Chile Archives - Hungry Travelers

Chile

Chile Friday at Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta

Posted on September 30, 2024September 30, 2024 by Pat and David

A mariachi band was playing along the fence and the aroma of roasting green chile wafted through the air at the entrance to Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe. There was no doubt about it: It was Chile Friday as the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta (santafewineandchile.org) reached its climactic weekend of five days of eating, drinking, and talking about food and wine. The Fiesta began as a single Saturday afternoon event in 1991 with 20 restaurants and 20 wineries. Counting all the specialty wine dinners leading up to the broader public events, it now features more than 60 participating restaurants and 90 winery partners. Chile Friday joined the lineup just three years ago. The emphasis is on chile-based food. The 2024 showcase featured...Read More

Green Chile Chronicles begin in Cimarron, NM

Posted on April 24, 2023April 17, 2023 by Pat and David

Green chile isn't just a vegetable — it's the iconic flavor of New Mexico. It's a motif that runs through almost all of our experiences in the state. Once we crossed the line from Oklahoma into New Mexico, we could have driven straight to the little Santa Fe casita that we had rented for the month of April. Instead, we hightailed it to Cimarron, a mountain town right out of the Old West. We went for the St. James Hotel (617 South Collison Avenue, Cimarron, NM; 575-376-2664; exstjames.com). The hostelry is the stuff of Western legend — plus it also serves green chile mac-and-cheese in its barroom restaurant. Founded in 1861, Cimarron was a trading crossroads where the high plains met the Rocky Mountains. After...Read More

Getting a handle on premium Chilean wines

Posted on June 14, 2018June 7, 2018 by David

My understanding of Chilean wine has been minimal. Exposed largely to inexpensive Cabernets and Sauvignon Blanc, I've long associated Chile with good bargains. Oh, the occasional eye-opening bottle of Carignan found its way to our table—and we rejoiced when one did and marveled at both the price—roughly six times the cost of a bargain Chilean red—and the great quality even at that price. If the Wines of Chile marketing consortium has its way, we'll all be having more of those aha! moments over glasses of Chilean wine. The group just barnstormed through Boston, Chicago, and D.C. with 15 wineries in tow for trade tastings of what they call “site specific artisan wines.” More important, they brought along one of the most genial and knowledgeable interpreters...Read More

1865 wines push Chilean boundaries

Posted on October 21, 2017February 25, 2018 by Pat and David

As the planet's temperature rises, wine regions creep into zones once considered inhospitable for Vitis vinifera. Chile is no exception. Matias Cruzat, the young winemaker for Viña San Pedro's 1865 brand (sanpedro.cl/en/1865-single-vineyard), casts the newer cold-climate vineyards as “seeking Burgundy in Chile.” To his credit, Cruzat isn't imitating the Burgundians. But he has steered the 1865 wines toward a balance between old and new world styles. Bargain-priced in the $12-$18 range, these are nonetheless premium wines. (Viña San Pedro's entry-level wines sell under the GatoNegro label.) Cruzat's reference to Burgundy refers to the newest 1865 single-vineyard wines: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Elqui Valley. “It is really the southern end of the Atacama Desert,” he points out. The region has grown grapes since the...Read More

Cradle of Mexican cuisine, Oaxaca relishes mole negro

Posted on February 3, 2017June 9, 2020 by Pat and David

No one escapes untouched by Oaxaca. This lyrical, magical city has been a powerful cultural and trade center for millennia. It is also arguably the cradle of Mexican cuisine. You can always eat well in Veracruz, Mexico City, and Puebla. But in Oaxaca, you feast. Every dish is a taste revelation. Tomatoes and chile peppers were domesticated in northern Oaxaca around 4500 BC—presumably to spice up all those meals based on beans and corn, which the ancient Oaxacans had domesticated 3,000 years earlier. And Oaxaca continued to expand its larder. By the time the high culture of Monte Alban (right) arose around 500 BC, the Oaxaca Valley was a crossroads of trade between South and North America. Foodstuffs poured in from as far north as...Read More

Bargain reds from Lafite ward off the fall chill

Posted on November 14, 2016September 19, 2018 by Pat and David

It's almost scary how we start craving heavier meals the moment that there's a nip in the air. With November already hinting of the winter to come, we're digging into the wine closet for reds instead of whites. Like many wine lovers, we find several massive reds that need more age before drinking and very few wines really ready to drink. Moreover, we've learned the hard way that cheap reds usually deliver exactly what you pay for—along with some additional next-morning misery. Lafite Rothschild (www.lafite.com) has come to our rescue with some superb reds that don't require a special occasion. Listed at under $20 each, the Légende 2014 Bordeaux, Los Vascos Grande Réserve Cabernet 2013 from Chile, and Amancaya Gran Reserva 2013 from Argentina actually...Read More

Local color lights up Toronto neighborhoods

Posted on October 27, 2016October 17, 2016 by Pat and David

Toronto's playful side is literally written on its walls. The city is full of murals created with a high degree of artistry and a witty sense of humor. The one above with the car-turned-planter in the foreground embodies the spirit of the Kensington Market neighborhood. Just west of Chinatown, most of its shops and eateries are found along Augusta Avenue and adjacent Nassau Street, Baldwin Street, and Kensington Avenue. The eastern boundary stretches to Spadina Avenue in Chinatown, making a continuous colorful neighborhood of eateries and shops. Once the center of hippie culture in Canada, Kensington Market was where many young American men moved to avoid the military draft during the Vietnam war. The area retains its psychedelic patchouli vibe in the street art and...Read More

Bordeaux is just the beginning for Lafite

Posted on May 19, 2015September 19, 2018 by Pat and David

Château Lafite Rothschild is legendary for its red Bordeaux, many of them too expensive for all but special occasion meals. Fortunately, the parent company, Domaine Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) (www.lafite.com), has been spreading Lafite's winemaking skills around the globe to create more affordable wines. And back home in Bordeaux, they've developed a series of soft, ready-to-drink red and white wines under the Réserve Spéciale line. We had the chance to try several of the different branches of Lafite at a wine dinner at The Palm Boston, and we're happy to say that the Lafite junior lines show that good wine can be made at a good price. We started by drinking the Lafite Réserve Spéciale Blanc 2013. White Bordeaux, especially from the Entre-deux-Mers district, doesn't...Read More