Buenos Aires – Wine Tour & Currency Arbitrage

Today was a bit of a work day but we did manage to go eat lunch at a recommended restaurant called La Pipeta. The restaurant has an extensive menu and a ton of quotes.

A few of my favorites, this one reads, “Adam was happy, he did not have a mother-in-law.”

“A gift horse does not have its teeth looked at.”

Lunch. This restaurant did charge “cubiertos” charge but it was only $1.37.

The meal above was $41,000 Argentine pesos ($32 USD). The currency fluctuates wildly, it was 1290 to 1 when we got here and its 1274 today.

The strange thing is I went to a “casa de cambio” or exchange house today by stepping into a secret backdoor inside a news stand and the guy gave me $129,000 for $100 USD. If the current rate is $127,400 then someone got screwed somewhere along the currency line.

I dont know how people here live with the currency chaos but it explains why many prefer payment by USD or card.

Our wine tour was at Miravida Soho Hotel & Wine Bar…

Our wine tour was an intimate experience with just us and our sommelier guiding us through Argentina’s wines.

A review of the regions.

First wine, white Torrontes…..

Second, a delectable Pinot Noir.

Third, a nice Malbec…

Fourth, a cosmic blend of intriguing flavors…

Each wine was paired with cheese & fruit.

We bought a couple of bottles of wines. It was a late night so we got back to the hotel and had a snack at the club lounge (free for platinum members).