Fine wine and dining

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Mendoza has been great, it reminded me a bit of Salta in its size and vibrant nightlife. I really have liked the Argentinan provincial cities, it has made me appreciate them more than I would have thought before the trip. Mendoza has charm in the form of one of Argentinas largest wine regions is hard no to like the place. The wine culture here in Mendoza is very strong. They love their wine and I think indirectly it employs a majority of the workforce in the city. We were told there is around 1000 vineyards in the surrounds and they really are just located on the cities fringes and outskirts.
The city had a massive main plaza, wide streets in a grid fashion with massive trees giving shade to the streets, as well as metre wide canals running on the sides which you have to watch out for and I'm sure more than one or two tourists have found themselves in them. We found a nice enough place called Hotel Windsor (90 pesos a night) on Plaza Chile, the staff there were nice and it seemed to have a laid back family feel about the place, even though it was a large building. We found Mendoza had many good restaurants and good deals to choose from. The people seemed friendly like most the Argentianians and the girls seemed to like to dress up and make themselves look good.
Funnily enough Mendoza does not get much rain, and our first three days was overcast with a little bit of rain, the first they had had for 4 months I was told. After out marathon 19 hours from Bariloche I took a rest as Deb got the last bit of sun we were to see for three days. We sauntered down to Plaza Independencia and the malled area of Saramiento and made use of the outdoor seating to have some empanadas and I sampled the Andes beer which seems quite popular here, it is not as good as the Quilmes to me but I thought I better give it a chance. We headed out to the lively Av Villanueva and Deb and I indulged in a couple of the most delicious iced margaritas out on the street. Feeling great after our cocktail hit we went to a popular place for dinner where I had the Bife de Chorizo and I have to say it was a bit too well done for me. I'm sure they are use to foreigners asking to make it crispy. Deb also had a steak and we washed it down with a nice wine from Mendoza. I am still questioning why there are not more fat people in Argentina? We then went to a bar for a quick drink before calling it a night, and again just seeing how the Argentinians really don't start a night out until well past midnight. I also had to be up for some whitewater rafting on the Mendoza river.
The rafting was good, but really cold. It was class 3-4 rapids and the river carves its way through the mountains, the water was browny in colour and moves pretty quick. There were 4 of us on my boat plus a guide. I came off once as we got stuck in part of the rapid and were hit by the boat behind. It was really shallow, I hit the bottom, it was really smooth, I am pretty use to water so I didn't have any worries, I stuck my hand up, lost grip and the next time I put my hand up I felt the bottom of the boat. Now I was becoming a little concerned. The water was pretty quick so it wasn't that easy to get stable, but I stuck my hand up again and was soon being hauled up on the boat and ready to go again. The rafting was fun, it is a good buzz when you hit the rapids and get thrown up and down. The water was freezing though and unfortunately we had no sun. Even with wetsuits and jackets it was cold, and once we finished I was a little concerned that I was enjoying the hot shower more than the rafting, but I think that may have just been at the time.
We went out for dinner again on the Sunday night to Senor Buque, it was a lovely restaurant. I had the parrillada which was the mixed grill of meats. I passed on the kidney and their black pudding was not too nice either. I'll have to wait till we're back in Ireland for that.
Monday was again a bit dreary, we had coffee and cake before heading to Parque San Martin, but it was hard to enjoy without the good weather, the Tuesday was a holiday so Deb took to the shops to take a look around and I did a trip to the Andes. I thought it would be more trekking but it was mostly driving, it was on Route 7 out to Chile. We saw a few nice sites, you could see the Andes rise from the flat of Mendoza, actually 3 different ranges we were told, we viewed an old colonial bridge lost in time and the mountain scenery was different, plenty of shrubs and different colours of reds, yellows and browns. As we climbed I found it again different to the northern Andes as the snow and icer appear at about 3500m. We went to Parque Aconagua where we went for a walk and went to the Mirador to view the massive Aconagua (6962m). The highest peak outside the Himalayas. It didn't look as big as I thought but we were a long way from it. Carrying on we went to Puente del Inca. A natural bridge that crosses the Mendoza river, the rock walls are stained yellow from the sulphur and there are ruins of some old baths that were built in to the mountain.
It was a long day but I still managed to make an appearance at Senor Buque, Deb had some pasta and I had a lovely kebab and we topped it off with some lovely ice-cream at the parlour on the corner.
On Wednesday we had a brilliant day, we did a wineries tour, it was fascinating to learn about the wine industry and Mendoza and particularly in that Mendoza is famous for its Malbec (A red wine grape from France that grows much better in the Mendoza climate and soils) and how different parts of Mendoza are renowned for having different types of wine, we learnt about young wines, old wines, french oak, american oak and different types of grape growing. It really as an eyeopener into the complexity of wine.
We first visited a medium sized winery called San Huberto (about 5 million litres annually) in the Lujon de Cuyos area of Mendoza which is renowned for its red wine. We visited the vineyard, the fermentation vats and the cellar. It was very informative and we both didn't realise how much went in to the wine making process. We then tried 7 different wines, including the Malbec. Some were nice, others not so, but it was a great visit none the less. Second stop was to a small organic operation in the Maipu area of Mendoza. It was family owned by the Cecchin family. We had lunch there, delicious empanadas and steak before testing a few of their wines (hangover free we are led to believe). The grounds of the vineyard were very pretty, it was a relaxed setting and the place really managed to maintain a family feel. We briefly visited a small place that made all different flavours of liquor, jams, chocolates etc. We got to try many, they even made their own absynth at 75% alcohol, Deb picked up a bottle of the hazelnut chocolate liquor.
We made our final stop to the Zuccardi Familia, one of the biggest wineries in Argentina. It was massive. Santa Julia is one of the lines of wine produced there. It is very commercial and we visited a few of the rooms with vats (much more modern than the others). We even met the owner who happened to be with some clients. He seemed very happy to say hello. We did a bit more testing but were starting to feel the effects of a long day indulging in wine testing. I think I preferred the smaller places, they just seem a bit more quaint and laid back, but I guess you need these big wineries to pick up the wines we can get for 3.99 at Tesco. We visited a chocolate factory to finish but we were exhausted but managed one more margarita and a final bottle of Malbec at the Believe Irish bar.
We are now leaving Argentina, Deb has fallen in love with the place, for us it provided so much to offer, the big city of BA, the stunning and wild Patagonia and the surprising provincial towns of Salta and Mendoza. It was modern, cultural, and had the most lively nightlife we have encountered in all of South America. We have really had a brilliant time here and Deb has now taken them on as her team for the World Cup next year after a certain Frenchman forgot that it was called football and thus eliminated Ireland from the World Cup. A sad farewell and we are now really coming towards the end of South America, only a week left. Will try our best to enjoy the last of Chile but we are almost already thinking about OZ.

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