Espacio Trapiche may be a relative newcomer on Mendoza’s winery restaurant scene but it has certainly made a big impression in the two years since its inauguration. It’s easy to see why this contemporary space was given the title of Best Winery Restaurant 2019 by Great Wine Capitals. Under the eye of consultant chef Lucas Bustos and the hand of head chef Matias Castejon, Espacio Trapiche is a culinary delight. But there’s more to this winery visit than just a great menu.
A journey through flavours and concepts at Espacio Trapiche
Lucas Bustos is one of Mendoza’s most celebrated chefs and has been creating some of the top winery menus in Mendoza for over a decade. His style is always conceptual, with a story behind each dish.
Take the dish ‘compost’, for example, which brings ingredients to the plate that many other chefs or cooks might more readily throw onto the compost heap. A beetroot leaf, dried pumpkin seeds and vegetable trimmings are given a new lease of life in a creative dish that uses quinoa to represent soil. Underneath this tasty and rich layer of ‘compost’ lies a soft escabeche of lightly pickled rabbit and chicken. Textural, complex and bright, this dish worked wonderfully with the Trapiche Gran Medalla Chardonnay which echoed the dish with its own bright acidity, structure and nuance.
The concept of each dish takes you back to the vineyard, farm and garden, and so do the ingredients. Head chef Matias Castejon proudly attends Espacio Trapiche’s own herb, vegetable and fruit garden, where they source the major ingredients and garnishes for their dishes. The restaurant also makes its own cheese and charcuterie and harvests honey from the bees they keep in the vineyard. “We are really focused on farm to table,” says Matias as he showed me the different maturity of honeycomb he has been keeping. “Everything we can make ourselves we do, otherwise we source it locally from small producers.
Pairing wine with food on the table
What goes on in the kitchen in order to make a menu isn’t just cooking. The art of a great winery lunch is also in the wine pairing, and Espacio Trapiche has an innovative way to bring that art to you.
Trapiche is owned by Argentina’s biggest wine group, Peñaflor, and so its wine portfolio is extensive to say the least. Trapiche works with varieties ranging from the most classic, like Malbec, to some of the more novel, like Albariño, and its vineyards span from high altitude mountain vineyards in Mendoza down to coastal vineyards in the province of Buenos Aires. This gives the kitchen quite a range of wines to work with and each dish is thought out according to the wine.
“When we are pairing the wine we look at all the separate aroma elements in the wine first,” explains Matias, “and then compliment that with the ingredients for the dish.” Trapiche brings that experience to the diner in one dish in particular.
‘Finca’ is a dish in which you are brought the main ingredients and get to construct the dish yourself while deconstructing the aromas of the wine. Trapiche Gran Medalla Cabernet Franc is the wine in question and black pepper, mint, roasted seeds and mushrooms are not only aromas found in the wine but the ingredients you are given to gently grind together before a warm beetroot and meat broth is poured over. It’s an entertaining and delicious way to experience the wine pairing in action.
Espacio Trapiche: A modern setting in a historic winery
The other important pairing in the Espacio Trapiche experience is that of the winery. The home of Trapiche is in a lovingly restored 1912 winery, with a renaissance architecture which gives the winery an air of faded glamour. Relics of the old wine production, the abandoned train line and a tall furnace used for olive oil production are scattered around the property creating a dramatic and picturesque setting which pays homage to a bygone era.
Sitting in the contemporary restaurant overlooking the centenarian winery highlights the contrast but also the marriage of modernity and tradition in Mendoza’s wine industry today. This is the ultimate pairing of food, wine, heritage and innovation.
My visit to Espacio Trapiche was in collaboration with Wine Paths, offering luxury wine and travel experiences. You can book your own wine pairing experience at Trapiche through Wine Paths.