Argentina Wine Country: MENDOZA

We were told that Mendoza, southwest of Buenos Aires and a 2-hour flight, is a must-see for Argentina visitors and wine lovers alike. We were NOT disappointed. Though we typically drink full-bodied California Cabernets at home, we quickly learned that the wine of choice in Argentina, hands down, is the Malbec. Ironically, 'Malbec' literally means 'bad nose' in Spanish (you'd think they'd change the name at some point, no?). We found them to be rich, heavy, complicated, and delicious. In fact, we have yet to find one we didn't like. Even the less expensive varieties are very good.

We stayed at a small 12-bedroom house-turned-hotel attached to its own winery and vineyard. The weather was perfect - dry but not too hot. Our hotel organized private tours of four wineries over the course of two days and each day we had an unbelievable lunch (see Lee and spread in photo below). If you liked Napa Valley 15-20 years ago, you will LOVE Mendoza. There are vineyards on every side of the road and the background to these lush green farms is the snow-capped mountains bordering Chile. Incidentally, there is a huge rivalery between Argentina and Chile. Argentines are notorious for raising prices of their goods (particularly leather) for their Chilean neighbors. They are very protective of their wine, too, and will tell you that Chileans only have a small area of land optimal for wine.

On our first day in Mendoza, we met newlyweds from-- you guessed it -- Los Angeles (do you see a theme?)! We spent the day sharing multiple bottles of wine and dinner with them. It was a real treat and we look forward to connecting with them at home in a few months. It's truly a small world...

The wineries we visited were all different- we went to the following and highly recommend them:

• Carinae: Small boutique winery run by a French couple who decided to abandon their lives in Paris and try something different. They knew nothing about wine at the time but have managed to develop a very nice variety of wines.
  
• Cove de Cano: The lunch here was unlike anything we have ever experienced. They served us an enormous spread in the charming caves of the winery and all of the dishes had some variation of Malbec wine incorporated. We enjoyed Malbec-infused rice, grilled onions in Malbec, Malbec pears, and of course, lots of wine.
  
• Landelia: This winery has not yet opened to the public, but they walked us through the entire process of wine-making and we tasted all of their soon-to-be released varieties. It is owned by a Swiss businessman who started the project almost 10 years ago. Imagine 10 years without a profit!
  
• Familia Zuccardi: This is a the opposite end of the spectrum from Carinae. It's a very large operation. The winery is only about 60 years old (that's considered young) and all the machinery/equipment is modern and new. They are experimenting with new technologies and do very very well in terms of sales. Rather than tasting in the traditional fashion, they let us taste the wines straight from the gigantic stainless steele tanks.
  

We spent only 2 nights in Mendoza, and would love to return someday. We flew back to B.A. on Saturday night and are spending a quiet Christmas Day at our apartment. It's starting to dawn on us that we only have 2 weeks in Argentina left. Our mini-trips to Punta and Mendoza have been fantastic, and we have 2 more (Bariloche and Iguazu Falls) left before leaving the country.

We hope everyone's having a wonderful holiday at home. We miss our friends and family especially at this time, but luckily, we have Skype and email access. We wish you all a very happy and healthy 2007! Feliz fin de ano!