We had been looking forward to our stop in Mendoza for quite some time. We were not disappointed. Mendoza is a tidy, oasis city, filled with tree-lined avenues and beautiful parks. It is surrounded by the vast patchwork of vineyards and the Andes mountain range nestled in the background. It was founded in 1565 by the Spanish but was destroyed in 1860 by an earthquake. It was then moved and rebuilt with a plan which included a main square and four other plazas close by. They felt this would allow the people to rush to green space in the case of another earthquake. Just like San Rafael, open irrigation channels are along the streets of the whole city. They carry water from the Andes and are visible reminders of this city's colonial past. This complex and very old system of river-fed aqueducts was started by the Incas and continued and enhanced by the Spanish. Without the irrigation this land is a desert. The Mendoza province now produces 70% of the country's wine. In Mendoza trees line every street providing great shade in the hot summers. This city is a very popular tourist destination with the huge number of wineries and the Andes close by. We stayed at the Plaza Italia B&B. This turned out to be a wonderful stay. It has a great living room with comfortable chairs and a wonderful dining room and table, large rooms with king sized beds and new baths for all rooms. Mercedes, Tito, the owners, and the whole staff were wonderful. They help you with knowledge of the town, touring, the restaurants, etc. Truly the best. On our first day we took a high mountain tour to the Andes which was amazing. The tour began at 7:30 am. We traveled in a Mercedes mini bus all the way to the Chilean border high up in the Andes. At the highest point, right at the border, we were at 4000m (13,000ft) with the rugged snow covered Andes ever so close. To get to this point we traveled the last 1000 meters of altitude on the old highway to Chile, which of course was a narrow gravel road with hairpin turns that wound its way up the mountain. I think all of us were a bit intimidated by the height, the steep narrow road with no rails and dramatic views to the highway far below. At the top is the famous monument, Christ the Redeemer, erected in 1902 after a territorial dispute with Chile was settled. The flags of Chile and Argentina fly along side the monument. It was cold, windy and the air was thin, thus we were there for only a short time. Very impressive! On this trip we also got a great view of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. (6,962m/22,841ft). Reaching the summit requires at least 13 to 15 days . While we were in BA in January, 6 climbers died on this mountain. It is a very popular destination for mountain climbers. Our Saturday was spent visiting three wineries. We hired a car with a driver who spoke English and we headed out at 10am. Our first stop was to Norton's, one of the largest wineries here that exports to the USA. They make 50,000,000 bottles per year. The tour included a look at all the machinery, tanks, barrels and the underground aging rooms. The grape harvest was completed in April so the wine is either in stainless steel tanks or in barrels aging. Next we headed to a very small, family owned business, the Bressia Vineyards. This was an interesting visit since the wine maker spoke no English and had opened just for us. We were able to communicate well enough to learn a bit about this bodega. The winemaker grabbed a large goblet and poured cabernet savignon right out of a spigot on the large stainless steel tank. It was great, very smooth. In the same manner we tried the merlot and the malbec. Then we went to the cellar where the aging barrels were and he siphoned wine and gave us a taste of each again. Hands down, this was the best wine ever!!!! This small winery has made a name for itself and we hope to find it on the shelf in the US. Our third stop was to a very old bodega that is now a restaurant. We were greeted at the gate by our waiter and he led us down a vine covered path to the restaurant. Our first course was already on the table in this small cozy little room. Words can't describe the colorful array of small wooden bowls and trays of food. We were both open-mouthed at the amount and variety of food. There were 9 different kinds of meats, 5 different cheeses and multiple wooden bowls filled with 4 varieties of beans, rice, carrots both pickled and roasted, onions, quail eggs, roasted white and sweet potatoes, squash, pate, pickled eggplant, breads and more. The table looked like a page out of Gourmet magazine. Our waiter brought wine, water and then later the next courses which were tapas: the first an empanada, then a small bowl of beef cooked in wine with vegetables and lastly came pasta with a homemade sauce. As with the first course, we ate small amounts of each of these. After that it was an ice cream dessert that we barely managed to get down complimented with champagne. So much food but truly an experience not to be forgotten. Lastly we visited the Carmine Granata winery, which was built in 1931. It is a small winery where they make a full compliment of wines and export or sell at the winery. We tasted with a Mother and daughter from New York that were touring. By then we were over full and tired so our memories are a blur. Needless to say there was no going out for dinner in the evening. On Sunday we attended Mass and then sat in one of the many plazas and read the newspaper. We spent the afternoon at Parque San Martin. This park is over 1000 acres and practically half of the city. We took a bus tour to try and get a feel for all of it. Inside the park there is a university, soccer stadium, swimming complex, tennis complex, lake where there is rowing, boating, etc, several high hills that offer great views of the city, a zoo, restaurants, and endless open spaces for all kinds of activities. Like most Sundays the park was full of families picnicking and sharing cups of mate. The highlight of this visit was the wine tour that we did on Monday with Javier, the son of the owners of our B&B. He is very knowledgeable about wine, the area and the people that own and run the wineries and is a lot of fun to be with. We went with a young French couple who were staying at the B&B. What a day we had. Our first visit was to a very small family run bodega, Domaine St. Diego, owned by Angel Mendoza, the long time winemaker at Traphiche, the areas largest winery. Instead of the usual tour through the winemaking process, Angel's daughter-in-law took us into the vineyard to taste the grapes and learn about how they care for the vines and the olive trees. We were then treated to some wonderful wines, homemade breads, raisins and nuts grown at the bodega. We tasted a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Savignon and Cabernet Franc which spent no time in oak barrels. This is the first vintage that they had produced like this and they feel the quality of their vineyard allows a quality product in this manner. It was very young and seemed a bit aggressive to us, but it is early. The second wine was 80% Malbec and 20% Merlot and was wonderful. In the end the best of the day. Thirdly we had a bottle of 100% Malbec in which they allow the maximum alcohol development during fermentation. It has 18% alcohol and a great natural sweetness. This is the closest you can get to port without fortifying with extra alcohol, illegal in the Argentine wine industry. Before we left they showed us the olive press they had just purchased. In the past they had to use a large company for pressing and never knew whose olives went into the oil that was returned. It was very interesting to see this and taste the oil coming out the end of the process. Next was a larger bodega Achavel Ferrer, owned by an accountant , a lawyer and an Italian winemaker. While relatively new, it is garnering high marks in Wine Spectator for its wines. It has beautiful new buildings with great marketing materials. We tasted with three couples from California. The French couple, Jane and I weren't too impressed with the wines. They export all their wine for very high prices so we were tasting barrel samples which all seemed young and aggressive to us. My pictures don't do credit to the beauty of the building. On we went to the Ruca Malen Bodega for lunch. It was a 5 course meal with wines to compliment each course. This was an event that lasted over 2 hours. I will run through the wines to give you a glimpse of what a good Argentine winery is making: 1) Savignon Blanc 2007 (100% Sav. Blanc) 2) Malbec 2006(85% Malbec, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Temranillo) 3) Cabernet Savignon 2006 (90%Cab, 5% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot) 4) Petit Verdot 2007 (100% Verdot) 5) Malbec 2007 (95% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Savignon). Great wines and marvelous food. For example the second last course was a 12 oz. filet and the last was white chocolate and seasoned fruit. After lunch we were treated to a lesson in the art of drinking mate, which is a tealike drink that is popular all over Argentina. Our last stop was to the Carlos Pulenta Vineyard. Pulenta is part of the family that used to own Trapiche. After the sale in 1998 he bought a vineyard planted in 1948 and started making wine. In 2003 he opened the new bodega with rooms, a restaurant, the winery with a great tasting room. The tasing room is below ground with one wall open so you can see the layers of rock and soil in the vineyard. With the aging and storage in the lower level they use gravity to move the wine. Fabulous place. The wines they make from the old vineyard are all blends. They also make wines with grapes from their acreage in the Uco valley, which are all varietals. Impressive blends but I like the Malbec from Uco. A long day but well worth it. We left late the next day on an overnight bus to Salta in the Northwest of Argentina. While in Mendoza we ate at several good restaurants and tasted wine at a unique place called The Vines of Mendoza, where you can compare five wines at a time. They have six different flights of five to choose from. Very cool idea! But certainly our stay at the B&B with people from Australia (Megan & Alexia), France, Holland and the US was truly delightful. We recommend Plaza Italia B&B!!!
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