are the opportunities we've decided to focus on within Mendoza, and for every idea we've decided to move forward with there are two more we've rejected for lack of bandwidth. There are still many opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs to live comfortably in Argentina, but with the caveat that in order to be successful here it's critical to take the time to understand the people, culture, and the business environment. In addition, it's important to bring a sense of humor, flexibility to refine your business objectives as needed, and a project manager's mindset to maintain a focus on clear, tangible goals as there will undoubtedly be many obstacles and diversions along the way.

The big news this week is that Siena is now walking (she can take 30 steps without holding on or falling!) and that she is now 1 year old. She had been walking while holding onto things for a few months now, but when we visited a friend's restaurant last week Siena took a liking to his father and she walked him all around the restaurant for close to an hour. He didn't seem to mind, and since that evening she has really begun to walk on her own. We celebrated her birthday with her new best friend, and Siena has celebrated by shooting up a few more inches so she now looks a little more like a toddler and less like a baby - I think I even saw her neck the other day, though strangers on the street still refer to her using terms like "linda gordita" (pretty chubby girl)!

We are enjoying living in Mendoza, Argentina, and autumn has just begun. Mendoza is a quaint town of about 100,000 people and with lovely plazas and tall trees. We have a nice set of international friends, and are staying in a centrally located apartment in one of the nicer parts of town where we can easily walk to cafes, markets, and shopping. People here are pretty friendly, especially to babies. Servers in restaurants and cafes come out to give Siena a kiss and play with her when we pass by, and it's not unusual to have a server (or even the cooks) play with her during a meal out. Needless to say, Siena has made friends with half of the town, so much so that we've decided to call our business Baby Siena Wines.

Some cute things Siena has been doing lately include reaching up to give me a kiss right before she falls asleep in my arms, walking through our apartment complex hand in hand with both of us, trying on our shoes, drinking out of a big kid glass (which we don't let her hold yet!), and barking and bouncing whenever she sees a dog. She's a bit of a girly-girl in that she loves jewelry, shoes, flowers, hearts, and bows, though this is balanced out by her rough-and-tumble nature (she loves rough-housing where she climbs all over us, has mastered a few different growls, is quite proud of her stinky feet, and the messier and dirtier something is the more she wants to grab it.)

We flew out of San Francisco two months ago, and although we have just begun settling into Mendoza, we have not wasted any time with getting to drinking, er, working on familiarizing ourselves with local wines. To date we have tried 65 wines, mainly Mendoza Malbecs. Mendoza is Argentina’s Napa Valley, and has approximately 2000 wineries, covering several different sub-regions and appellations. The part of Mendoza most renowned for producing Malbec is Lujan de Cuyo, and two other important areas are the Uco Valley and Maipu’. Below are some highlights from our tastings so far, as well as some wine you can buy today in the U.S. (no need to fly to Argentina to buy them, though if you’re coming let us know and we can help you find your way to the wineries.)

We initially focused on Uco Valley wines, an area that has recently begun receiving a lot of international attention and which has been heavily influenced by the hands of a few international winemakers and consultants. An interesting, great value wine is Lorca’s 2005 Poetico Malbec, produced with Uco Valley grapes, with yields of 1 bottle per plant. Their production is still relatively small (total capacity of approx. 450,000 liters), though the wine is readily available internationally. Malbecs produced by Salentein are also highly regarded, and as their production is a bit higher (3 million liters), their wines may be a bit easier to obtain in the U.S.

After our initial exploration of Uco Valley, we’ve moved on to the classic Lujan de Cuyo Malbecs. Lujan de Cuyo is considered to produce the very best Malbecs in Argentina, and we’re looking forward to verifying this for ourselves! Lujan de Cuyo produces Achaval Fererer’s wines, which many consider to be the best of the best. We attended a winemaker evening last week, and had a chance to sample Achaval Ferrer’s portfolio and learn their winemaking philosophy; as these aren’t value wines more information will follow in a later post.
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Ruca Malen produces some great, funky, terroir-driven wines, among them a stellar Malbec. Their 2006 Malbec contains grapes from both the Uco Valley and from Lujan de Cuyo, as well as an interesting twist (12% Petit Verdot and 8% Tempranillo grapes.) This wine is a steal at $15, and pairs really well with game, as we’ve enjoyed it at Molokai, one of our favorite restaurants, with a smoked deer ravioli (delicious – sorry Bambi!) and Patagonian lamb.

Another winery producing great yet still affordable wines from this region is Lagarde. When we visited their tasting room we were impressed by the very solid quality levels across the board, especially within their Guarda line. They produce both a Guarda Malbec DOC, as well as a very elegant, complex blend called “Guarda” which is a blend of Malbec (40%), Cabernet Sauvignon (30%), Merlot (20%) and Syrah (10%.) Guarda opens up nicely, and was nice to drink on its own and very food friendly when we enjoyed it out our other favorite restaurant, Ocho Cepas. It paired both with J’s dinner of grass-fed steak and my trout and egg scramble on brioche (it tasted much better than it sounds.)

An interesting wine to try is Bodega Benegas Don Tiburcio 2006, a very balanced, drinkable wine which is 50% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, and 5% Merlot. This wine is a great way to understand the style that Michelle Rolland lends to a winery (he consults with Bodega Benegas), and is a steal for less than $15.

Last but not least, try Alta Vista Premium Torrontes 2008. It’s a very balanced, elegant Torrontes produced from high altitude vineyards in Salta (the home of the best Torrontes.) We’ve had fun trying the different styles of Torrontes, and it’s a varietal that is very easy to drink. Tapiz produces an award-winning fruit-forward Torrontes which is great on a hot day and which we’ve found helps pass the time when stuck on a bus during a border crossing. Alta Vista’s style is crisper and has great acidity to balance out the fruit. It is full of honeydew, honey suckle, pears, orchids, basil, lemonade, with hints of a dusty, rocky terroir. No, it’s not a Malbec, but it is a very refreshing wine produced by one of the wineries in Argentina producing stellar Old-World style wines in the New World. At $15, you may even want to buy a case to stock up for summertime.