Gauchito Gil is Argentina’s Robin Hood. I’m not sure if he gave wine to the poor — but I do know that Malbec, the famous Argentinian wine, is one of my favourite reds. I have very fond memories of indulging in a Malbec or 20 during a now-distant Argentinian holiday. So when I learned that 70 Malbecs from across the globe were descending on Melbourne for a Malbec extravaganza, I simply had to check it out.
The evening is the brainchild of Bottle Shop Concepts, a company that’s all about creating fun unique wine-based events for people to enjoy. When the team at Bottle Shop Concepts dreams up an an event they make sure everyone has a good time. Gauchito Gil, for example, started at 4pm and the party didn’t stop until 9pm! At $40 a pop, this made for some serious value for money. That’s one of our key criteria for awesome at The Plus Ones.
The event was held in Ormond Hall, and in true Argentinian style the team brought in empanadas from some of Melbourne’s best pliers of the trade. San Telmo (on Myers Place, rather than Buenos Aires) has seen me gorge on their empanadas on more than one occasion. According to my Argentinian friends, these compare ‘well’ (I suspect an Argentinian’s highest compliment) to empanadas from the motherland. There was also tango, cumbia and from what I could tell Melbourne’s first-ever ‘Empanada Man’.
If you missed out on Gauchito Gil, don’t worry. The team has a massive event coming up in that we can’t wait to go to. Game of Rhones (Sat. 13 June 2015) is just as fun as it sounds.
‘Taking the wank out of wine’ is Bottle Shop Concepts’ — we hope you make it to their next event. Remember, #wineiscoming.
– Ruki