Argentina Trip in 2010

I would like to conclude this review of my wine trip to Mendoza, Argentina with an overview of the vineyards (see previous postings for winery details). In all my travels to the wine regions of the world, I have come to recognize that the soul of a wine is within the vineyard. It is the source of all great wines, and each place on earth is quite different and special. This is also true of Argentina -- especially Mendoza with its desert-like climate, sandy soils, and reliance on the snow in the Andes for water. During our welcome orientation, we [...]

(Sept. 4, 2010)We had an appointment for a winery tour and lunch at Ruca Malen Winery, but when we arrived the hospitality manager recommended we have lunch first because the dining room was filling up quickly. In fact the restaurant is so popular they were completely booked for the weekend, and had reservations through next April 2011. Once we were seated, I could see why it was so popular. The dining room was small, but is located inside a glass room in the vineyards with a view of the Andes. Once again the menu was amazing – a 5 course [...]

(Sept. 4, 2010) The next day (my last day) dawned bright and sunny – of course! After a late and leisurely breakfast, I went into the spa and did a few exercises before checking in for my 9:30 massage. Both Patricia and Angelica had encouraged me to schedule one, and I was very pleased I did. The masseuse was excellent, with very soothing long strokes, and the cost was amazing at 150 pesos, or $35 US. At 11am, Jimena and her finance arrived to take Isabelle and I to Bodega Catena Zapata. Neither of us had ever visited this very [...]

(Sept. 3, 2010) After my 90 minute nap, I hit the gym and hot tub at Club Tapiz before getting ready for dinner. We had dinner reservations at 1884 in Mendoza, but everyone was so full from finishing lunch at 5:30 that we cancelled and scheduled a 9:30 dinner at the Club Tapiz Restaurant instead. Four of us attended (Yerco from Chile, Isabel from Spain, Nelson from Buenos Aires and me). As you can imagine, not speaking Spanish was an issue, but they were all kind enough to include me in the conversation and speak a combination of English and [...]

(Sept. 3, 2010) The Uco Valley is 120 kilometers south of Mendoza. After driving for about 90 minutes, we turned down a dirt road and eventually arrived at the large and impressive gates of O. Fournier Winery. Beyond the gate was one of the most impressive and unusual wineries I have ever seen in terms of architecture. It looked like a spaceship landing site in the middle of the desert with the soaring Andes rising behind as a backdrop. The winery was started in 2000 by Jose Manuel Ortega and his wife. They are originally from Spain, and also have [...]

(Sept. 3, 2010) We departed Tapiz around12:30 and drove south to the Uco Valley passing many vineyards and small towns. During the drive, Gonzalo introduced us to the custom of drinking mate. He filled his mate (small cup made of a gourd with silver rim and a silver straw – see photo) with a dried green substance that looked like tea. Indeed it is similar tasting to green tea, but has a smoky edge and high caffeine. He filled the cup almost to the top with the green mate mixture, and then poured a small amount (perhaps ¼ cup) of [...]

(Sept. 3, 2010) After a filling breakfast of coffee, eggs, and croissants at the Club Tapiz Resort, we climbed into the van and drove a short distance to the modern Bodega Tapiz winery. It was a very cold and cloudy morning, but the 8 of us were quite excited because it was a winery fieldtrip day. Arriving at Club Tapiz, we were greeted by the hospitality manager and invited to go on a horse-carriage ride through the vineyards. Four of us climbed aboard and covered up with blankets made of llama wool. We were able to view the malbec vines [...]

(Sept. 2, 2010) After the forum, we had time for a 45 minute break at Club Tapiz Resort, and then we climbed back into the van for the short drive to Bodega Norton. I was very much looking forward to this dinner, because Bodega Norton produces my husband’s favorite malbec – the Bodega Norton Malbec Reserve. He has been buying it for the last couple of years at Costco and is very impressed with the taste, price point ($13), and high scores it receives. We arrived at Bodega Norton around 9:30pm and were immediately greeted with a glass of sparkling [...]

(Sept. 2, 2010) During one of the breaks I was fortunate to be introduced to one of Argentina’s most famous winemakers, Roberto De La Mota. He produces a high-end brand called Mendel Malbec ($24, 90+ ratings), which I tasted on my last night in town. It was a very elegant malbec with fine-grained tannins; an excellent balance of ripe fruit, moderate French oak, med+ acid and 14% alcohol, and a long finish. I asked Roberto the secret of making great malbec, and he said it had to do with two things: picking the grapes at the right time and ensuring [...]

We arrived back at the resort around 11:30 and several of us decided to share a bottle of Argentine bubbly in the sitting room near the fire. It was 100% chardonnay with an Extra Brut dosage, making it sweeter than I prefer, but I noticed that many of their sparklings were like this. Apparently they sell almost 100% of the sparkling wine to their domestic market and export very little of it. After only 5 hours of sleep, it was time to get ready and depart for the 6th International Wine Forum to which all of us had been invited [...]

(Sept. 1, 2010) After another short rest we were transported to Nieto Senetiner Winery for what the Argentineans refer to as a “Cocktail” dinner, but which is actually a stand-up affair with many small dishes (tapas) served over the course of the evening with plentiful wine. Dress was formal so I wore the one black cocktail dress I had brought on the trip. As we climbed into the van that was sent to collect us, it started to snow very softly. It was dark when we reached the winery around 9pm, but the large reception room was warm and bright [...]

(Sept. 1, 2010) Club Tapiz is both a winery and a resort which is set in the middle of vineyards with a stunning view of the snow-capped Andes. It is a charming adobe building with 7 rooms which open onto a central courtyard (see photo). Complete with gourmet restaurant, swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, exercise room and a spa where they give great massages for $150 Argentina pesos (about $38 US); it was a wonderful place to stay for 3 nights. Luis helped us to our rooms, encouraged us to rest, and said he would see us at dinner that [...]

(Sept. 1, 2010) I arrived in Mendoza safely and was met by Luis, CEO of Norton Winery. He also collected Yerco, a viticulture professor from Chile, at the same time and then drove us to our hotel, Club Tapiz. Luis was incredibly charming and welcomed us both to Argentina with much interesting information on the wine industry. As we departed the airport, I realized it was quite small, with only one terminal. It was a cloudy winter day in the mid-50 degrees with rain in the forecast. Mendoza has approximately 600,000 people and is nestled at the base of the [...]

(Aug. 31, 2010) It’s an extremely long trip from San Francisco to Mendoza, Argentina, and there doesn’t seem to be any quick way to arrive. Most every connection that was affordable included changing planes 3 times. As it turned out, I was not given a choice on which airline or route to follow as my tickets were purchased by my hosts. Therefore I ended up on a LAN 9-hour flight from SFO to Lima, Peru that landed a little after midnight (3 hour time change from the West Coast). It was my first time to fly LAN—the airline of South [...]