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| Alta Vista winery entrance with lavender and olive trees |
In October, Husband and I sneaked away (sans Boy and Girl) for a quick trip to Mendoza, "Argentina's Napa Valley". Husband was invited there to give a lecture on the upcoming U.S.elections and the Tea Party movement, so I got to tag along.
Argentina has been producing wine since the 1500s, tracing its heritage to Spain, France, and Italy. Mendoza produces 70 percent of Argentina's wine. Much of the rest is produced to the north, near Salta, with only a few vineyards flourishing to the south, in Patagonia.
Until the 1990s Argentina primarily produced inexpensive table wine for the home market. Only with the infusion of foreign capital and investment (France, Italy, U.S., and China, more recently) was Argentina able to make its mark abroad and in the U.S., although Chile remains far ahead in exports.
Argentina's most successful grape, Malbec is enjoying its moment as the darling of critics and wine drinkers everywhere.
The region is framed on the west by snowcapped peaks of the Andes Mountains. (Well, that is what the books say and the pictures show, but we happened to visit while it was rainy and overcast.) Our wonderful guide, Gustavo Delucchi told us it only rains about 30 days a year. During our short stay, we neither saw the mountains nor did we take any pictures of the vineyards -- it was just too gray.
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| Mendoza irrigation |
Since the area is high and arid, mountain snow melt is used for irrigation in a simple but effective way -- roadside ditches and channels that run through the vineyards. Very few vineyards use the drip technology that is common in other winemaking areas.
Mendoza has three wine regions: Maipu, Luján de Coyo, and the Uco Valley. Of the 800 wineries located in Mendoza, around 100 offer tours and tastings. Since we only had one day, Gustavo recommended that we visit Luján de Cuyo. He picked us up at the Sheraton Mendoza promptly at 9:30 am. The drive out of the city took about 30 minutes.
We were glad that we had hired a guide and not attempted to drive ourselves -- the combination of multiple wine tastings and not-well-marked dirt roads would have taken away from the relaxing nature of the trip.
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| Gustavo Delucchi |
Gustavo was a perfect guide, giving us informative background information and history of the region, and on winemaking and local business practices. His English is excellent, but is clearly informed by MTV and reality programs from the U.S. He told us a couple of very funny stories, where, thinking he was being hip, he used words like "pimp" and 'ho" with clients from the U.S. and England. Husband and I laughed a lot. "For sure," also rolled easily off his tongue, although Husband has noticed that many Argentines say this when speaking English.
Gustavo's service was $550 AR (about $140 USD) for the day, which included transportation in a clean, newish car. We felt that it was well worth the cost.
Our first stop was the Achaval-Ferrer winery where we joined a tour already in progress. Husband and I have toured wineries in Napa Valley and France, so a lot of the general information, process, and equipment was familiar. Where the tour differed though was when the guide took us into the inspection and labeling room. We were impressed that every bottle produced there is inspected under light (to look for sediment) before being hand-labeled and boxed.
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| Alta Vista cave |
Next we visited Alta Vista. The first step down into the cool cave was almost intoxicating with the smell of oak and red-wine earthiness (you know this particular smell if you have toured wineries before).
The weekend before our trip to Mendoza, friends had shared a fabulous meritage from Benegas Lynch. Although it was not on our itinerary, Gustavo was able to make a call and get us in for a private tour. It turned out to be the highlight of our trip.
A lovely woman named Cecilia (whose sister played field hockey at Ohio State -- small world) gave us a truly great tour of Benegas Lynch and the family dining room. A bodega with an interesting history -- including that it was once owned by the family that owns El Trapiche -- we saw meticulously kept business records from the 1890s as well as a guest book from the 1920s.  Displayed throughout the home is an amazing collection of traditional ponchos collected by owner Federico Benegas Lynch (whose mother is a Norton -- another famous Argentine winemaking family). Lunch was late and long, beginning at 1:30 at Bodega Ruca Malen. We savored four delicious courses that were carefully paired with wines to complement the food (or maybe the food was to complement the wine -- not sure). Many of the courses were served by the chef himself. The whole experience was ridiculously indulgent. Here is our lunch menu ($210 AR/$52 USD per person: Appetizers: quinoa and lemon salad with Arbequina olive oil, green apple chip with citrus mousse paired with Yauquen Chardonnay 2009; spicy beef brochette; pumpkin and walnut empanada served with a chimichurri sauce made with Picual olive oil, paired with Yauquen Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Starter: fresh cheese, leek, and olive terrine with pine mushrooms on toasted country bread with Arauco & Farga olive oil, paried with Ruca Malen Merlot 2005 Main: grilled beef tenderloin with cabernet and cassis sauce, fire-roasted eggplant and potatoes, and vegetable brunoise, paired with Ruca Malen Malbec 2007 and Kinien Cabernet Sauvignon 2002. Palette cleanser: chardonnay, lemon, and rosemary granitee Postre: banana wrapped in a crepe with white chocolate, cinnamon and honey sauce, paired with Ruca Malen Chardonnay 2007 And finally, coffee and petit fours. We were scheduled to visit Catena Zapata after lunch but decided to cancel since it was almost 4 p.m. We just could not ingest any more wine or food. We skipped dinner that night as well since the food/wine coma lasted about 18 hours. Although we had one very full day in Mendoza, someday I hope to return for three or four days to visit each of the regions. Next time I would choose to stay at a vineyard with a spa instead of in the town of Mendoza. Something else to consider is that Mendoza is closer to Santiago, Chile than it is to Buenos Aires. Gustavo told us that he would drive to Santiago to pick us up and drive back to Mendoza over the Andes, which sounds fabulous. Can't wait for next time.... |
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| Benegas Lynch cave |
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| Benegas Lynch degustation |
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| Benegas Lynch cave |
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