Mendoza — Wine Country by the Mountains

A serious change of pace.

We left the hustle-bustle of Buenos Aires by plane for our two-hour flight to Mendoza. The distance was more than the few hundred miles we flew. Mendoza sits in the shadow of the Andes Mountains in the northeastern part of Argentina. Mt. Aconcagua is the tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere at 22,837 ft. above sea level. For context, the tallest mountains in Colorado are a mere 14,000+ ft. While Buenos Aires had that European flair, Mendoza is notably Latin American with a Southwestern US feel.

We drove out of town and into wine country to our lodging at the Cavas Wine Lodge. Our accommodations were individual adobe and stone villas set among the vineyards with spectacular views of the Andes. The unique architecture features a funny-looking chimney and rooftop deck. They are such cozy little places that we weren’t sure we wanted to leave our villa for the many events we had scheduled.

One of the villas with the Andes mountains in the background.

The villas among the vineyards. Note the lack of growth on the vines. We’re still in early Spring before bud break.

The very old vines on the property.

After a delicious lunch we unpacked and relaxed for a bit on the rooftop deck. I might have relaxed a bit too much:

We got a cooking class before dinner from the lodge’s great chef. Our first lesson was in making empanadas, a traditional Argentine appetizer. Empanadas are pastries with delicious fillings. Ours had beef, green olives, paprika, grilled vegetables, and many herbs. The Argentines are very good at creating foods with complex flavors. Our chef was no exception. OK, these things taste great. But, making them certainly isn’t as easy as it looks. Our group was less than supportive as my every attempt at rolling up the edge of the dough into the perfectly twisted seal failed miserably. My only consolation was that Lisa was only marginally better than I was. For our friends expecting empanadas when you visit, watch for the Trader Joe’s version.

The chefs ready to teach their eager subjects.

The, uh, eager subjects.

Myla helping to make the veggies for the empanadas.

Chef folding his empanada perfectly.

Our group struggling to do what chef just showed us.

Lisa’s art work.

Wine Tasting

The next morning we arose for a full day of hiking, biking, horseback riding and, of course, wine tasting. Lisa and I were really looking forward to the activity because, to be truthful, we have been consuming many more calories than we’ve been burning. We couldn’t remember the last time we had been hungry. We drove over to the Uco Valley. It sits between the foothills and the Andes and is considered the Napa Valley of Argentina. While the roads are not yet very developed — many are still dirt — the wine industry is revving up. We hiked, biked, and had a wonderful picnic overlooking the valley. We then headed over to one of the prominent wineries in the region for a tasting.

Grape vines were brought to Mendoza 500 years ago by the Europeans. So winemaking isn’t new to the region. But, for many years it was a local industry. During the mid-1900s winemaking ramped up but the quality was less than desirable. They started to improve the quality in the 1970s, but, the region took a major hit in what was known locally as the “Beer Crisis”. Sounds innocuous enough, but, when Argentines began switching to other drinks, such as beer, the industry nearly collapsed (Brad Collins, we blame you). Many old vintners simply went out of business. But, in the end, this worked out well for the region as new winemakers moved in with a resolve to improve the quality. By the late 1990s Mendoza was becoming known throughout the world. And, when the dot com bubble burst, the global recession and devalued peso allowed the vintners to sell their high-quality product to other countries at a great price. Malbec, the dominant grape in the region had been used by the French as a blending grape in their Bordeaux wines. But the Argentines turned it into a global phenomenon as a grape that could stand on its own.

Lisa and I overlooking the Uco Valley.

Our traveling companions

The Hikers

Picnic Lunch

Gorgeous Setting for Lunch

Traditional Argentine Dancers and Musicians at Lunch

After lunch, we went to a local winery named Piattelli. The wine was exceptional and the winemaker was a joy to talk to and learn from. The best part of the experience was learning a new wine-tasting game! All we will tell you is that it involves blind tasting wine, placing bets, and winning prizes. You can look forward to playing this game at our house at an upcoming party!

The Piattelli Winemaker giving us a tour

Blind Wine-Tasting Game.

Lisa and Sonja trying to guess their wine.

Lisa is not too happy about Dugald beating her out at the end of the game!

We still had one more excursion in us this evening before the day was done. A group of us went to the restaurant 1884 in the town of Mendoza. 1884 is run by renowned chef Francis Mallman and has been voted one of the best restaurants in Argentina. The food was delicious although the portion sizes could have fed four people with each serving. The best part of the evening was being able to dine with Dana Wilke, a family friend from Danville, who is studying abroad here with a program with UC Davis. She is just starting her program and has plans to have a wonderful adventure here while taking five classes entirely in Spanish. All in all, we loved Mendoza and could easily spend a few more days here discovering all that this area has to offer.

Dinner at 1884 with Dana Wilke