Bikes and Wine (and Olives) in Maipu (Mendoza)

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This day was the super day we had been waiting for...biking through the vineyards. We (well let me say I (Irene) had this romantic notion of rolling hills, beautiful pastures, friendly roads, tranquil and inviting places to rest, bikes that cruise....well....it wasn't just that but still amazing and with plenty of character. We had some of the crappiest bikes ever, we were frequently on dirty, dusty, uneven roads, the vineyards were beautiful, but not in the way I expected, and there really weren’t many places to stop between places as it was scorching hot and the roads were dusty and frequented by garbage.

We were able to visit 2 vineyards and an olive oil factory. The Olive Oil factory was really interesting and I finally learned how complex, and labor- and product-intensive making olive oil is. I sampled so many things after the tour while Bob just watched and occasionally slopped up some bread with the 2 different types of olive oil they offered us.

We then went on to a smaller vineyard where we did a self-tour which allowed us to sample (not sure if it was allowed or not) the tasty grapes off the vines and to play around in the old vines. I was sooooo surprised at old and craggly and meandering a grape vine is. They are unlike any plant I have ever seen.

We then ate lunch at a great picnic table outside the tasting room where we ordered several different glasses of their wine and ate our lunch that we had bought before we left Mendoza...Bob had a half roasted chicken and some whole wheat rolls...me I of course had salami, olives (purchased from olive oil factory), cold empanadas, and cheese.

We ran into a British guy and he led us to this organic vineyard where we learned about cool methods they use to protect the grapes from disease and other disastrous things. We had a nice long tasting towards the end of the day, where we basically felt guilted into buying a bottle of wine....even though we did not have room to carry it.

We had a horrendous ride back to the bike shop where my front bike tire ran out of air and I finally gave up and Bob decided to ride it...he went a LOT faster than me, but still got caught behind a large truck, and run off the road once.

The whole way back Bob was really impressed and enjoyed the fact that so many people biked, of all ages and abilities. It just seemed that people came out of every nook and cranny to bike somewhere.

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Photos

Grapevine
Photo from our self-guided tour of the Carinae vineyard.

Olive oil factory old equipment
This is some of the equipment that was used in the olive oil manufacturing process in the past at Familia Araoz, the first stop on our Bikes 'n' Wines ('n' Olive oils) bike trip.

Olive oil production questions
Irene discussing the finer points of the production process with our tour guide.

Olive sample
Irene sampling the product.

Grapevines examination
Irene checking out the grapevines at the Carinae vineyard on our self-guided tour.

Varietal signs and irrigation
Irrigation courtesy of Rio Mendoza.

Irene sampling the pre-product
Irene helps herself to another free sample (recurring theme).

Early-warning flowers
At the Familia Cecchin organic vineyard, these flowers, planted at the end of each row, provide an early warning system against pest attacks on grapes.

Irene in the grape-stomping tub
What is she really doing?

Comments

[Kimarie]

Awesome
Awesome pictures, and entries guys! I'm really enjoying reading and learning more....and despite the sloooower than slow load time for pics, loving looking at them as well ;) Looks and sounds like a blast! Off to check out more!