The three-year-old bodega Atamisque is making waves in Mendoza´s metaphorical pond not just for its wines, but for its trout.
The French-owned winery´s premises stretch far beyond the usual vines to encompass a 1000 hectare plot with a trout farm, fruit and nut orchard, and a soon-to-be golf course.
Fishing, golf and wine... sound like the perfect retirement? That is because the owners bought it as one. In 2006 (2007 harvest) a French couple bought the vineyard as a retirement project with plans to enjoy the finer things in life with their grown-up children – wine, fresh produce and nature.
And these ´finer things´ are the same reasons that visitors make their way to the Tupungato bodega. I made my way with some friends to Atamisque on a snowy Sunday afternoon and, after a long and complicated bus ride, we arrived at the rustic restaurant picturesquely wrapped in a snow blanket and surrounded by trees.
We had made our way, like many others, for some well needed Omega 3 and a break from the usual meat-heavy diet – finally some local fish in Mendoza! The menu of course heavily features trout (in fact virtually everything on it is trout) and there are some welcome french classics featured.
As we cosied in next to the heater we browsed the blackboard and the local staff settled us in (Atamisque admirably only hires personnel from Tupungato). We got ready to enjoy the reaps of the land: wine, fruit, nuts and fish.
Drinking a lovely buttery and honey Chardonnay we started on the fresh and light trout ceviche and a dense, rich terraine with red pesto as starters. Both were delightful and good tongue ticklers for the next course.
For mains, Atamisque serves a large slab of trout covered in various creamy sauces and seasonal veg. My caper sauce was quite rich but still nicely frothy and the stronger flavours happily supported the Malbec we drank with it. A nice hearty dish.
For puddings we worn torn to decide upon a favourite – dreamy chocolate parfait and a warming crepe suzette. Perfect for a winter´s afternoon.
Atamisque is a laid-back and rustic winery which is doing something a little bit different, and doing it well.
For more information on Atamiaque visit www.atamisque.com
Written by Amanda Barnes for the Mendoza Sun
Amanda Barnes is a freelance writer currently living in Mendoza.
For more information, visit www.amandabarnes.co.uk or click here to see her profile.
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good rapport!!!
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