While Mendoza has many things to offer, from its dramatic mountains to its winding river with rafting opportunities, its incredible gastronomic scene (which mom and I delved into very hungrily), and beautiful green city in the midst of a desert landscape, there is still one drawcard that trumps all others: Wine.
Ask anyone who knows me, I love my wine. Studying in the heart of South Africa’s wine route, plus working on a wine farm, has just entrenched this love. And Argentina feeds it. Wine is ridiculously cheap in this country, and you can get a nice bottle for next to nothing. So when we put Mendoza on the itinerary, wine tasting was a priority.
The day after our Andes adventure, we took an easy morning strolling around the main park of the city before being picked up for our wine tour. This classic wine tour took us to Maipu, one of the main wine regions in the area, and the closest one to the city. As we drove out to the first winery, I was very glad we had gone for the tour option for day one, since our lovely guide filled us in on the history and characteristics of Mendoza’s main varietal – Malbec. I’ve certainly consumed enough of it since I’ve been here, but it was great to learn a bit more about it. For example, the reason it thrives here and not so much elsewhere is because of the unique conditions: Mendoza’s varying temperatures – it gets very hot in the day and then cools down dramatically at night – the high altitude, and the right soil conditions (I would attempt to explain this further but I am no viticulturist).
I digress. The first stop was to a large winery, Lopez. Big, commercial, and very popular with tour buses, my mom and I lucked out big time by being the only English speakers, thus getting a private tour of the cellars, separate to the hoards of other tourists. It was quite special wandering around just the two of us and our winery guide, with her showing us the various areas. I was quite astounded at the scale of things on the farm. I have never seen so many tanks of wine in one place, stretching from floor to high ceiling in a huge underground cellar. And let’s not forget about the bottling, labeling and packing production line, which moves thousands of bottles per day. A far cry from the smaller wine cellars where I learnt about how wine was made. The tour around the cellars was topped off by a private tasting, where we picked up a delicious crisp bottle of white wine for our trip to Iguazu Falls.
Continuing on, the tour took us to an olive farm, another big crop in this area. Again, we got a private tour in English. I had no real knowledge before about the process of making olive oil, and the differences between normal and virgin and cold-pressed etc. After a comprehensive tasting (they had everything from unfiltered to flavoured olive oils and tapenades), I walked away with a bottle of unfiltered extra virgin olive oil, which I’m quickly running out of as I use it very liberally on my salads (can you tell I’m trying to eat healthy after this trip?). Stomachs lined a bit, we went to the final farm, which was exactly the opposite of the first one.
Bodegas Cavas de Don Arturo is a small, family-run estate, in the category of a boutique winery. They only produce red wine, and their wine is only available at the farm itself and for a small overseas market where they import. The contrast between the first farm and this one was vast. On another private tour of the estate, given to us by the owner’s wife, accompanied by her daughter, we were taken through the much smaller cellar with its more traditional methods and old-school processes. The family has quite an interesting story. When they were looking at the farm, which used to operate as a wine farm but had been untouched for years, and they pushed open the barn doors they found these huge wine barrels, imported from Europe. They are no longer usable, since the wood when left dry cracks, but they decided to keep them as an ode to the farm’s history, and so they stand, representing long traditions of wine making and adding to the farm’s authentic feel. Instead, the wine is now aged in the typical smaller barrels in a dark and dusty (and magically rustic) underground cellar. She told us more about their more traditional methods of making wine (in comparison to the huge modern operation at Lopez) before giving us a great personalised tasting. It was topped off by the main man himself, her father-in-law giving us a sneaky tasting of one of the more expensive and exclusive malbecs. Finishing before the rest of the group, mom and I stood outside on the estate in the late afternoon sunshine, looking out over the mountains and vineyards, listening to the sound of the parrots (a common feature in Mendoza, and in Buenos Aires as well), soaking up the bodega’s atmosphere. All in all, a great introduction to wine in this area.
Not satisfied with just one day of wine tasting, the next day we set off again, this time to do the most quintessential wine tour: a bike tour of the vineyards. We hopped on a local bus to the centre of Maipu, and it dawned on us that this was going to be a very warm day, and I was starting to regret wearing jeans. Undeterred, We hopped off in front of Mr Hugo Bikes (the famous Mr Hugo, this is probably the most popular bike rental place around, even though there is no shortage of bike hires around here). After chatting to one of the ladies working there, with her explaining which wineries we could visit on the map and how long it would take to get there, the friendly Mr Hugo himself matched us to bikes and took the time to adjust everything until we were comfortable. Then we were off!
It was quite an amusing start, since mom hadn’t been cycling in years (probably not since our family cycling holiday in France cerca 2002), and I was a tad rusty myself. It didn’t help that the first part of the cycle was along a busy road (although it had a cycle path, except for one bumpy section later on). Luckily it was only a few kilometers before we turned down a quieter tree-lined lane. We had a plan to visit three places on the map, but along the way, a different farm caught our attention and we stopped (a reminder that the best travel experiences end up being the unplanned ones). Tempus Alba winery was a surprising tuscan style bodega that looked very intriguing. We slotted our bikes into the allocated “bike parking” and ventured inside. The farm has an interesting self-guided tour with sign boards pointing you to the next one, like a treasure hunt with the prize being the tasting room. This very modern looking winery is steeped in family history, founded by, and still owned and run by an Italian family. Reaching the wine tasting room, we were very pleased at our decision to stop here. There was a beautiful terrace looking out over the vineyards and mountains. We decided to share a tasting (they really don’t skimp on the tastings here, and mom was not keen to attempt all that wine and then get on her bike!). Good decision indeed. All the wine was delicious, including some interesting wines that I hadn’t tasted yet. Enjoying the idyllic atmosphere too much, we decided to stay here for lunch as well, which came with another pleasant surprise: a free bottle of wine. I added this to my backpack, to enjoy at a later stage.
Very full, and lethargic after mid-day drinking, we got back on our bikes with difficulty and cycled the 20 or so metres to the boutique wine farm on the other side of the road, Viña el Cerno. Walking inside the tasting room of this much more rustic farm, I immediately heard an accent that sounded way too familiar. Would you believe it, the only other couple in the tasting room was from South Africa! We had a great chat to these two, in the country for a wedding, before they headed off and we attempted tasting number 2. Since mom was going slow, the drinking fell mainly on my head until I decided that anymore wine would be detrimental to my ability to cycle back. I should mention there were only 2 tastings here, but again, very generous servings. The wine here was very different, but good, and I even liked their really unique chardonnay (not my favourite wine in general). We contemplated cycling on to another farm but then decided for our own safety, given we had had a fair amount of wine, and had done a fair amount of exercise in the heat, that we were ready to return. So we headed back to Mr Hugo, with me having to concentrate a bit harder on balancing my bike than on the way to the farms. Luckily Mr Hugo was ready to greet us with some lemonade in the shade before we caught the bus back to the city.
Interestingly, that night as we sat having dinner on the sidewalk of a restaurant, who walked past us? The South African couple again! They had managed to make it to 4 wine farms, admitting that it was quite the challenge to cycle back. It was such a lovely chance encounter. My favourite moments from travel are always the interesting encounters with people, whether they are fellow Capetonians, an American wine marketer living in Mendoza who we shared a glass of champagne with, a hotel manager and an artist with all the insider tips to art galleries in Buenos Aires, the hotel chef (and owner) with his interesting life story and love of food, art and wine, or our taxi driver who whom I had a long conversation in Spanglish on the way to the airport about the problems in Argentina and South Africa and why I love living here.
All in all, Mendoza was a place of indulgence for mom and I. Two days of great wine tasting (officially), many delicious meals including a private dinner at our hotel, cooked by the owner and chef, including a scrumptious bottle of Malbec, perfectly cooked steak and pasta, and the dessert from heaven: pears poached in Malbec. Oh, and there was that meal at a French café, with risotto and red wine, topped by what we thought would be a refreshing dessert of ice cream with a touch of vodka and fruit, but turned out to be very heavy on the vodka, resulted in much giggling on our walk home. Not so good for my waistline, but certainly great for my mind, spirit, tastebuds and belly!
I could definitely have spent more time here, visiting more of the surrounding areas, including the other wine districts, especially Uco Valley, but one must always leave a place wanting more. And besides, Iguazu Falls was waiting for us.
Nix Travels 
As usual, Nicole, a very interesting blog. I had no idea that those barrels and tanks were so huge.
Those huge ones barrels are insanely expensive (and tend to be very old), so you mainly see the smaller ones (around 100-250 litres, if I recall is the norm). I imagine there are a number of reasons people use the smaller ones, besides just much easier storage!