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Published: November 30th 2006
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Some dusty bottles
At Finca Fleichman, they keep a certain number of bottles from each batch they make. Some date back to so long ago that they're long since undrinkable. The first night in Mendoza, we went to 1884 Francis Mallman for dinner, located in the Bodega Escorihuela. The place was stunning - old architecture and what must have been 30 foot ceilings. The bar was so inviting that we decided to stop there for some champagne even though our table was ready. Surprisingly enough, we sat next to a man from Kentucky, so it was nice to hear a familiar southern accent after hardly hearing any English for 2 weeks. After that we moved into the dining room, complete with old marble floors and high-backed chairs… the place definitelygot an A+ for atmosphere. It also got an A+ for the cuisine we decided, after tasting our meals. Harold stayed true to the Argentine tradition and had a delicious steak dinner, while Molly opted for the chicken, having reached her beef capacity for about the next two years. It was a great evening - and the best meal we had all trip. Or course we forgot our camera, so alas, no pics!
2nd day - Mendoza
We woke up early and went to meet our driver for the day, who was going to take us to several different wineries
throughout the region. He didn’t speak much English, so our attempts at pleasant conversation fell a little flat. However we did manage to learn that all of the vineyards and their trees are supported by the same irrigation system of canals as in the city of Mendoza. Hundreds (maybe thousands?) of these canals were built ages ago to carry all the runoff from the Andes to water the fields. Without the canals, the lush wine country would virtually be a desert. Instead, it’s filled with grape vines and olive trees, and some funny looking tree whose name we never figured out - but all its branches grew straight up, so it gave the impression of being scared to death. We rode out into the heart of the wine country, which was beautiful and rustic. The anti-Napa, there was no traffic, no specialty grocery stores, nor any busses full of drunk tourists. We were beginning to think we were in the wrong place…
We arrived at the first winery, Finca Flichman, which was established in 1873! A gorgeous place, the owners had taken pains to preserve the original buildings, so lots of the cellars and the tasting room where we
stood were really old with beautiful brick work. After taking the tour, which was actually very informative, as well as informal as we were the only ones there, we settled in to taste some wines in one of the old buildings. They were delicious, and in lieu of the breadsticks that they serve in California, we were offered cheese, almonds, and raisins which was a nice change!
Our next appointment was at the Familia Zucchardi, the largest of the family-run vineyards in Mendoza. Unlike Napa where you can pop in and out of wineries without a set plan, here you had to make set appointments, and, apparently, do the tour at every one. A little monotonous, but you felt like it would be rude not to do it. Typical American - we don’t care about the wine making process, we just want to drink!! So we indulged them and did all of the tours. If anyone is interested in the wine making process, by the way, we can fill you in STEP BY STEP.
Lunch was definitely the highlight. We had a 6-course meal at Almacen del Sur, which was fantastic. Note in the picture below how they
More irrigation canals
It is wild to think that runoff from the Andes supplies all the water for the millions and millions of grapevines in the wine country. paid homage to the Crimson Tide! Obviously they knew Harold was coming. Molly was a little unnerved when the main course turned out to be Bunny, but it just tasted so good that she soon forgot about Peter Cottontail and the Velveteen Rabbit, and dug in. Mmmm… bunny….
We visited one more vineyard before leaving - the Crème de la Crème, apparently. Coincidentally, there was a couple from Atlanta on our tour who lived in Sandy Springs - small world. To reward ourselves for enduring yet another tour, we both opted for flight tastings at the end. It was such a nice day that we brought them outside and basked in the sun, the Andes hovering above us and the vineyards spread before us. Absolutely stunning scenery!
We were beat by the time we arrived back at the hotel, about 45 minutes later, so took a quick nap. That evening we sat at a café outside on the pedestrian street in Mendoza, and had a bunch of beef empanadas for dinner before calling it a night. Have got to learn to make those things.
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