The Uco Valley

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We drove south from San Juan headed to the Valley de Uco, the largest expanse of vineyards in the country. But before we left we thought it was important to leave an offering for safe travel to one of the many shrines to the Difunta Correa. Hope she takes care of us and the car the rest of the way. Clearly she was on our side as writhing a few miles of the offering we found a stand full of ripe melons and picked one up for later.



We traveled south on the renowned Ruta 40 yet again, passing through but not stopping at Mendoza. But the smell of the Sunday asados was over powering so we pulled over and picked up a bag of empanadas and then some grilled beef and chicken and had an Argentine picnic roadside.



Our target was Eugenia Bustos, a small town on the edge of the Uco Valley. Arriving late afternoon we walked around the village, especially enjoying the town plaza. A feature of every village, town, and city, the plaza often commemorates a national hero and includes play spaces for children. In this one, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the place was crowded with teens, maybe this is where the cool kids hang out. Over two dozen of them, laughing, talking, just hanging out. We caught wind of some sort of local festival happening that evening and joined in the with community celebration of the Day of the Woman. Two live bands, food carts, kids running everywhere and playing on the park equipment.



During the trip we have stayed at a lot of great places, not so tonight. The room was fine and the host friendly, but you don't travel to Argentina to sit out in an alley during the starlit nights. On Monday we paid for both nights we had booked, figuring it was only fair, and headed to some new digs on Finca Clementina, a small fruit farm with two bungalows.



The owner was not there when we arrived, they do not check email very often and so missed our reservation made the night before. But the house keeper called over a friend, Mercedes, who spoke fluent English and helped us reserve lunch and a wine tour at the Casa de Uno, where her husband Daniel works. Daniel greeted us like we were old friends and helped us plan the next couple of days. Today we had lunch at the Casa Hotel--great salads, vegetables, and trout--while gazing out over hectors of vineyards with the Andes rising behind them.



From lunch we went to the wine tour of the Casa, perhaps the best we have had so far. Andre took us first to the vineyards and pulled bunches of grapes from various varieties to smash in our fingers and eat to see where the wine starts. He wanted us to taste the different flavors and see the various colors when the grapes were smashed. There were pits dug between the arbors that we could get down into and see the different types of soil and how they lead to different types of grapes. (For example, did you know that the 'strongest' flavored grapes, the ones with the most tannin, grow in the worst soil? It means the plant is trying to make better seeds due to the poor condition.) He explained how in the valley they have 300 or more days without rain, and only 250cm of rain all year. Thus, they control how much water the grapes get and further controlling the nature of the grapes.



Then on to the bodega where they make the wine. Lucky us, they were just starting the first Malbec of the year! The winemaker was there, sorting through boxes of grapes, choosing which were going into this particular vintage, and then the grapes were dumped on the first processor, one that took the grapes from the stems. Since were were there and looked like we would not mess it up, Bill and I got to help sort out the random leaves that were in the grapes. This is an organic operation and they are doing some unique things. One is that they only use natural fermenting agents, the yeast and bacteria that exist in the grapes. Their wine, as they like to say, is 'just grapes.' Another feature is that in the fermentation tanks they start with a layer of just the grape, the middle layer is grapes and stems (for the flavor and bacteria), and the final layer is another one of just grapes. When we tasted the wine the difference from the other Malbecs we have had was clear, a bit more fruit forward flavor with not as much pepper in the back....OK, I kind of made that up.



One more thing, if you like, they have an ownership plan where you too can be a wine maker. For $150,000 and a yearly service fee of $7,000 you can own a hector of the vineyard (2.2 acres). This land will produce about 700 bottles of wine a year that you can keep or sell with your own label or you can just sell the grapes for about $13,000 a year. Don't worry, Marcia, I left the check book at home.



On Monday we visited another winery, La Azul.



On the way there we asked a couple of gauchos who were riding along the road if I could take their photo. Not only did they oblige, but one jumped off his horse and insisted I climb aboard for a picture.



La Azul is a boutique winery that produces some very fine wine as well as grapes and peaches that it sells to other producers. It is one of the few wineries that is all-Argentine owned and the only one that has two female wine makers. Of course, it would be redundant to say that the wines were good. They also, like Casa Uco, make a 'just grapes' wine, and the process yields more of a citrus flavor with overtones of grapefruit (ouch, I am getting to be a wine snob). Aside from the wine, I should point out that the tasting took place on the lawn under a willow tree with the Andes as a backdrop. It was about 70F here today, about 32F at home with snow. Lucky us.



After lunch another 'only in Argentina' events occurred. We were driving along and I spotted a couple of guys and a boy with fishing gear. Of course, I stopped. Turns out the small stream that runs through the area holds some nice trout and salmon, up to about 14". How do I know this, you may wonder, as I do not speak Spanish and these guys did not speak English. Well, we both spoke trout.



The three were a grandfather, son, and grandson, on a day the son had off from one of the wineries. They had a small fire going in the gravel berm of the road and were using the coals to roast a piece of beef and some potatoes on a small grill about three inches off the ground, yes, the classic asado. As we talked about fishing they passed around a cup made from cutting off the bottom four inches of a two liter water bottle. It was full of wine...but not for long.



Finally we begged off, but as we started to pull away the son, his name was George of course, called us back. He wondered if we would not please stay and share the meat. Despite the fact that we were still full from lunch it seemed too good to pass up. So we spent the next hour or so telling fish stories, admiring the Argentine landscape, and eating some of the best grilled beef I have ever had. One of my goals on my visits to Argentina has been to someday share a family asado. Who knew it would be on the side of the road on Ruta 89, with a family of fishermen. You just have to love this country and its people.



We finished the day with a horseback ride in the Andes, but that is another story for another blog...

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Photos

Roadside asado
Why cook any other way?

Fine wine in a plastic water bottle
No wine snobs here