Back on the wine trail
Trip Start
Apr 05, 2008
1
82
102
Trip End
Mar 20, 2009
Mendoza,
Cuyo,
Argentina
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Bodega La Rural 1
. An hour outside of Mendoza all the vineyards begin so it's easy to understand how this is their largest wine producing region. The city of Mendoza itself is a haven of greenery packed with fountains in plazas and sidewalk cafes galore all set against the stunning backdrop of the snow capped Andes mountains, we felt right at home. It took us some time to find some accommodation as we arrived during a music festival so we settled with a self catering cottage in the area of Maipu, about 20km outside of Mendoza in the hub of one of the many wine producing areas. Once the rental car was sorted and having escaped the persistent charms of a local boutique owner who was trying his best to convince me to have my photo taken in front of his store (possibly due to a shortage of blondes in this part or my naff hair has a distinctive 80s look to compliment his clothes) we were on our way to experiencing Mendoza's wines. Mendoza wineries are tricky ones, they are either closed on the weekends, or open in the morning then closed for siesta and then re-open later or are by appointment only - that's if you can find them. It's said that only the Mendocinian's can navigate their way around this wine region and after a couple of days endeavoring to sample as many wines as possible (including wine in the form of ice-cream) and not achieving much we came to the realization they were not kidding. Overall we had an incredible experience as the few wineries we were able to visit were welcoming and had some great wines. The wineries we sampled were La Vino Cerno a winery that for years was left derelict until the late 1990s (seemingly a common theme in this area) and is now producing wine again, nothing too memorable but the wine tour of the original concrete vats and underground cellars was interesting
Bodega La Rural 2
. La Rural, a winery that still produces wine in the traditional methods and has a really interesting wine museum (old tractor photos just for you Dad). A superb Sunday lunch at Bodega Familia Zuccardi where Gareth was mistaken for Kiefer Sutherland and my BP colleagues will appreciate that we blagged our way in as of course we had a reservation ;-). Our trip out to Valle de Uco was definitely along the scenic route. After finding our first winery early on, Renacer famed for it's Malbec, where it was finally a proper tasting (tasting glasses and you sample a good selection of their range rather than paying for just one glass of too large proportions which in some cases is a full glass of yuck) we were off to a great start. After that it was another 3 hours before we found our next winery as we managed to get completely lost and found ourselves halfway to Chile. Unsuccessfully we were not able to do a tasting at Andaluna winery as they had a group coming in so we settled instead at Saltein vineyard for a late lunch enjoying the view of the mountains and excellent wines. The highlight of the day was the last winery we visited, Bodega Carinae where all of the wines were superb topped off with a fantastic host and better yet we were able to sample their full range. A boutique winery with impeccable wines owned by three Frenchmen making wines in a distinctly local style, the perfect note to end our wine trip on. We finished our days sitting in the cool fresh evening air amongst the vineyards and olive groves continuing our wine appreciation of several vinos we had purchased along the way. We are still looking for that great Argentinean steak to complete our Argentina experience.Special thanks to Kings for being a good sport and purchasing the fabulous bottle of Zuccardi Malbec for us after losing a bet with GT.
