One of the things that many of us here who are really into wine have bemoaned for years is the lack of a true wine bar. There have been attempts, and over the last year, along with the rise of craft beer bars, there have been new openings of spots that do offer a selection of better than “house wine”, or a few major commercial winery offerings. And, for several years, there’s been Bar du Marche, which actually has a decent selection, but still somehow never seems to really be on anyone’s radar.
But now, we have VICO, Gurruchaga 1149, Palermo. The sommelier genius behind the wine selections, is Pablo Colina, a friend, and whom you’ve “met” in these writings most recently a couple of years ago at Söder. He’s partnered up with Carlo Contini, a well known local “mixologist”, and two owners backing the spot. And what hath they wrought?
A stunning array of Italian-made wine dispensers, 18 of them in total, each offering up 6 or 8 different wines, stored at appropriate temperatures. Add to that sparkling wines and sweet wines by the glass which are kept behind the bar, and you come up with roughly 160 wines by the glass!
And, it’s self-serve. You get one of these little chip-based cards which you plug into the dispenser containing the wine you want, and then select the wine you want, in your choice of a “tasting” pour, half-glass, or full-glass (35, 75, and 150ml respectively). That allows you to do as much mixing and matching as you like, design your own wine flight, or try favorites or things you’ve never seen before. At the end of the night, you hand your card to your waiter who adds the data from the card to your bill, along with whatever food you’ve eaten. Very cool.
The one negative, and I hope they can add it in, is that your bill doesn’t have itemized what you drank, just a total number. I’d like to both see what goes into that number, just to confirm that it’s accurate, and also to have a record of what I tried. Prices are widely varied, depending on the wines (and noted for each wine on the display panel, for each size of pour), which run from relatively inexpensive to high-end reservas, and which size pour you select.
Over a couple of visits I’ve tried quite a few of the plates. They start from the most basic – cheese or charcuterie plates (or a combo), which are available from the time they open at 6pm (the kitchen doesn’t open for other dishes until 8pm). Great selection, and offering very different styles to pair with your wines. 110 pesos each.
Tasty grilled prawns with an almond cream and crunch celery. 95 pesos.
Delicious grilled octopus, potatoes, and a pepper aioli. 135 pesos. And beautifully cooked, browned sweetbreads with a ginger and carrot sauce and a pear and cucumber salsa. 95 pesos.
My favorite over the visits, a slow cooked lamb that’s spoon tender, in a lovely lamb broth with manchego cheese gnocchi. 120 pesos in tapas sized portion (pictured), or 230 pesos for a main course portion.
And nearly as good, a perfectly medium rare cut of wagyu beef with aligote potatoes and a lovely salsa criolla. Also 120 and 230 pesos, respectively.
Just to note, some of the wines on offer, that I’ve now tasted (half glasses are my favorite size here):
Lagrima Canela Chardonnay
Cichetti Sangiovese
El Mono Rojo MRV (Marsanne, Rousanne, Viognier)
Bienconvino Gewurztraminer
Mosquito Muerto Wines Sapo de Otro Pozo (Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Franc)
Bad Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon-Tannat
Overall, love the place. The staff are fantastic – in addition to Pablo, there’s a team of young sommeliers available to consult on wine selections and/or put together pairings for you. The food, from noted chef Julian del Pino, is exquisite. All in all, a don’t miss experience for wine aficionados here in Buenos Aires.
