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Published: February 12th 2008
The Vineyards of Mendoza
Argentina's beautiful wine capital.Our time in Argentina concluded with a week in Mendoza, a city that nestles in the shadows of the snow capped Andes. The Andes are the world’s longest mountain range and stretch down the west coast of South America for more than 7,000km, forming a natural barrier between the great rivals of Argentina and Chile. Their highest peak, Aconcagua, measures up at a towering 6,962 metres which isn’t much less than Everest.
Rather than go from the hurly burly of one city immediately into another, we opted to take a couple of days to relax in the Mendozian countryside first (I know that “relaxing” sounds ridiculous when we’re effectively on a year long “holiday” but all this travelling can really take it out of you!!). So, it was straight from the airport out into Mendoza’s countryside and to Chacras de Coria, a tiny town based around its beautiful, marble tiled plaza and not a lot else.
There we stayed at a “casona rural” (“Casona Rural” translates literally to country house and is a type of boutique hotel) called Lores de Chacras and it was a fantastic place. The patio doors from our room opened out on to its manicured
Our "Casona Rural" In Chacras de Coria
An idyllic hideaway perfect for a couple of days in the Mendozan countryside. gardens and we spent most of our time reading by the pool in serene isolation - except for Arturo. Arturo was a huge St Bernard who was as friendly a dog as you could wish to meet. Despite his enormous bulk and slightly scary appearance, he loved nothing more than sitting with us whilst being tickled behind his ear. Angela wasn’t too keen on him though as he drooled more than Hooch of “Turner and Hooch” fame and would become a little boisterous if he considered he wasn’t getting enough attention.
The most exercise we got in Chacras was when we borrowed two of the hotel’s mountain bikes (boy, the seats were uncomfortable!!) and set off for a couple of nearby bodegas to sample their wares. This was curtailed after just one visit though as; a) it was way too hot to be out cycling and b) the measures of sample wines provided were really big and we weren’t sure it was a good idea to be cycling in an Argentine town whilst under the influence.
After two days in Chacras, we made the short taxi journey to Mendoza city itself. Mendoza is about an hour and a
Our Friend Arturo
A lovely dog and good company - just don't stop fussing him!! half flight west from Buenos Aires and was our destination of choice mainly because it is the country’s wine producing capital. There are over 900 “bodegas” (wineries) in the area and the tourism they generate form an integral part of the city’s economy. The mountains are another major revenue stream as Mendoza is considered a gateway to The Andes and an industry has been built around skiing, climbing, white water rafting etc. Its population of around 1,000,000 makes it the country’s fourth largest city and our taxi driver proudly informed us that it numbers one tree for every human inhabitant. He was also at pains to point out the mansion where Brad Pitt lived whilst filming “Seven Years In Tibet” on location there.
Without doubt our best day in Mendoza was a full day wine tour of the region with a company called Trout and Wine (they do some fly fishing excursions as well). We chose Trout and Wine as they came highly recommended and also because their competition didn’t seem to be up to much. For example, one of the other operators (who obviously didn’t employ an international marketing consultant on start up) is the popular and wonderfully
They Say You Never Forget.............
.............how to ride a bike. I think there's a good chance we would have if we'd visited any more than one winery on our "do it yourself" sampling tour. named Wanka Viajes; this translates literally to “Wanka Travels” and we avoided them lest some of our less discerning readers feel it a more apt title for any blog involving my good self...........
Trout and Wine turned out to be a class act and, along with couples from Austria and the US, we visited some of the regions premium bodegas. We’ve been lucky enough to tour several wine regions around the world but I think when we’ve had time to reflect, this will one rank as our favourite. As already mentioned, Argentinian wine is fabulous and the guides at each of the bodegas went a long way to explaining this high quality. As labour is cheap, the process is an almost entirely human one rather than mechanical and barely any chemicals or pesticides are used in production.
Because of its European influences, Argentina has always produces vast quantities of wine but, up until recently, it was largely awful. However, tired of jealously looking over The Andes at the success its detested neighbour Chile was having in this industry, they decided to invest heavily in it themselves. Some of the best winemakers from France, Spain etc were brought over
A Wine Tour In Style
"Trout and Wine" provided us with a wonderful day, one we're sure their unfortunately named competitor would struggle to match. about five years ago and the improvement has been spectacular. The bodegas are also becoming more commercially aware and, as they get their acts in order, they will be exporting more of their wares - that’s great news for the rest of the world.
It seems amazing that plant life of any kind flourishes in Mendoza’s semi desert climate, but the Mendocinos can thank the ancient Huarpes tribe for that. They invented a system of irrigation way ahead of its time that allowed the melting snow from the mountains to be collected and used to water their crops. This method was then improved by the Spanish settlers in the 16th century and their legacy is, not only well watered vineyards, but also that every city street has small, cobbled canals running down each side ensuring the survival of the trees that line them.
The highlight of our wine tour was a five course gourmet lunch at the beautiful Ruca Malen bodega. There, the dining room’s huge picture windows allowed for breathtaking views out across the vineyards with the snow covered Andes beyond them looking almost close enough to touch. Each course was served with a delicious wine individually
The First Day Of The Harvest
All looks calm here but around the corner it was actions stations at the Pulenta Winery. Our timing was perfect as we'd arrived at the very start of this years production. selected to compliment it and the food was exceptional. (The main dish? Steak, of course!!).
Everyone was full of bonhomie by the time we arrived at our fourth and final winery. There we were greeted on the steps of its impressive building by a bubbly young lady thrusting a glass of ice cold Sauvignon Blanc into our hands. The place was bustling with activity and excitement as we’d arrived on the first day of the seasons harvest and transient workers from all over Argentina were working flat out to collect and process the grapes. Eventually, we said our goodbyes as we were dropped off back in the city and expended our last remaining bit of energy by collapsing on a sun bed beside the hotel’s pool.
Our time in Argentina was almost up now, but there was still enough time to cause a security alert. Now, you may not know this but it seems just about country we’ve been to operates in a sink bath plug free world, simply allowing water to drain away whilst the tap runs. This makes washing up etc more difficult and showers become the norm as baths are, obviously, out of the question.
Wine Tasting Is Serious Stuff
For some people maybe, but for us it's just a great day out. A chance to see the beautiful surroundings, sample excellent food and drink and meet interesting people from around the world. On this occasion however, I had my heart set on a cool, deep bath to unwind after a hard days wine tasting.
I thought I’d done quite well on the phone with my request for “el tapon” (bath plug) from reception (thank goodness for Spanish English dictionaries), the Spanish I used during the call being at least as good as Del Boy’s French.......... It was a shock, therefore, when within a minute of hanging up our door was being hammered on by a panic stricken hotel employee anxiously hopping from foot to foot. It took a lot to calm him and convince that we were safe and not under siege in our room. When we replayed the phone call after his departure, we could only think I’d inadvertently used a word like “attack” or “convict” but we did establish that I said “escape” several times (as in “to stop the agua escaping” ..................). We never did get the plug.
We sheepishly checked out of the hotel the next morning and made our way to the airport. We’d had a fantastic 5 weeks in Argentina and grew very fond of its unique and relaxed lifestyle. It’s a country that
Lunch With A View
It was fabulous to have lunch whilst looking out over the vineyards onto the snow capped Andes beyond. far exceeded our expectations and we left with a little reluctance but many fantastic memories and experiences. Every cloud has a silver lining though and it was now time to take a short flight over The Andes to our next destination - Chile.
p.s. Gnocchi update........................ For anyone interested, a friendly Argentinian has left a comment on the last blog entry with an explanation of how the term “gnocchi” became associated with Town Hall “shirkers”.............................
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ED
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Tevez really is a sh*t Maradonna
Hello there Senora and Senor Cotton. Hope you are both fine and dandy. Well what can I say except thank heavens for the wonders of the old tin-ter-net. David may be lying low in some South American safe house telling the locals he is a Wanderer's fan, but he is not beyond my comments on the game on Sunday ie the Manchester Derby. But I’m saying nowt of course Except If I was David I’d get back to Bar and buy myself a season ticket at the La Bombonera and watch some decent football. What with Christian ‘Angelina Ballerina’ Ronaldo throwing his self in a heap on the floor every 5 minutes and Paul ‘the ginger prince’ Scholes whining for the whole game (Paul Scholes he scores goals yeah better keep practising with that cow’s arse and the banjo Paul). Anyways enough about that, but if you’re any where near Ecuador please tell the family of Felipe Caicedo that their boy did good when he came on. Love ED X ps when will you good people be visiting Cuba??