Went to Aruba last week. Interestingly the weather was rainy. Locals told us that they have had lots of rain since October. We stayed at the Tradewinds Club at the Marriott hotel. The wine list was poor and expensive. They didn't even have the local beer on tap. I met a consultant to Marriott in the elevator and complained about the wine and some other things at the Club. We had free drinks and wine at the club lounge but the wines were cheap $5 bottles while the liquor was fancy brands. Why are wine drinkers an afterthought at such club lounges. Next thing we knew there was a bottle of wine in our room complements of the hotel. It was a Mondavi cabernet. It was the Private Select 2008. It sells for $8.40 in NJ. It was OK and certainly better than other affordable wines at the hotel.It was also a very nice gesture by the hotel.
Our dilemma was where to drink our wine. We wanted to have it with dinner. So I went to one of the Marriott restaurants and asked if we could bring our wine to dinner since the hotel had given us the bottle. The wonderful hostess said OK. It made for a nice evening. We sat outside and enjoyed their excellent buffet with our wine.
Another night we went to an Italian restaurant. I checked the wine list and on the last page low and behold they had an Argentinian Malbec from Finca Flichman - Misterio 2010. It was $20 and we drank it and it was very good. I found that South American wines were better values in Aruba probably because they are so close to South America. Wine list tip - go with what looks like the best local deal. Do not focus on familiar wines that may be very overpriced.
BTW the Aruban people we met were great. Herminia, who was in charge of the Tradewinds club portion of the beach was delightful. She made our stay fun.
We ate at a restaurant call Wacky Wahoos. It was in a small strip mall and had about 20 tables. It was cute but noisy. The fish was awesome, I had wahoo and my wife had swordfish. Best fish we have had in a while and we eat lots of fish. It was pan sauted Aruban style and the sides - plaintains, yellow rice, steamed veggies and corn meal polentalike cake that was a local thing - were great. We really enjoyed although again the wine list was a joke -- poor and overpriced. I had a Heinekin and my wife had a glass of wine.
Overall the food was pretty good and not that expensive and the wine was overpriced. I did get to one supermarket and checked the wines. They had some excellent reds from Spain at very cheap prices. Next time.
Wines of the Week
To give some idea of the wines I buy, this week I bought:
Wyatt Chardonnay 2009 California $10. Highly recommended by Parker. Love their pnot noir. This chardonnay was ok. A little heavy and unbalanced but decent fruit.
Bodegas Lan rioja. Spain $10 . 2006
Zenato Valpolicella. Italy 2008. $11.
Guigal Cotes Du Rhone 2007. $10. A classic and very good bottle year in and year out.
Cupcake Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. $8. Really good white. Typical New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc - fresh and fruity. Big bargain.
Terre Do Lobo Godello 2009. Spanish white. $12. Interesting white. Rated 92 by Wine Advocate. OK but I guess the Godello grape makes it special.
Lauverjat Sancerre 2009. Loire Sauvignon Blanc, France . $15.
Paso a Paso Verdjo 2009. Spanish white.$7. Another interesting white from Spain.
