Journey inside the Argentinian wine region: Mendoza and San Rafael

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I really like my time spent in Mendoza and San Rafael. They are famous, because it’s the main wine region of the country. Most of the wines that you will buy in Argentina will come from Mendoza provincia and will be a Malbec or a Cabernet Sauvignon. The landscapes in those regions are nice with the big fields of vineyards.



I had already tasted Argentinian white wine in Buenos Aires and in San Juan, and I really liked their taste, so I was looking forward to go to that province to taste more of it.



In Mendoza, I didn’t manage to do a wine tasting in a Bodega, as they weren’t close to the city center. I however went at night to the closing ceremony of the yearly wine festival of Mendoza –Fiesta de la Vendimia-. I went there with Lucia and her friends and we looked at it from the top of a hill. The show was telling the story of the arrival of wine in the region and everything linked to it up to nowadays. I couldn’t understand everything, as it was the beginning of my trip in Argentina and my Spanish wasn’t very good. I however really liked hearing the traditional music and seeing the traditional dances. I also enjoyed the festive atmosphere of this festival, with lots of people coming to the top of the hill to see the end of the festival.



Mendoza is with Buenos Aires, the city that I preferred in Argentina. I felt the atmosphere and the charm of this medium sized city. I could mostly enjoy it because of Lucia, who is another couchsurfer living there and who gave me a tour of the city. I had such a nice time with that amazing girl. I wish I could have stayed longer there with her.



From Mendoza, I went to San Rafael, which is considered a small Mendoza for wine. As the city was smaller, it was easier for me to visit a bodega. That’s what I did on the morning I was in San Rafael. I visited the bodega La Abeja, which is the oldest bodega in San Rafael. There, I could learn that it was a French family, which created this bodega. After the visit, I did a wine tasting. I was obviously doing the visit for this mostly 😉 We could taste 3 different Cabernet Sauvignon: 2 sweet ones, wine and red and a dry red one. I really like the 2 sweet ones but I didn’t like so much the dry red wine. It will be mostly the case here in Argentina; except once, when I will taste a very good Malbec in Sarmiento.



To conclude, as in South Africa, I really like discovering the wine of Argentina, which is really good and much cheaper than in France. So, Argentinian wines after amazing landscapes is a very good reason to visit this country.

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Comments

[FABRE]

visit of la bodega La Abeja
Excellent compte-rendu sur cette visite de la Bodega La Abeja. Il est vrai, aussi, que les vins argentins sont fameux et valent bien des vins français. Merci à cette" chroniqueuse" Natacha. Claude et Cécile