In December, I had the good fortune to translate for Roberto Cipresso at an amazing event called Once Upon A Kitchen , created by an experiential marketing company called GR8.

This was my second event with them, the first was in 2018 at Ellis Island. This one was held at Gotham Hall. The world’s three best chefs were on hand, Chefs Massimo Bottura, Joan Roca, and Mauro Colagreco to cook signature dishes from their restaurants – Osteria Francescana, El Celler De Can Roca and Mirazur, respectively. It was a pretty sensational evening that ended with a pretty amazing wine made by Roberto called Anima.

I met Roberto Cipresso 11 years ago in Argentina by chance. My friend was looking to import Argentinean wines into Italy so we had the pleasure of meeting with some producers independently when we visited. We met Roberto Cipresso, the winemaker at Achaval Ferrer at that time. Roberto has since become a friend but at the time, I had no idea who he was. A world famous oenologist, he spent about three hours with us tasting from his barrels with a wine thief. I was overcome with delight and didn’t take a single photo but it is all imprinted in my mind.  Roberto has a lot of ideas about terroir, wines and almost everything under the sun. He is a truly imaginative person and a terrific winemaker. I tasted Anima that day, a wine from Bueno Wines. Roberto and his friend, Galvão Bueno made the wine, a Merlot. Bueno is an on-air presenter for sports in Brazil.

The wine was beautiful – rich and supple, sultry tannins and loads of aromas and flavors. Polished and elegant, it was very impressive and I was surprised that it came from Brazil. The first Brazilian wine to be called a Gran Reserva, I loved it. It was from Campanha Gaúcha in Southern Brazil. I am now officially working with Wines of Brazil but in December I was not yet on board. This was my first taste of what Brazil can offer and I was thrilled. I will be writing more about Brazil and posting pictures from my recent trip but for today, just a memory of a beautiful and surprising wine made by a friend.