all about wine . And beef, of course. Area offers lots of varieties SHORT of heading south, way south in this vast country, the best way to experience Patagonia is to book in at Experiencia Del Fin Del Mundo in the capital's bustling Palermo district. The edgy, warm, dark wood-toned restaurant (owned by the winery of the same name) is leading the charge in Buenos Aires, showcasing Patagonia's role as an up and coming region. (Even though some plantings have been around for nigh on 100 years or more, Argentina's southernmost wine country is all too often eclipsed by more familiar Mendoza.) What's compelling about Experiencia -- aside from its truly excellent food -- is the restaurant's selfless promotion of many other Patagonian wines well beyond its own. The region is renowned for its stony soils and big diurnals (the temperature difference between day and night), which often as not results in wines with great acidity and minerality. If Mendoza is perceived as being all about Malbec (it is, although there's plenty more to discover too) then Patagonia can lay claim to a veritable wealth of other varieties that flourish, including Pinot Noir, Merlot and Riesling, not to mention Torrontes and, yes, more Malbec. Civil engineer Humberto Canale is credited with breathing life into the barren region when he initiated an early 1900s irrigation project from the Rio Negro that effectively turned the desert into a green and flourishing area suitable for all kinds of agriculture, including viticulture. Here's a