Mendoza and the Wine Country
ARGENTINA | Tuesday, 15 April 2008 | Views [312]
After spending a week in Buenos Aires to regroup after Patagonia, we first headed west to Mendoza to begin our eventual journey north. We boarded our first overnight bus for the 12 hour trip across the flat Argentine pampas. The sleeper bus was comfortable enough and Ben and I were lucky to have the first two seats on the second level with the panoramic views. When we awoke, the Andes range was looming in front of us.
Mendoza is a fairly large city in Argentina and shares the same latitude as BA and Santiago. The Andes block most of the wild weather coming off of the Pacific, so Mendoza has nearly perfect weather the entire year. Our time there was no exception. Except for a few clouds that would blow in and out, it was sunny and 75 degrees.
We spent our first day in the city taking it easy and touring the center. The afternoon was spent in Mendoza's equivalent of Central Park, a huge green space to the north of the center where virtually everyone was hanging out on that warm Sunday. The next day, we boarded a city bus to Maipu, the wine-producing suburb of Mendoza. We had signed up for a day-long tour of the bodegas, or wineries, with a local company called Bikes and Wine. Bikes and wine may seem like a dangerous combination, but it was a great way to get around and visit the bodegas. The company has a set route of different vineyards and specialty shops that you could visit at your own pace and leisure. In total, we visited four wineries: the small and lovely boutique Carinae, where we purchased our first bottles; the traditional, family-owned Tomasso, who were among the first families in the region to produce wine; the chic and industrial Tempus Alba; and Vina El Cerño, where we had the best Malbec of the day. Needless to say after four visits and four tastings, we were feeling good.
On our ride back to the Bikes and Wine office, Ben spied a small parrilla for lunch, and it was here that we had one of our best meals in Argentina. This parrilla was literally in this gentleman's backyard, where we sat on plastic chairs and he served us huge helpings of amazing chicken and beef. Ben and I were fat, drunk and delirious by the end, but we did manage to make it to one last stop on the tour: a chocolate and liquor shop.
I'm no wine snob (even though I did that whole sniffing and swirling the wine in the glass thing), but Mendoza produces some amazing stuff. Definitely worth the visit.
Tags: culture, the great outdoors, food & eating
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