After about a week, I was ready to leave the humidity of the jungle and head into the desert, although the wine had something to do with it. We had to transit through Buenos Aires one last time before finally arriving in Mendoza.
Mendoza
Despite Mendoza being known for wine, its only the 3rd biggest industry behind oil and fruit. I was impressed by the city itself, as they had really excellent planning for both heat management and earthquake considerations. Utilizing the indigenous methods of irrigation, between the streets and sidewalks ran deep trenches lined with stones or cement that would hold water run off from any rain that does fall.
This water is used to water the trees growing out of or next to these trenches, where the only dirt breaks the lining. None of these trees are native to this area but they all seem to have been thriving, and are very tall and leafy, keeping the streets of the city quite cool and pleasant.
None of the buildings are over 7 stories except for three 5-star hotels, one of which we visited one evening for a snack and beverage. It becomes more expensive for the insurance and requires proof that the design of the building can withstand earthquakes. The city also has many plazas, each themed differently and full of beautiful trees and some lovely fountains. Not only do these provide green space but they also are the meeting point after an earthquake. Emergency services and paramedics would station themselves in the plazas to help those harmed in the natural disaster. There is a main independence plaza and four themed ones surrounding, the coolest was the Spanish plaza with all the intricate tiles.
Most of the preplanning is thanks to a powerful earthquake in 1861, when they still used oil street lamps. It occurred in the night so not only did many buildings fall in the quake, but the lamps fell and caused the entire city to start on fire. The town was essentially leveled, but they rebuilt a better and safer city nearby.
Mendoza area receives less than 9 inches (230mm) of rain per year, which is not nearly enough to provide for human needs with the city now over 100,000 people, nor for the vineyards. However, as it is nestled next to the Andes, the snow melt from the mountain tops are captured in several reservoirs. About 50% is given to farmers for their crops, 30% is for human consumption, and the rest is doled out to other industries.
When we visited the wineries we learned that some use traditional ditches between rows to hold their water delivery that arrives every 7-30 days, depending on the season. Others have opted for a drip irrigation approach to reduce evaporation. We took three tours through Mendoza, two of them were wine focused and the last was a hike to see the tallest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere.
Beautiful Vineyards of the Uco Valley
We were picked up at our hotel and introduced ourselves to 5 other tourists excited for wine. Our guide explained some of the surrounding geography as we worked our way out of the city to the Uco Valley and the Tupungato wine region. We had great views of a few snow capped mountains, including the volcano. She explained how there are 2 ranges before you get to the true range of the Andes, which is in this area home to some of the tallest mountains in the Southern Hemisphere.
Our first winery was a small family winery, but by Argentina standards that means it produces less than 1 Million Liters per year. Argentina used to consume the equivalent of 80L per person per year, even kids would be given a finger of sweet wine mixed with sparkling water. However, in the 1970s when the world cup came to Mendoza, everything changed. Coca-Cola and Quilmes (a local Argentinian beer) were the sponsors, and suddenly there were more options including soda for the kids.
The first wine we tried was Torrontes, which is the only grape that is indigineous to Argentina. Right as we got out of the van he served it to us and I may have been first in line. We sat in a little patch of grass overlooking vineyards and the mountains in the shade, it was extremely peaceful. He told us about the history of their family winery and roles of his grown children in the business.
The next wine we tasted was a similar to a Moscato called Torrontés, but it’s known as a liar grape because it smells sweet and tastes dry. We walked through some of the vines seeing the drip irrigation and their 135m deep well. He talked about how their layout of the vines differs from some other wineries, to create more consistent sun between rows.
On the ends of rows are planted roses, lavender, or other aromatics because they are an early warning system for blights or other dangers. They use Kevlar netting not just for birds, but also to protect plants during hail season from November to March. He let us taste a few grapes on our way back into the building for the rest of the tasting.
One interesting thing about this climate is it is less susceptible than others to having a “bad year” for wine. Changes are small year to year, and if anything, it leads to a better year than the average. It is in these years the Grand Reserve might get harvested, even though it takes 12-13 years before it is ready for consumers.
Inside we were given a plate with several cheeses and other items for pairing or snacking between wines. Our first taste was Sauvingon blanc Grand reserve from 2019 that actually went to barrel. That is not common for this style of wine but it was very interesting. It almost had some notes of chardonnay but was maybe a bit less refreshing than I would expect for this variety. Next we had a Mairena from 1997 that was kept for the winery only. At the Wurstmarkt, Germany’s largest international wine festival it was selected for the official wine for Qatar Airways. Our last taste here was a blend from 2017 with 80% Malbec, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Bonarda which is another common grape grown in Argentina.
It was time to say goodbye as we headed to the next winery, which was a little bigger since it produces around 1 Million liters per year. When we entered down the steps we were flanked with several varieties of red grapes and entered a small grove of trees including olive and chestnut. This winery was started in 2007 with Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, but now have 6 reds and 3 whites.
Before our tour brought us through the processing areas, they shared a taste of Viogner wine, as we all shared where we were from. The first spot we visited was the champagña and Sparkling wine room, where they had several racks to hold the wine cork facing slightly down. Here the wines are turned 3x per day for 30 days to help the yeast make the carbonation.
We worked our way up to the roof to enjoy the beautiful view. She talked how local slate is used for the roof that does help maintain cooler temperatures inside where the wine is fermenting. The entire land includes a few golf courses, some hotels totaling 700 hectacres with about 100 hectacres of fruit and 100 hectacres of grapes for wine.
We walked among the tanks where some places things were being feremented, or pumps were bringing up the liquid from the bottom to pour over the skins floating on top. They call the hat formed by the skins a “sombrero”, which prevents access to oxygen. While here we got to take a taste of a Cabernet Franc that had another 6 or so months before getting bottled. Cab Franc actually shares a gene with bell pepper which gives it the spicy notes! They had a full laboratory used to test samples taken each day from the tanks for things like acidity, and also testing sugar content of vines to determine harvest date.
Finally it was time to visit the tasting room where we started with a Petit Verdot, which was very intensely fruity. Next was a Merlot from 2022 that was more full bodied but fairly high acidity. An Asinblush followed that was a blend of 50% Malbec, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot, which was my favorite. It was also one of their signature lines and had a very cool bottle.
Last we finished with a little dessert, as a sparkling wine with 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir, but no skins were used so it was a fully white wine, and was very refreshing. The amazing thing is that most of the wines we tried were under 15,000 Argentinian pesos ($14 USD) if you bought there, except for their top tier Asinblush that was about 36,000 pesos ($33 USD). The other part that does make it very affordable to purchase wine in Argentina is that it is categorized as a food, so there is no tax. We also learned that on domestic flights, you can take up to 6 bottles with your carry-on.
Our last stop was a wine tasting, but was paired with several courses of a delicious lunch. To start we had a chardonnay while enjoying a little bread at the table. Then they brought out a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvingnon and Cabernet Franc to pair with some chicken Empanadas and a pickled chicken dish that was very delicious. Next up was a Cabernet Sauvignon, which they told us was actually a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc! I had never heard that before. This was paired with a smoked eggplant and yogurt appetizer.
Finally onto the main dish which could only be Argentinean Steak with a bold Malbec! Finally we finished with a sparkling wine to go with our gelato and geletin dessert.
Sadly our tour was over, so after a few more pictures it was time to get back in the van for our drive to the city. I really enjoyed the time with our tour group, it was a fun group of people and I loved learning about the different cultures and sharing this experience.
Enduring the Heat for Wine and Olives
The following afternoon we had booked another winery tour, but this time with a bit less luxury. Instead of a comfy air conditioned van, it was a bus who’s AC could not keep up with the 25 warm bodies crammed into the seats.
The first winery stop was only about 20 minutes from the city, and has been organic since 2001. I really like the way this winery used benefits from different plants to help avoid use of pesticides or other measures. One example is the use of fruit trees throughout the vineyard that ripen and fall before grapes to be decoys for birds to eat the fruit instead of grapes. Another example is Lady bugs, which will eat aphids and larvae. This winery is smaller, making only 200,000 Liters per year. By comparison, the largest in Argentina makes about 30 Million Liters, per month. At the end of the tour we went back to taste three different wines, starting with an orange wine meaning it uses white grapes but includes the skins just like you would in a red. We followed this with a Cabernet Franc and of course, a Malbec.
Next we visited an olive oil factory. There are 80 types of olives, but only 4 are used here. When olive oil is designated as “extra virgin” or “another” it has to do with the acidity content. They use both modern and tradition pressing processes here. I wasn’t able to hear our guide very well so I won’t be able to teach you but I did take a few pictures explaining the process.
The real highlight was getting to taste the different varieties. I was surprised they had so many! They had different acidities, different flavors such as garlic, and also some spicy ones. Our favorite was the Orange and Rosemary flavors.
The next winery started with a walk into woods to taste some wine, visited by the winery dogs that were excited to get so many pets. It was fairly pleasant in the shade here.
Inside they had a really cool room with giant barrels, one of the younger (and skinnier) people on our tour managed to get himself inside one of these!
Our last stop was at an older winery which was started in 1870. It has since been labeled as a heritage site so they do not make any wine here, but have another location several kilometers away. We actually got to walk inside one of the cement tanks as it held steps to get from the top of the tanks to the bottom.
After the last tasting we had some time we could sit and enjoy a glass or some water and we chatted with a couple from New Zealand that had been biking through South America! It was an interesting tour although I was ready to get back to our air conditioned hotel and get away from some of the more obnoxious younger members of the group!
The Highest Mountain
Today we had a different kind of tour, but we booked it with the same company we did the first wine tour. A fun surprise was that our friend from Ecuador on the first tour also joined us! We had two other women, one from Colombia and one from the US.
We were headed towards the Chilean border to visit Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere, and the tallest outside of the Himalayas, at 6960m or 22,800ft. It was about two and a half hours to get close to the where we would hike but we did get a few stops. The first was a nice view overlooking one of the reservoirs. Next we stopped for a little breakfast at a nice hotel in the town of Uspallata. It was almost like a little pine forest oasis in the desert, we both really liked it and thought it would be fun to stay there someday.
This highway we were on is the main one between Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile. To get from Mendoza to Santiago it would take between 5-6 hours if customs is fairly quick, but you would drive on a scary yet beautiful road right over some of the tallest passes in South America. We actually drove past the customs stop for trucks coming from Chile into Argentina.
After a brief stop to pick up our passes, the van dropped us off at the parking lot for the trailhead. It was a short 1.5 mile (2.6km) loop that only took us an hour with plenty of pictures and stopping to catch our breath in the thin air at 10,000 ft (about 3000 m).
There are normally several little mirror lakes but only a few still had water this late in the season. We also got to witness an ultra trail run that was happening at the park. We lucked out that it was such a clear day and we got really nice pictures of Aconcagua! An interesting surprise was as we were hiking, several runners were coming through, and learning later there was an ultra marathon taking place around these park and even into our next spot. These runners were travelling anywhere between 15 and 90km (9 and 55miles), at elevation, and on a day that was surprising still warm for how high we were. Impressive!
Our next stop was this cool bridge that was naturally formed. It was thought that a glacier or some ice had wedged between these rocks, and then as mineral rich water flowed over top it left deposits that eventually built up to a bridge a person can walk on before the glacier melted away. The building underneath was actually a hotel with a spa, where people came to heal from the natural waters in the early 1900s. In about 1960 there was a massive landslide that wiped out most of the hotel.
Our last stop was back in the town of Uspallata where we were treated to a massive barbecue lunch! It was interesting to pick out the different meats, I think I got the leg of a goat my first try but both the beef and the pork were absolutely amazing! We enjoyed some wine and conversation until it was time to start our journey back for the last two hours.
It was a long drive for such a short hike but I am still glad we got this opportunity. If you stayed closer to the park, there are options to do day hikes to the base camp or even multi-day hikes, depending on the pass you get. So perhaps the next time we find ourselves in this area of Argentina we might try more of these hikes.
Next Time
We leave the heat of northern Argentina and head back south to “El Fin del mundo”, but this time on the Chilean side! We make our way down to Puerto Natales, the gateway to Torres del Paine National park. We plan to do the W hike in the park, spending 4 nights in a tent and carrying all of our food and supplies for the hike. Until next time, Ciao!
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