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Published: March 20th 2006
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hello all!...i hope this finds everyone doing well and enjoying the start to a fabulous spring (at least in the EEUU)!
after a few days back in the lovely buenos aires for some much needed r&r..and one suburb U2 show, i jumped on an overnight bus for the 14 hour trip to mendoza.
some of you may be familiar with the name mendoza, as it can be found proudly marking the labels of delicious malbec's, cab's, and merlot exports. i was excited to spend a few days exploring the infamous "wine region" of argentina, and arrived early morning and found my way to a cute little hostel,called Hostel Alamo, located off one of the main plazas. rick and paul (friend meet in BA, but lives in chicago!) were due to arrive later in the day, and we ended up having a fun two days of wine tasting, vineyard hoping, and just general laid back gastronomic recreation.
mendoza is located in western argentina, snuggled up to the andes, and as it turns out, is also smack in the middle of a desert. the mild climate, with little rain, sunny days, cool nights, and controllable irrigation, apparently makes it perfect for producing
museo del vino - la rural
amazing what they could produce using very modest equipment made of natural resources (wood, cow hide, etc..) some of the world's best wine, namely "malbec" for which the region is most widely known. i was expecting a small, quaint town, similar to the napa/sonoma regions of northern california, however mendoza is actually quite large, supporting a large university and about 1 million residents. it still maintains the aurea of small town, however, situated around 5 main plazas that are all connected with a maze of broad, tree-lined streets.
most of the bodegas (vineyards) are located a short 10 minute ride outside of town, in an area called maipĂș...which can be reached via a quick cab ride, or for the more adventurous souls, a 40km bike ride. despite the many "tours" offered by local agencies, we opted for our own "amy-rick-paul" version, navigated by resident viticulture expert, our own paul conway....and traversed with the help of a few somewhat sketchy cab drivers. although all of us being athletically minded souls, 40km on even a stationary bike after a few rounds at the vineyards seemed like a little to much to take on.
the excursion began at bodega la rural, with a highly informative castellano (spanish) tour of the bodega, followed by a group wine tasting. la
puente del inca
my spanish vocab dealing with mineral and chemical substances is still in the works, so i am not exactly sure why or how this was formed..but its one of two exsiting naturally made bridges in the world. chemicals/minerals in the water formed the bridge and amarillo coloring :-) rural has a nice museum showcasing the original procedure of cultivating and producing wine, as well as a modern plant, where we were able to get up close and personal with the machinery and various steps in the wine-making process. afterwards, we were treated to a tasting...an experience very similar to napa/sonoma, however all free..and all in spanish 😊 the next stop was bodega vina del cerno, another quaint vineyard in maipĂș, where we decided to skip the tour, and just enjoy a bottle of wine, while soaking up the bodega's scenery.
day 2, and probably my favorite, was a personal tour (thanks to paul's 'connections') of bodega benegas. started by one of the first 'pioneers' of the argentinian wine industry, tiburcio benegas, bodega benegas produces the only 100% cabernet franc in the region, as well as a host of other very nice blends. the benegas lineage brands have been named after his children: Tiburcio, Juan, Carmela, and Clara...with newly created "Lola" about to hit the shelves..:-) Benegas has been experiencing strong growth over the past few years, and the United States is one of its top exporters. keep an eye out for benegas to make its way to a
wine list near you!
http://www.bodegabenegas.com/
we unfortunately just missed the yearly "vendimia" or wine festival, held the weekend before (first weekend of march), where the beginning of the year's harvest is celebrated and reportedly 30,000 people come from all over the globe to help celebrate. after chatting with a few other friends, who did manage to make it, the festival seems to basically be a big "beauty pageant", focused on selecting the year's new Harvest Queen...complete with a huge parade (if you miss it friday, don't worry...they do the whole thing over again on saturday), big flat bed trucks showcasing each "queen candidate" and her entourage, and apparently also involves lots of throwing of whole fruits (watch out for flying bananas!).......maybe we'll make it "next" year!
my last day spent in mendoza consisted of a full day tour of the surrounding mountains and points of interest. bravely choosing the spanish version, and actually only one of very few non-argentinian or chilean passengers (which was nice!)...we set off in a big bus, complete with a microphoned "tour leader" and frequent stops to practice our photography skills. picture a bus, with about 20 people, and then a fast forward /
in two places at once
one of the guides and i are standing with one foot in chile and one foot in argentina! don't tell the border police...:) rewind button...getting off, getting on, getting off, getting on. we were a very polished crew by the tours end! actually, in all my sarcasm, there is a lot to see and do in the surrounding mendoza area. the mendoza river is a great place for rafting excursions and fly fishing and the impressive aconcagua mountain is right on the border of argentina and chile, only a few hours away. we also traveled through the uspallata valley (location of filming for 7 years in Tibet) and stopped at the "puente del inca" - a completely natural bridge formed in the mountain valley. i was informed this is one of only two natural bridges in the entire world...the second being in Yosemite National Park!
overall, it was a fun and informative day and a nice excursion out of the city.
from here the journey continued through the 3 layers of andes ranges and into santiago for a few days, before making my way thru northern chile and crossing over into the salt flats of bolivia...stay tuned!
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rick
non-member comment
drag show!
you forgot to mention the drag show!!!!!!!!!!!! sounds like your last day and side trips were fun.