Mendoza

Wednesday 6th April 2011
We caught an early bus  to the capital of the region, Mendoza. Although wine is produced throughout Argentina, this is the centre of the wine industry here so much more tasting was to come.

The size of the cities we're visiting has been increasing gradually as we travel through Argentina and Mendoza is the first that tops a million people. After checking in, we took the afternoon to wander around and get a feel for the place.

The first thing you notice is that most streets are lined on each side with trees that completely shade the road. In the past this was to give the grapes some respite from the sun as they  were transported through the city. Nowadays they provide welcome shade for the city dwellers.

The boating lake with the Andes looming large.

One of the big green spaces in the city is the Parque de General San Martin. It's huge and we only walked around the large boating lake (this is partly due to some areas being quite dangerous for tourists). During siesta time many people were power walking, running or cycling, and in another area of the park we saw a group practicing fly fishing on grass.

Whilst Mendoza is very green, it is all man made. It's effectively built in a desert with snow melt from the Andes used to provide water for the inhabitants and, of course, the grapes. With only an average of 10 day's rainfall a year, the hot days and the cooler nights, the climate provides perfect conditions to grow grapes.

In the evening we went to a lovely little place called Anna's Bistro with a beautiful outdoor dining area. We felt mildly scruffy as we tucked into delicious food and a bottle of red wine.

Thursday 7th April 2011
Today we did an organised full-day tour. Sometimes it's quite nice to do an organised tour as it takes away all the decision making and organising, which is a welcome relief when you do so much of it while travelling.

After picking up our our other companions for the other day, Juan (our guide who all the girls fancied and was likened to Barbie's Ken by the booking girl) talked us through the day. We headed to the Lujan de Cuyo area and vineyard number 1.

Freshly picked grapes.

Mendel: There were a few unique things about this tour. Firstly we got to taste the Malbec grapes straight from the vines. Malbec grapes are very small and sweet with quite a thick skin which is used to make the lovely dark colour of the wine. Next was the guide. She was very 'Mother Earth' and was heard to say, 'Yeast, like love, is all around.' Finally, for the first and only time, we were able to see the grapes being unloaded, put through the crusher, sorted by ladies and then placed into containers to start the fermentation. Most vineyards keep you away from this so we felt privileged to be in the thick of it for a few moments.

Cheers.

In the tasting room we were firstly given two differently aged Malbecs and it was interesting to try to appreciate the differences. There was quite a difference just in the one year between 09 and 10. We were not put off by the American lady opposite (luckily not on our tour) who just seemed to moan about how Malbec is just for blending. We do not agree. Our third tasting was a blend of 70/30 Malbec/Cab Sav. This was one of Emma's favourites.

Not quite ready to harvest.

Dante Robino: By our second stop the tours were starting to become quite similar. A nice point on this tour was being able to taste their sparkling wine (espumante) before the second fermentation had  started. It was rather tasty, if not very bubbly.

Our group and Pablo.

The tasting was the best of the day with 4 on offer and a very knowledgable Pablo offering us loads of information as we drank. We started with the completed bubbly (Extra Brut), moved onto a 2010 Chardonnay, then a 2008 Bonarda before finishing with their Gran Dante and premium wine, a 2006 Malbec (although 2007 is said to be fruitier). The Bonarda grape, we are told, is grown more than the Malbec but it is normally used for blending. Their aim is to make more 100% Bonarda wines and we agreed it was worth doing so purchased a bottle to savour it again later. We also bought a cork screw as screw cap wines are nearly non-existent here.

Vines everywhere.

Tapiz: we stopped here for a five course lunch preceded by an olive oil tasting. The five courses were chicken, ceviche, salad, steak and Malbec poached pairs with ice cream(and a chocolate Malbec leaf!). Each course was matched to the wines. At this point our memory of the actual wines we were drinking started to fade but we know there was red, a white and a red sparkling wine with dessert. The post-dinner coffee was long overdue, especially for one of our number, Stephanie, who'd fallen asleep at the table.

Alta Vista: Our final stop gave us another tour and again more tastings. The interesting point here was trying a Torrentes, a grape only grown in Argentina.

'Ken' with Emma and Stephanie.

Wined out, we were deposited back at our hostel for a well deserved nap. In our opinion this is definitely the way to do wine tasting when in Mendoza

Friday 8th April 2011
After the success in San Rafael, we decided to combine bikes and wine once more. Stephanie from the tour joined us as weheaded to Maipu to find Mr Hugo and rent one of his bikes.

Ready to go.

The bus journey should have been straight forward. However, we were sold a kipper by a bus driver and ended up an hour behind schedule and around 2 miles from the shop. Regaining our composure, we hailed a taxi, told him were he was (it seems that most taxi drivers here don't know any of the streets) and eventually got to the shop.

Mr Hugo greeted us in turn and having spent £4 each for the day's hire, we were on our way. Our first challenge was cycling along a stretch of unsurfaced road, reminiscent of Ruta 40. Luckily the saddles on the bikes were generous and took the majority of the impact.

Our first stop was Viña el Cerno, a small family bodega that produces only 80,000 bottles a year. The wine making was in full swing so no tour was available, but a very thorough and interesting tasting session was. This was the highlight of the day as we were able to try a wide variety of wines and different grapes.

We obviouslt went left.

Our second and last vineyard was Tempus Alto where we had more of the same. By this time we were starting to feel we knew the process and it was now down to personal taste. So going back to our English roots our next stop was 'The Beer Garden' for lunch and a spot of relaxation in the sun.

After a bit more cycling and finding places closed for business, we dropped off our bikes, claimed our complementary glass of wine and got a much quicker bus back to town.
The evening was spent chatting on the roof terrace with a few other guests. We tried Fernet which is a drink of Italian origin but is seen here as their short of choice, generally drunk with coke. It's pretty medicinal in taste, but gets nicer after two or three.

It's worth pointing out how sociable our lodgings here (Hostel Empedrado) were, certainly the most sociable of the trip. It's not a party hostel by any means, but there are events most nights and the multiple social spaces make it a great place share experiences and travel tips.

Saturday 9th April 2011
We decided not to have any wine today. With a night bus at 10pm, we checked out for a day of culture and relaxation in the numerous city parks.

Good quality British manufacturing.

Our first stop was the Museo Fundacional to learn more about the history of the city. It was founded in 1661 but exactly 200 years later an earthquake demolished everything (apart from one church) and the city we've lived in for 4 days was built. The museum holds some of the original ruins and also a 100 year old car built in Wolverhampton.

Risotto in a cauldron.

We had a lovely Italian lunch of ravioli and risotto, with James weakening by having a (huge) glass of house red.

The afternoon was spent admiring Mendocians. There were more crazy dogs, teenage boys hissing at teenage girls and lots of families enjoying the sunshine and the blue skies. Oh, and lots of large bottles of pop shared with friends.

Loads of parks.

We've had the perfect amount enough time in Mendoza and short of skydiving or climbing the highest peak outside the Himalayas, we'd seen everything we wanted to. As we left the hostel, the twice weekly asado was just getting into full swing and it's a shame our timing meant we were not able to experience it.

Fact:Sugar: Apparently there is a 2kg limit on sugar per shop visit. The Argentines can't get enough of it and so the government has set a limit.

Observation:
Pregnancy: Everyone is pregnant. OK,not everyone, but a large proportion of young women are either expecting or dragging a kid along. Birth rates are high and it's not uncommon for four generations of family to be living under the same roof. Imagine it ...