6th Wine & Food Festival in Punta Del Este at the Mantra Hotel
For the sixth consecutive year the leading wineries presented the best wines of the region at the Wine & Food Festival in Punta Del Este. The event was held in the Ballroom of the Mantra Resort on the 8th and 9th of August 2014. This year, the already famous wine exhibit was renewed with the novelty of “Speed Tasting Expert”, where a group of leading regional experts organized national wine tastings, highlighting the qualities of each label, guiding the consumers attending this event and turning it into a learning experience.
Prior to opening the doors of the event on Friday, August 8th 2014, the wine makers first presented the wines to the sommeliers and to a selected panel of nine well known experts. This panel offered a brief tasting where the qualities of each exponent were highlighted and explained. The comments and conclusions of the experts were part of a comprehensive presentation that was projected during the entire event.
The Experts
Among the visitors was journalist Marcelo Copello, one of the leading opinion makers from the wine industry in Brazil, director of Bacchus Multimedia; Alejandro Jimenez, Chilean journalist, editor of the cultural supplement of the newspaper “The Times”; Joaquín Hidalgo wine maker and journalist specializing in food and wine; Titin Núñez, Uruguayan journalist, director of Placer Magazine; Dan Perlman sommelier and journalist; Tânia Nogueira Brazilian journalist and sommelier, author of the blog “Cru or domínio do Vinho”; Juan Diego Wasilevsky sommelier and journalist, editor of Wines & Wineries section iProfesional, a well-positioned business site; Isabel Mazzucchelli Chemical Engineer and the Uruguayan journalist specializing in Food & Wine, Academic Director of the Institute of Food UG Punta del Este; Horst Kinsman, Brazilian journalist specializing in wines and owner of “Prazeres Da Mesa”.
On Friday August 8th and Saturday 9th despite the cold winter night but with a wonderful full moon, the resort opened its doors to hundreds of people who gathered at the Ballroom of Mantra Punta del Este and were given the chance to sample the best of the local, regional and worldwide wines and also high level gastronomy.
As in previous editions, as well as having the opportunity to taste great wines from different regions and harvests, the visitors also had the chance of having gourmet products such as cheese, olive oil and chocolates, among others. Also Mantra Punta del Este Resort offered its own gourmet corner where visitors could enjoy all the wonderful cuisine specialties including the delicious paella of Punta del Este.
Mantra Punta Del Este´s Wine Hall has always been a convenient platform to promote and communicate the latest developments in the wine sector, and to get in touch with awarded wines from around the world. But it is also a meeting point for winemakers, distributors and consumers, who can taste domestic and imported wines, as well as having the chance to participate in discussions with well-known and also new winemakers.
Bodegas
The 6th Wine & Food at Mantra was in fact a real success showing a great variety of the world of winemaking in Uruguay and the region. For this edition several new wineries took part of this great event with the support of Bodegas del Uruguay.
A record of thirtytwo local producers confirmed that the winemakers have clearly made a difference this year. The national wineries included: Agro land, Altos de la Ballena, Black River Caviar, Bodega Bouza, Bodega Castillo Viejo, Bodega del Fin del Mundo, Bodega H. Stagnari, Bodegas La Carolina, Bodega Marichal, Campo Tinto, Colonos, Finca Babieca, Giménez Méndez, Grand Cru, Ithaca, Los Cerros de San Juan, Lote 8, Luigi Bosca, Moldes Ruibal, Montes Toscanini, Rincón del Sommelier and Vinos del Mundo.
Team Work
Marcelo Chiappino, General Manager Mantra Resort & Spa commented: “We have been working with the entire team ever since the last Wine & Food finished with all the enthusiasm at this renewed 6th annual Wine & Food Festival at Mantra, with the aim of exceeding the expectations of our visitors and exhibitors”.
Press
This wine lounge has exceeded all the expectations of national exhibitors, as it has aimed at that consumer with discerning palate who will discover new wines for consumption. At the same time, it was visited by professionals and specialized journalists from neighboring countries and further abroad, who visited Punta Del Este and gathered all the news, chatted with winemakers and collected as much information as possible.
