Mendoza

I am just now returning from 4 days in Mendoza, the most famous wine region of Argentina and the place I chose to celebrate my birthday cause I love Malbec... And it was not disappointed!  I mean, give me bold red wines, great foods to match and the snow-covered Andes in the background and it is a pretty good recipe for a fantastic time.

I arrived on Tuesday afternoon and I was starving.  Before I even checked into my hotel, I went straight to Azafran.  The food was simple and delicious and the Malbec to top it off was perfect.  I lingered the rest of the day in my luxurious hotel room.  I usually don’t spend much money on accommodations but it was my birthday after all so why not.  The Diplomatic Diplomatic Hotel was beautiful and had the best breakfast buffet every morning.  Which is exactly what you need before you start drinking wine by 10:30am...

So on my birthday, I took a tram to Maipu, the closest wine region to the city center of Mendoza.  I took a free tour at Lopez Bodega.  It was very informative and detailed and the wines were pretty nice too.

From there I took a 15-minute taxi ride to El El Enemigo.  I enjoyed a lovely hearty lunch paired with wines at their restaurant.  It was 45 degrees outside and the potato soup and lamb goulash were welcomed.   It is kind of strange to be spending my birthday in winter when I usually have sushi and a walk on the beach on a warm day.... It is still very sunny here and dry.  They get 300 days of sunshine but the difference in temperatures during winter and summer and days and nights is wide.  All these conditions make for colorful,  bold and delicious Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc.  To end a great birthday, I lounged in my hotel room and even got my own little birthday cake delivered from the front desk...

On my 3rd day, I signed up for a tour with Mendoza Wine Experience to take me around Lujan de Cuyo , another wine region in Mendoza, larger and closer to the Andes.  I joined a group of Australians, Brazilians and Argentinians.  We first headed to Renacer for a tour and tasting.  They have beautiful grounds and delicious wines.  From there, we headed to a much smaller and family-run winery, Caleum.  We finished our tour with a delicious 6-course lunch paired with wines, of course, at RucaMalen.  The food was outstanding, the wines were fabulous and the view was gorgeous.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to stay an extra day.  The company that I booked my flight with  had cancelled my late-afternoon return flight to replace it with an early afternoon one.  After several emails, they changed my flight to a morning departure the day after.  So, I went on to visit the Uco Valley and I am so glad I did.  I booked a tour with the same company and they picked me up again early in the morning.  It was 8:30am and the sun was just rising.  I was with a whole group of very nice Brazilians.  We drove for about an hour and a half before we reached our first winery, Azul. Very small boutique wines that we enjoyed outside in a 44 degrees weather but the background and the wines were so good, you forget you are almost freezing.  From there we headed to Salentein.  This is a large winery owned by Dutch investors that went all out to build a magnificent yet understated bodega.  The building, the acoustic in the barrel room and the art are superb.  Their Primus Cabernet Sauvignon was the best I tasted all week.  Of course, at $50 a bottle, it is also the most expensive wine I’ve had.  

For lunch we went to the nearby Domaine Bousquet and enjoyed a nice lunch at their Gaia Restaurant in a relaxing atmosphere.

I am very glad I came to this part of Argentina and truly enjoyed the bounties of the region.  It was a perfect place to celebrate my last birthday in my forties... I was even blessed with a stunning sunrise on my way out at the airport.