How many grapes will buy you a Porsche? The question may seem flippant but it was under serious consideration recently by one of Mendoza's best wineries Pulenta Estate.
The owners GrupoPulenta reached an accord with the Argentine Industry Ministry whereby Pulenta could import 100 of the world's most famous sports cars (for which Pulenta is the Argentine agent) if the winery in turn exported 8 million dollars worth of grapes and olive oil.
In case you haven´t noticed, the Argentine authorities have been keeping a beady eye on imports recently in an effort to keep a healthy trade surplus with the rest of the world. This has meant long queues of Argentines in airports registering their cellphones on the way out so they won´t get penalized on the way back. Hefty duty has been slapped on all sorts of goods and a practical ban on luxury items.
However, regulations state that an importing company can get around such restrictions by proving that they will in turn export the same value in goods, thus the great Houdini style Pulenta switcheroo. So Argentina gets its sports cars and the World gets Pulenta Estate's rich, delicious wine. Everyone's a winner.
