Different from the old world viticulture, shaped by centuries of tradition and rigid rules to maintain the best practices, new world wineries are still discovering themselves. While Argentina is living the transition period from cheap, mass production "carton box" wines to the unique, elaborated and exquisite boutique wines, Argentinian wineries are experimenting, challenging the old world order, creating unthinkable blends. There is no better place to experience this wine "revolution" as in the Argentinian food and wine capital - Mendoza, where we headed as our last stop in our Argentinian trip.
Mendoza is located on the eastern side of Andes, in the shadow of the highest mountain in Western and Southern Hemispheres - Aconcagua. Arid hot climate and high latitudes seem to create perfect scene for making one of the best Malbec in the world.
Mendoza is a desert city, though you wouldn't notice it if you haven't seen the outskirts. Like the arteries, stone ditches are used to transport city's "blood" - water, to the thousands of the trees two times a day. This unique feature makes Mendoza very green and lush city, with laid-back relaxed atmosphere of a southern town, where people know no hurry or stress.
Though Mendoza itself is a beautiful city with lots to offer, we only had 48 hours and we decided to focus on what we came for - wine and food. Mendoza and surroundings are part of Argentina Wine Route, with Maipu, Lujan da Cuyo and Uco Valley being the main attractions.
Maipu
Wine tours in Mendoza are not a cheap pleasure. For travelers with a tight budget the best option is a small town of Maipu short taxi or bus drive away (15 km) from Mendoza. Most of the wineries there don't require previous reservation, are situated closed to each other and there are several bike rental options. In theory it all sounded perfect: we could save 175-200 dollars (cost of the usual wineries tour in Mendoza), and visit up to 6 wineries in one day (another promise from the tourist prospect), so we decided to explore Maipu town in a sunny afternoon of our first day in Mendoza.
On practice everything appeared little bit different. Afternoons in spring Mendoza are hot, 30+ hot...The map showing wineries "just around the corner" where not exactly precise, as wine yards stretch for kms. Pedaling under the hot sun after few glasses of wine, or even better - lunch, was not truly my idea of fun (not even going to mention safety factor). So we ended up visiting only two wineries.
1. Domiciano
Small, family owned winery Domiciano was the first in our list. The stars on winery's logo represent the peculiarity in their wine making process: Domiciano harvest grapes at night when temperatures are lower. Of course there is the whole science behind it, but if you ask me their marketing is brilliant. What can be more romantic than a wine made of grapes harvested under the stars?
Our guide was tasting wines together with us (and apparently with all previous groups as well), so his english speaking abilities were impaired a little. Still, the tour was informative and wines were tasty.
http://www.domiciano.com.ar/
2. Trapiche
Completely opposite to a small, family owned Domiciano, Trapiche is the biggest wine producer in Argentina. If you ever tried Argentinian wine it was probably a Trapiche one. Not impressed by the quality of Trapiche sold in Europe we wanted to see if they have better wines for local market. And they did!
The winery is located at the foot of the Andes and surrounded by vineyards and olive trees.
The building itself is fully restored and renovated winery dating back to the beginning of 20th century and even has its own railways and train station. Back in the days when wine was the most popular beverage consumed by small and big, wine industry was focused on quantity and not quality and used trains to transport wine to Buenos Aires. I don't want to imagine what happened to the wine after few weeks under the burning sun...
Inside the train station there was another particularity: floor made with wooden bricks.
In our days, to cover as much market as possible Trapiche produces wide variety of wines for every pocket size and taste. They have traditional "conservative" and experimental brands, cheap box wines and exquisite collection items. In spite of the variety I find Trapiche little bit to industrial for my taste.
http://www.trapiche.com.ar/
Even though the wineries we visited in Maipu were beautifully made, the city itself still requires some investment and work. Before the trip I had this idillic picture in my head of me strolling on the cute bike through the endless wine fields in a romantic "Summer in Tuscany" kind of way. In reality the "cute bike" was not cute at all, the route we took was running next to the busy road full of dangerously looking and speeding trucks and we ended up covered in thick layer of dust. Looking back now - it was a fun adventure, but still I am glad it was not my only experience with Argentinian Wineries. The Uco Valley showed us totally different, nicer side of the wine province.
Wine tours
After our not exactly triumphal trial of "do it yourself " wine touring we decided to splurge and do it the right way - ordering a professional wine tour. Normally I am not a big fan of tours, but given situation required exception, especially considering the fact that we needed a tour in less than 24 hours. Luckily we found Ampora wine tours who exceeded all our expectations. We were offered small group (there were 4 of us), to three distinct wineries with each representing different size and "focus".
http://www.mendozawinetours.com/
Valle de Uco
The "limousine" of wine regions, Valle de Uco is a birthplace of top notch Argentinian wines. It seems this place was destined for wine growing. Combination of high latitudes, more than 250 of sunny days per year, fertile land, scarce rains all contributing to growing high quality wine grapes. And then there are people: hardworking and passionate, creative and not afraid to take risks. These people harvest the grapes and turn them into a magic in a glass: wine that is able to "transport" you from the comfort of your home to the splendid vineyards of Valle de Uco just with one sip.
1. Atamisque
The first in our wine tour was Atamisque winery, named after a bush of local origin. Beautiful estate offers not only wine, but also lodges, golf, restaurant and trout farm. In Atamisque we discovered our new wine "crush" - Petit Verdot. Grape that in Europe is mostly used as a part of the blend (in small percentages), in solo creates very memorable, rich, metallic wine.
The building itself - very minimalistic - styled as old european stone cottage - provides pleasant relief from hot sun.
http://www.atamisque.com/
2. Bodega Gimenez Rilli
If I had to make a list of best wines I have ever tried - wines from Bodega Gimenez Rilli would be definitely in top 3. Rich, deep, chocolaty and lush Malbec, gives you all the reasons to believe Argentinian Malbec is one of the best in the world. What is their secret? Seems like wine flows in their veins. Gimenez Rilli family is dedicated to wine making for generations and take pride in their occupation. Both the wine labels and wine line names are celebrating their family ties, parents, brotherhood. The wine tasting itself felt like an afternoon with a friends, not like paid experience. Owner was proudly showing pictures of his kids, who will hopefully continue wine making family tradition.
http://www.gimenezriili.com/index.htm
3. Bodega O.Fournier
Valle de Uco is amazingly beautiful place. Deep blue sky, juicy green vines, mountains dressed in snow coats. One would think this would be enough to impress? Architects who created Bodega O.Fournier building (Mendoza region, in general, is considered to have some of the most outstanding Winery Architecture in the world) wanted something as thrilling as the surroundings. The result - jaw dropping architectural jewel which not only impresses the visitors but is also very functional.
The wine caves are also used as art exhibition space.
Bodega's restaurant offers astonishing views that almost made me forget to eat.
http://www.ofournier.com/
Mendoza is definitely dream come true for wine lovers, with more than 1500 wineries spread out through the region, each offering exclusive experience and unique wines. These short 48 hours were enough to forget the prejudice I had against Argentinian wines before the trip and to fall in love...