The law was approved in September 2021 and the changes it will bring are beginning to be seen little by little in a neighborhood that is already experiencing transformations that have some neighbors on alert. The Wine District will finish reconfiguring a new profile for Villa Devoto, which is experiencing a gastronomic boom. And this weekend will be the first event of this new space: a wine fair in which more than 40 wineries will participate.
The Wine District Fair will be held in Plaza Arenales, the epicenter of the neighborhood, this Saturday from 12 noon to midnight. The streets Nueva York, Mercedes, Pareja and Bahía Blanca will be pedestrianized during the day.
As winemaker Alejandro Vigil told Clarín, one of the axes of the fair will be the possibility of talking hand in hand with referents of the world of wine, both producers and sommeliers and winemakers, as is his case. Vigil, one of the most recognized and awarded Argentine winemakers, will be walking the fair and will also give a talk on Saturday at 16.30.
He believes that the wine industry "moved away from people's daily lives" and that is why the path must be retraced: because wine is a consumption that historically was on the table of Argentines, and there we must return at a time when the situation is complicated for the industry due to the economic crisis and also because of the limitations on consumption that the recently approved law of consumption entails. zero alcohol.
The paza Arenales de Devoto, where the fair will be held on Saturday. Photo Archive
"The dispatch fell 22% this year and the weather problems hit hard: the stock fell and the price rose," summarizes Vigil, one of the gastronomic entrepreneurs who will land in the Wine District with Vigil Wine Club, a megaspace that will open at the end of next year.
"Ours is the main consumer of Argentine wine," says Vigil, and that local consumer points to the fair on Saturday, where you can taste wines by the glass from more than 40 wineries, among others El Enemigo, Catena Zapata, Bianchi, Santa Julia, Salentein, Escorihuela Gascón, Las Moras, El Esteco, Trapiche, Bressia, Pala Corazón, Losance, Vinos de Potrero, Weinert, Lamadrid, Huentala and Dante Robino.
Admission is free, but one of the mottos of the fair is responsible consumption, so tastings will have a cost. Tickets of four drinks each will be sold and it is the maximum that each adult visitor can buy.
There will be four tickets, depending on the wine categories, at $ 2,500, $ 3,000, $ 4,000 and $ 5,000. From the organization of the Wine District clarified that there will be no promotions precisely to reinforce moderation in consumption and that they will make water hydration stations available throughout the space. They also reported that part of the proceeds will be donated to the Zubizarreta Hospital Cooperator.
The restaurants and bars near the square will be added accompanying the proposal in a gastronomic patio that will be mounted on the corner of New York and Mercedes. And in addition to Vigil's open talk, other renowned winemakers such as Walter Bressia and sommeliers such as Agustina de Alba, Marcela Rienzo and Marina Beltrame will participate in different activities.
The winemaker Alejandro Vigil, one of the gastronomic entrepreneurs who will join the Wine District. Photo: Ignacio Blanco
And while for now the forecast seems to accompany (the Weather Service forecasts for Saturday temperatures between 15 and 19 degrees and some clouds) the fair is rescheduled if it rains.
What is the Wine District
The Wine District is an initiative approved by the Buenos Aires Legislature that seeks to consolidate an enogastronomic pole in a triangle that in addition to Devoto also includes part of Villa del Parque and La Paternal.
Entrepreneurs related to the wine industry can settle there and receive tax benefits: a 70% reduction in Gross Income.
As reported by the Ministry of Economic Development of Buenos Aires in a presentation that was made in March in Mendoza within the framework of the Harvest Festival, there are seven projects underway with an investment of 15 million dollars and another nine in search of location and finishing defining their investments.
In addition to Vigil's venture, Mundo wine, La vinatería, Cavas Sáez, Esquina Malbec, Luján Cavas and La Panera Rosa Wines join the list. The restaurants in the area have also been adding services and activities linked to wine, such as tastings and courses.
The new district and the transformation it implies for the neighborhood generated opposition in a group of neighbors, who question the loss of identity and the increase in circulation in the area, with the consequence of traffic jams and the lack of parking spaces. Other neighbors and merchants, on the other hand, agree with the official position that the project will attract visitors and will be able to reactivate not only the commercial activity linked to wine.
ACE
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