As I said in my previous entry about Mendoza, wines are the other good reason to go to Mendoza – the capital of wine in Argentina.
Wine tasting in Mendoza
I had Saturday to play around so I opted for a tour of several wineries as I didn’t feel like renting a car and driving around solo in unfamiliar territory. It was a great choice. The wine tour I chose was offered with Trout and Wine. The tour cost about $135 lasted from 9AM until 5PM and covered 4 different wineries. At one of the wineries we were to have a 5 course lunch paired with different wines. The tour was a great idea as the wineries were guaranteed to be open and ready to receive you (though I sensed that would not have been a problem in this season).
All the wineries offered us a tour of the facilities as well as a tasting either by sitting down at a pre-set table or by standing around a bar or table (except for the lunch one where we sampled wines paired with the various lunch courses).
We visited Terrazas which sat us down at a table and where we felt we were just having a chat with a knowledgeable friend about wines.
At Belasco de Baquedano, we were treated to the aroma room where you can walk around and try smelling different scents to train your nose. I actually tried to do the smelling blind to see if I could detect the aromas. I didn’t do too well, I must admit… But the concept was phenomenal.
Our tour guide, Cecilia, had worked at one of the wineries in the past and knew a lot about wine. That, combined with the on-purpose small size of the tour group, made for a great day. Along with me were a Danish father and son, and a California couple. We enjoyed talking throughout the day and exchanging travel stories.
I had asked Cecilia about a good parrillada place for dinner (meaning, a good local place) and she recommended Estancia La Florencia on Ave. Sarmiento which was really a building away from my hotel. The California couple and I decided to go together for dinner and we had a fabulous dinner in a mostly-locals only restaurant with great atmosphere. It was the perfect place for a piece of Argentine steak!
Wine tour ends – Cross back the Andes!
As I flew back Sunday, I got to see Mt. Aconcagua (tallest mountain in the Americas, north of 22,000 feet). Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the plane so I could not get a good picture of it but I did manage to get a few good pictures from my side of the plane. Enjoy!
Wow what an interesting wine region, it must be tricky to grow grapes in this type of climate.