This Thursday, Wine Rocks Seattle makes it sophomore debut at the Palace Ballroom.  The evening features entertainer Chris Ballew from The Presidents of the United States of America, libations from over 20 wineries and distilleries, and nibbles from Seattle’s very own king of cuisine – Tom Douglas. Proceeds benefit Programs for Early Parents Support (PEPS).

Wine Rocks Seattle says:
Our second annual event featuring noted Washington wine personalities as the evening’s ROCK STARS! Not only do they make excellent wine that you can taste throughout the show, they sing, play guitar, sax, drums and more! Taking place at the very chic, urban Palace Ballroom, where every wannabe rock star wants to be. Sample fabulous food prepared by Tom Douglas Catering and delicious cheese provided by Beecher’s. WINE ROCK FOOD FUN!

Tickets: $50 each, must be 21+ to attend, ID checked at door

Time: 7 – 10pm

photo of Mendoza courtesy of flickr user michelle reynolds

As if you needed another reason to visit one the world’s most beautiful wine countries, a brand new InterContinental hotel is set to open in Mendoza in March 2010. Check out the press release describing the city’s newest addition:

23 October, 2009

IHG Signs Agreement for New InterContinental Hotel in Mendoza, Argentina

The 218-guestroom InterContinental Mendoza will be located in city renowned for its spectacular vineyards

MIAMI, FL - IHG (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)], the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, today announced it has signed a franchise agreement with KLP Emprendimientos  S.A. for development of the InterContinental Mendoza, in Mendoza, Argentina.

It will be IHG’s third InterContinental in Argentina, along with the venerable InterContinental Buenos Aires, and the under-construction InterContinental Nordelta Buenos Aires, Residence & Spa, in the Nordelta area of Buenos Aires.

Slated to open in March 2010, the 15-story InterContinental Mendoza will total 218 guestrooms, inclusive of 62 suites and will be conveniently located next to a Convention Center.  The hotel boasts 10 meeting rooms totaling 22,500 square feet, inclusive of a 12,900 square foot ballroom.

Situated in a new emerging business district, adjacent also to the city’s largest upscale shopping center, Mendoza Plaza, the hotel will be located ten minutes from downtown Mendoza and twenty minutes from the city’s international airport.  Amenities include a full-service spa, swimming pool, gym, restaurant and casino.

Mendoza is located towards the middle section of the country’s western boarder, on the eastern side of the Andes.  The city is a regional capital, positioned on a major international thoroughfare linking Argentina with the important seaports of Chile. The region, rich in natural resources, is the heart and soul of Argentina’s wine country, where European settlers introduced the ancient craft of winemaking in the 19th century.

The wineries in Mendoza are famed to produce the world’s highest ranked Malbec wines.The city is also an adventure tourism center, offering world-class hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, horseback riding in the summer as well as world-class skiing and snowboarding in the winter.  Mendoza attracts more than 700,000 tourists per year, making tourism one of the region’s fastest growing industries.

In 2008 National Geographic Traveler published its annual destination scorecard and Mendoza was widely acclaimed (number 10 out of 109 worldwide destinations) in a survey that took into consideration environmental and ecological quality; social and cultural integrity; condition of historic buildings and archaeological sites; aesthetic appeal; quality of tourism management; and outlook for the future.

“We are delighted to announce yet another InterContinental hotel in Argentina,” said Alvaro Diago, COO, IHG, Latin America and Caribbean.  “A presence in a city such as Mendoza furthers our growth in areas that not only attract business travelers, but are renown as a tourism destination.  In Mendoza’s case, the vineyards are a particular allure, and we look forward to meeting the needs of this broad-base of travelers.”

The world’s first truly global hotel brand, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has had a continuous presence in Latin America since the brand’s founding in Brazil in 1946.  Over its 63 years, there is no brand in the region with more international appeal.  InterContinental Hotels & Resorts throughout Latin America strives to provide its guests with an experience unique to each destination – uncompromising global standards, while respecting the heritage of the communities each hotel calls home.

IHG has more than 180 hotels in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean, and has been serving Latin America for over 60 years. IHG is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, and has hotels situated in nearly every key market throughout the Latin American territory.

About InterContinental Hotels & Resorts

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has 161 hotels, located in more than 60 countries with local insight that comes from over 60 years of experience. At InterContinental we believe that superior, understated service and outstanding facilities are important, but what makes us truly different, is the genuine interest we show in our guests. Our desire is to help guests make the most of their time. We connect our well-travelled guests to what’s special about a destination, by sharing our knowledge so they enjoy authentic experiences that will enrich their lives and broaden their outlook. or more information, visit www.intercontinental.com/ and www.intercontinentalvideo.com/

Media Contacts:
Cristina Planas, Kreps DeMaria, cplanas@krepspr.com, +1(305) 663-3543
Veronica Villegas, Kreps DeMaria, lovvillegas@aol.com, +1(305) 663-3543

Notes to Editors:

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 4,300 hotels and almost 630,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®, and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with 44 million members worldwide.

IHG has nearly 1,600 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 140,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands atwww.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program atwww.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office atwww.ihg.com/media

Jane Macquitty, Wine Correspondent for The Times of London, recently reviewed The Wine Society, the largest mail-order wine club in the world. She reviewed many of the club’s wines and finished the article by selecting her favorite wines of the week. To our delight, “The Keeper” title went to Achaval Ferrer’s 2007 Malbec! You can read the whole article here or her wonderful description of the Malbec below:

THE KEEPER

2007 Malbec Achaval Ferrer, Mendoza, Argentina Corney & Barrow (020-7265 2400), £12.49 Cellaring a New World wine may sound daft but Argentina’s full-throttle malbec, the country’s finest red grape, is an obvious contender. Put away this distinguished and already seductive, spicy, mulberry-stashed malbec, from one of the finest Argentine producers, for five years or so and it will develop all sorts of dusky, complex, earthy flavours. Drink now until 2012.

Makes you want to hop a flight to Mendoza doesn’t it?

This breathtaking black and white shot of Hand of Gods Vineyards was taken by a recent visitor. Could Mendoza be more beautiful? We don’t think so…

Argentina’s 1-0 win over Uruguay on Wednesday qualified it for another World Cup. If Argentina had lost, it would have missed its first World Cup since 1970. Bravo Argentina!

Image courtesy of http://www.indianexpress.com/news/argentina-qualify-for-world-cup/529357/

According to Sommelier India, one of our neighbors in Mendoza is launching his own private label. Read below about Mike Barrow and Costaflores Organic Vineyard’s new endeavor:

FineWinesnMore launches Private label from Argentina

Don’t miss a chance to meet the the head vintner for Achaval Ferrer and Hand of God Vineyards.  Please join us at The Local Vine to taste Malbecs from the winery chosen as 2009’s Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits.  One of the hottest wines around, they have raised the bar for Argentinian wines. The winemaker will be at The Local Vine to lead this tasting of wines from his Mendoza, Argentinian winery.

Local Vine Winemaker Tasting: Achaval Ferrer- September 23rd 5:00 – 7:00

2520 Second Avenue / Seattle, WA 98121 / 206.441.6000

Santiago Achaval is widely recognized as one of Argentina’s premier vintners under his Achaval-Ferrer label. Achaval-Ferrer boasts four of the five highest rated wines in Argentine history, as judged by Wine Spectator, and the highest rated Argentine wine to date according to Robert Parker.

In addition to the Achaval-Ferrer label, Santiago is head wine maker for the new brand, Hand of God Wines. Hand of God (Mano de Dios in Spanish), a boutique winery in the Uco Valley, Argentina. Planting was done in 2007 and fruit will be ready for harvest in 2010. Hand of God will be the only other Santiago Achaval wines available on the market. We are eagerly awaiting their first release.

On September 1st,  Santiago was a featured guest on the “International Market for Argentine Wine and Export Trends” conference call hosted by the Vines of Mendoza.  Other participants included Laura Catena, Tony Correia and Barbara Insel. Overall the panelists are bullish on the future of Argentine wine.  Santiago Achával said “Argentina is on fire”, a sentiment strongly reiterated by Laura Catena who says “the strength of Argentina is terroir and that Argentines continue to make really great value wines at every price point that can be comparable to American wines at $200 and $1000 wines from France”. You can listen to or download a recording of the conference call by visiting the Vine of Mendoza site.

Budget is a nasty little word I’ve been hearing a lot of recently.  But after reading this inspiring post, I’ve taken heart that a crunched budget doesn’t necaserally mean you have to serve dinner sans vino.  Next time my fridge looks disparigingly empty i think i’ll give their PB & honey paired with a cold glass of Viognier … proof you can enjoy your meal on any bugdet.