Cancun, Mexico. Wine and Food Paradise

Cancun, MexicoThere is no where else like Las Vegas, when it comes to Wine and Food escape, you can’t help it but to imagine the indulgence of luxury dinning and surreal night-life that Las Vegas has to offer.  From Michelin-Star rated restaurants, sommeliers at your service, world-class wine cellars, the only thing stopping you is your imagination and of course your budget.  Las Vegas has long been the place to get anything you want as long as you can afford it.

Food paradise

Further down south is Cancun Mexico.  Magnificent blue water with breath-taking view of the sunset, many have come to know this place as nothing short of paradise.  Aside from beautiful beaches and year-round Tshirt weather, when it comes to wine and food, Cancun is also nothing short of extraordinary.  I learned first hand of how quickly this place has come showcasing some of the best dinning experiences.  Freshly caught seafood, with picture-perfect scenery,  a meal to die for is very much within reach here in this tropical paradise.  And best of all, they take wines very seriously.

They take their wines seriously.sommeliers

I had the pleasure of meeting, Nelson, the Executive Sommelier at the Hardrock Cafe (formerly Cancun Palace).  Nelson was among some of the finest Sommeliers in the area, Master-of-Wines is the term they use down there.  We hit it off right after we met, it didn’t take very long at all, I’m sure wine had everything to do with it.  If you had a chance to talk wine with Nelson, you can tell that he is all about wines.  While I was there, Nelson held wine tasting events each day entertaining everyone with all kinds of South American wines.  I could feel his love and passion to promote wines from his side of the world and he had all the right reasons to.

LasagnaArts on a dining table!

It was a great experience as he offered to me a variety of Reds from all over South America; many were quite tasty, such as Pinot from Chile, Nebbiolo from Mexico and this Zuccardi Tempranillo from Argentina.  Nelson had his staff running circle around us, we were swamped with dish after dish, he was right there pairing every one of them with a wine that he picked out from his selection.  Growing up with California wines, this trip opened my palates to a different style of wines that I normally wouldn’t have the thirst for.

Each year I return to Cancun with anticipation of seeing a good friend.  We took turn to share what we know from our neck of the woods through conversations and a few glasses of wine.   It put a smile on my face every time, we were complete strangers and thanks to the shared passion for wine, we become friends.  Until he can visit me, I would like to return the favor and share with him how here in California I fell in love with wine, one sip at  a time.

Mucho Gracias! Nelson, Esto es para usted y hasta pronto.

Thomas Le.
-Editor in Chief
Napa Reserva -falling for wines one sip at a time. TM

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