I just wanted to post a big thank you (and a small review) to Alex (Gaucho100K) for making time for me last minute to do a wine tasting and purchase on my recent trip to Buenos Aires. I was having trouble figuring out what I wanted to bring back with me and his wealth of wine knowledge made it much easier to decide. I didn't want to fill my suitcase up with mass market wine that may be easily available in the US so he helped guide me to some small production wines and vineyards.
I didn't realize it was by appointment only but he made time for me the same day I contacted him (and even offered to call me at my hotel to save me the cost of the call). We had a chat about what types of wines I liked (and didn't like) and he selected a bottle to open for tasting to establish a baseline. From there we talked about what types of wine I wanted to bring back and my budget and he made some suggestions. Unlike some wine tasting I've done in California, I never felt an air of pretension or snobbery.
He also had the wine delivered to my hotel the next day and followed up to let me know it was delivered and to make sure my order was correct. I packed it up in my DIY wine suitcase but it seems he has plenty of experience with getting wine to the US so I believe he also deals with properly packing wine to be checked in as luggage or to be shipped.
I was very pleased with the high level of service provided, I just wish I had a bigger wine budget and more space in my luggage. He even helped me try to track down another local item I was looking to purchase that had nothing to do with wine, which I thought was really above and beyond.
Their website is
www.argenology.com/en for those who might be heading to BsAs.