Malbec in Mendoza

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After calculating the travel time from all of our weekend excursions around the country, we´ve realized that we have really only been living in Argentina for 9 weeks. The 10th week has been spent watching the blurred countryside from bus windows. But with big reclining leather seats, Argentinean buses are both more comfortable and cheaper than flying to different parts of this huge country, and has given us the opportunity to see beautiful landscapes as well as the tremendous poverty that exists outside the European city centers. After 12 hours in transit, we arrived in Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina. Nestled at the foot of the Andes, the province became a mecca for wine when Spaniards learned that the mineral rich soil and cold nights provided ideal growing conditions for the finnicky Malbec grapes. The area has become the 8th largest wine producer in the world, and one of the few places where Malbec is produced. We visited the Zuccardi family vineyards, producers of award-winning Malbec and some other experimental wines. They are now the 2nd largest vineyard and winery in the province, and we got a tour of their huge state of the art equipment, sampling Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and of course, Malbec, straight from the barrels.

Earlier, we made our way downtown to one of the numerous ski rental shops, picking out magenta, gold and bright orange jumpsuits to keep us warm for our trip into the mountains. We watched in disbelief as they handed us plastic bags to wrap around our feet to keep them dry before pulling on the clunky boots that were designed to fit both feet, but seemed awkward on either. The next morning our bus left when it was still dark out, and as the sun came up, the mountain range grew larger as we approached the foothills. The sun cast a pink glow over the snow capped peaks, and after hours of winding through tunnels and mountain passes, we reached Puente del Inca, the ancient bridge that was used to get through the mountains to Chile. With hot springs, the area was also later used as a natural bath, until the house was destroyed in an avalanche. Down the road at the ski resort, many friends braved the cold and went up the mountain on the small rope-tows, using skis and boards they´d rented. As much as I craved to hit the slopes, I spent the day in the lodge by the fireplace with another group of people recovering from the cold that we´d all passed around on our long bus trip, watching people fall down the icy slopes. Even though it´s been one of the coldest winters in several decades, there was no fresh snow, and many people returned after just a couple runs.

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