Wine festivals in South America
South Americans know how to throw a party, and almost before the first grape has been picked, the harvest is being celebrated with wine festivals across the Southern Cone. Traditionally the fiesta de vendimia (harvest festival) was a small celebration in the villages to celebrate the end of the harvest and a good vintage ā […]
Mr & Mrs Smith Review – Explora Atacama
Published on Mr & Mrs Smith, January 2018 I realise that Mr Smith and I arenāt quite as adventurous as everyone else visiting Explora when, after the long, dusty road from the airport, we want to get acquainted with the barman before the mountain guide. āOf course,ā smiles the manager who greets us on arrival, […]
South America’s Top 10 wine hotels
South America used to be the domain of gap year backpackers and shoestring tourism. That isnāt the case any more. Thereās been a boom in luxury adventure tourism across the Southern Cone, with five-star hotels nestled into the desert plains of the Atacama and down to the waterfalls and glacier lakes of Patagonia. In the […]
Guide to Vale dos Vinhedos: Brazil’s unexpected wine region
Written for Around the World in 80 Harvests. Brazilās main wine region, Vale dos Vinhedos, may well beĀ what you least expect from the country known for its tropical beaches, flamboyant carnival and vast Amazon jungle. The landscape of Serra Gaucha, one of the southernmost states in Brazil, consists of hillsides and forest. It is humid, […]
Turn left before the gauchos: Casa de Uco
Written for Great Wine Capitals The best way to experience Mendoza is out in the vineyards overlooking the awesome Andes mountains, and the ultimate spot that combines the life of the vineyards with the remoteness and grandeur of the Andes is the Uco Valley. Since I moved to Mendoza in 2009, Iāve seen wineries and […]
San Pedro de Atacama
There is nowhere else in the world like San Pedro de Atacama. It may be the driest desert on the planet, but the Atacama is also home to large white salt flats, steam spitting geyser fields, colorful Altiplano mountains and cactus valleys, extreme volcanoes, and clear, star-filled night skies. Alongside the breathtaking landscapes, there is […]
Discovering Barrio Italia
It is not surprising that with a name like āBarrio Italiaā (Italian Neighborhood) this corner of Chile is filled with designers and chefs! Chile has many immigrant influences, and one of the most stylish ā and delicious – of those were the Italians. Famed for its Italian roots, excellent cafes and design shops, Barrio Italia […]
Keeping Cool in Casablanca
When imagining ācool climateā wines, what springs to my mind first is the image of soggy, wet vines and miserable days of drizzle that leave your head firmly in the clouds ā and not in a good way. Spending the first 25 years of my life in England probably didnāt help that image. But in […]
The plunging peso is like a Latin lothario
Written for The Telegraph, 29 Jan 2014 Argentinaās economy is not easy to write about. Iāve had to rewrite this article 15 times. Not just because of my shoddy writing, but because of the shoddy state of the economy. When I started putting pen to paper at the end of December, the exchange rate was […]
Getting to grips with Argen-time
Written for The Telegraph, 17 December The first wedding invite is a cardinal moment for every expat. My excitement at opening the envelope was palpable. “You are cordially invited to the happy coupleās wedding party at 01.00 hours.” No, that must be a misprint. Surely that’s a typo for 18.00 hours? Or maybe 21.00? But […]
