Trapiche opens $1.3m Argentine restaurant

Argentina’s Trapiche winery has opened a restaurant on its estate in Mendoza following investment of US$1.3m, adding to Mendoza’s growing wine tourism offer.

Trapiche chief winemaker Daniel Pi

Officially opening its doors this month, Espacio Trapiche, “Space Trapiche”, is an 80-seat restaurant located on the winery’s estate in Mendoza, with the team’s aim to place it among the top 100 Latin American restaurants.

The menu will be overseen by chef Lucas Bustos, who has quickly built a reputation as one of Argentina’s leading chefs. Bustos previously worked with Mendoza’s Ruca Malén winery’s Thibaud to launch a restaurant serving five-course menus that pair the bodega’s wines with modern Mendozan dishes. He later opened Bistro La Tupiña at Bodega Altus in the Uco Valley’s Tupungato.

Espacio Trapiche’s menu will offer a seven course tasting and a la carte menu and gourmet picnics to take away and enjoy in the winery gardens.

All dishes are prepared from produce sourced from the winery’s farm and orchard, which are cultivated in a biodynamic environment.

The wines, naturally, will be curated by chief winemaker Daniel Pi, offering new harvest and old vintage wines produced by Trapiche, as well as limited edition winemakers’ creations.

Known as “the land of sun and good wine,” Mendoza receives around 2.5m tourists each year, with 700,000 engaging in wine tourism within the region. Currently, Trapiche receives more than 20,000 visitors every year, 70% of which come from countries such as Canada, the USA, the UK, Brazil, Germany and France. The remaining 30% corresponds to domestic tourism, mainly from Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Córdoba.

All dishes will be prepared using ingredients produced on the estate’s biodynamic farm and orchard
Espacio Trapiche on the winery’s estate in Mendoza