The Vines of Mendoza

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The Vines of Mendoza was a unique tasting room we discovered within the first day of arrival to this magnificent city. More than a typical wine bar, the Vines of Mendoza offers various services from private reserve tastings from boutique vineyards to wine & cheese pairing evenings.

Our first encounter was a special private reserve tasting of the "Las Reservas de Argentina" set in an intimate modern dining room. Our educator was very passionate and knowledgeable about wine. Argentina only offers Argentinian wine, therefore citizens know their product. The Vines selects and serves over 90 special, small production wines by the guided flight, glass and bottle.

Our educator informed us about altitude, climate conditions and the different regions in the province (note there is the city of Mendoza and the province of Mendoza). The Uco Valley is 1000-1200m above sea level, so it is quite colder than other areas. Wines from this area display more earthy, mineral, herbal tones than other regions. In Maipu, a warmer climate, the wines display more fruity characteristics, since there is more sun exposure. I noticed that the altitude of a vineyard is printed on most restaurant menus. We don't have this feature on Canadian menus, but it was a nice feature to assess the climate of the region if one was unfamiliar with it. We learned that the white grape, Torrontés, was grown in the North, in the province of Salta. Among the wines we tasted, my favorites were the "Poesia" from 2002, a 60% Malbec and 40% Cabernet blend and the "Pulenta Estate" Gran Cab Franc from 2005. The educator spoke highly of Michel Rolland, the influential Bordeaux-based oenologist, who has spent a lot of time influencing the Argentinean wine industry. Michel Rolland owns several vineyards in Argentina, namely, Clos de los Siete, which is available in Canada and one close to my palate!

The Vines is a buzzing social meeting place. We met some fellow Canadians (go Sherbrooke, Quebec!), a honeymooning couple from Britain (yay Alistair & Katy), and a couple from the States. We sipped on various glasses of white wine, including an herby Mounier 2007 Torrontés from Cafayate, Salta and a Lancatay 2005 Semillon from Barrancas, Maipu. The Mounier Torrontés was matched perfectly with goat cheese marinated in olive oil and rosemary. The late harvest Lancatay was paired with these little tasty treats made of dulce de batata (sweet potato), dulce de membrillo (quince) and goat's mozzarella. They melted in your mouth. I especially liked the Cavas de Crianza 2005 Malbec from Lujan de Cuyo. This lovely red was matched with goat cheese marinated in olive oil and oregano for over a month. I can't wait to do this at home! Another red we sipped on was the Gimenez Riili 2006, a young merlot from Vinedos de Maipu. This merlot was fruity and spicy, but not complex. In addition, the Vines chose a the Calvulcura 2004 for tasting, a blend of 60% merlot and 40% cabernet sauvignon from Vista Flores in the Uco Valley. This wine was aged 1 year in oak barrels and held 15% alcohol. Overall, the evening was a sumptuous event!


For our final evening in Mendoza, we met up with all of our friends to say farewell at the Winemaker's Night. Local winemakers shared their stories and their wines. It was a wine lover's dream all over again.

Magnificent!!! The Vines is a must if travelling to Mendoza.

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Photos

Vine Tree
Located in the centre of the open ceiling social/tasting area.

Dulce, dulce, dulce
These are the tasty treats of dulce de batata, goat's mozzarella and dulce de membrillo. Delish!

Comments

[Mian]

Origin
Hi I wonder from which country you both belong two. :) do u guys own a restaurant or guys just travel and write stuff.

[Cin and Galib]

Hi! We are Canadians.
We love to travel and would love to own a restaurant, but that is just a dream :)