I'm not drinking ANY Merlot!!

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  Mendoza, Argentina
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Treelined streets, tiled park benches, stylish cafes, and the perfect weather (30 degrees, sunny, and dry). Oh and did we mention the region produces 70% of Argentinas wine and is a steakhouse mecca?
Token History Lesson: Mendoza is a desert region just east over the Andes from Santiago. The region produces 70% of the countries wines from more than 1000 wineries. If you are interested in tasting some Argentinian wine the most well known brands are Tronto and Tapiche. In general Argentina is known for it's Malbec variatal, which actually means bad beak in french, as the grape grows very well in the region. There is a lot of European influence in the wine and culture. Many wineries began with immigrants from Italy and France circa 1860. Then in 2001 another influx of French, Italian, and America wine makers flocked to Mendoza to purchase wineries at deep discounts following the Argentinian economic crisis of 2001.
Our hostel, as per Mendoza standards, is very nice. Pool, attached restaurant lounge, BBQ pit, and a great neighborhood all make it one of the nicest we've been to. After check-in we searched for a wine tour, only to find out it is a holiday weekend in Argentina. Day of the Virgin is traditionally a time for families put up their Arbol de Feliz (Christmas Tree). This would make setting up tours a bit more difficult...so... we decided to stay an extra day. We wasted the day at cafes, layed around the pool, and sorted our plans for the rest of the week; all while imagning ourselves living in this beautiful city forever...or...

Typical Street in town.

perhaps a retreat from Canada's cold winter.
That evening we visited the very active Plaza de Indepencia for a craft market and local theatre production. Next was a very important process of our visit - searching for our first Argentinian steakhouse! We settled on a little place near the plaza with reasonable prices (which is a bit hard with inflation at 12%, which means if you are thinking of visiting now is the time) and a good atmosphere. What can we say, the steak was awesome! Tender, flavourful, and at under $10 still a bargain for international standards. After dinner we dropped by a very popular ice cream parlour for what else? Two scoops of wine infused ice cream (vanilla Malbec). Related to this, it appears we've put back on the weight we lost from the many treks earlier in the trip - however every calorie was worth it!
Monday morning we were picked up for our wine tour. We decided on a company called Ampora Tours, which was a bit more expensive, but provided a few extras (like a 5 course lunch - yum calorie-ific). In all we visited 3 wineries and enjoyed an amazing 5 course meal (of course with a juicy steak as the entre).
At Alta Vista, our first stop, we tasted a few wine types new to us, in addition to a collection of their reserves. The first, a Torrontes, is a very nice white wine that would mix great with an Okanagan summer. The second, a Boranda, had a very strong but enjoyable flavour. At the next stop, Finca Decero, we sampled another different variatal, Petit Verdot, a strong varietal normally used in Bordeaux for blending (Ariks favourite for the day).

Park with beautiful benches.

Most of the group prefered the Malbec. After hinting to the wineries tour guide that he was a wine critic, Arik's glass was never empty (the guide obviously didn't believe him in his flipflops, unshaven, and wearing a Che t-shirt but we think he enjoyed the humor). At our final stop of the day, Ruca Malen, we devoured a 5 course meal with 5 pairings - brilliant! On the tour we had a great guide (especially attibuted to her love of Rugby) and a great group of fellow tasters. There was a hedge fund accountant from NY, venture capitalist from Scotland, and a pharmaceutical engineer from Philidephia. It was especially interesting hearing about the rollercoaster ride of the hedge funds from a first person perspective (there are no Christmas partys on Wall Street this year) in addition to hearing the American's viewpoint on their new President. Opinions are always loosened up with a glass of wine or two... Overall the tour, the wines, and the wineries were spectacular. Mendoza and their wineries really outshone anything we've visited in Canada, and were comparable to Arik's experiences in Napa. Once again South America amazes, but this time in a much different way!
Our last day we hungout at the pool, picked up some snacks at a local deli, and relaxed before our night bus to Buenos Aires.
While we may have said this many times before, if we return anywhere in South America it will be here (the Southern Hemisphere's highest peak, Aconagua at 6900m, is a stones throw away so Arik is already planning his ascent followed by more Malbec)!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Drama in the Park	Our First Argentinian Steak!	Lookin up.	Cool mural in hostel.
Arik + Vines + Olive Tree	View towards Andes	Second Winery	Vines
Lunch at the Winery	Anoter View	First Winery we went to	Lunch in Mendoza
Dinner in Mendoza	The Plaza	The Dogs in Argentina are much more refined!

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