Our Final day in Mendoza

THE LUNCH:    CASA DE CAVA

 We decided that there was one more place we needed to see before we left the Mendoza Valley and this was a restaurant that I had researched before we left.  It was located in the  Jujan de Cuyo Valley so we ordered a cab and took off out of the city.  The restaurant was located in a family owned winery and they served the food down in the cellar.  The owner made his own wine that he served in the restaurant and which we saw as we entered the cellar.  He told us a little bit about the history of his vineyard and when he constructed the cellar.

 He then escorted us to our private room within the cellar which was set up for our first course of our meal.  Enough food to feed at least 5 people.  Each dish was served in a separate dish which consisted of European style cold cuts, such as head cheese, chorizo, salami etc. as well as 6 different types of cheese, onions cooked in wine, quinoa, rice, chic peas, roasted garlic and onion, two types of olives, peanuts, raisins, eggplant, potatoes, and the list goes on and on.  The second course was lamb stew and then home made spaghetti and sauce. 

 To finish the meal we were served ice cream and champagne followed by espresso coffee and a cigar. 

Four hours later they called a cab to take us back.  The food and wine were amazing and the setting was very original and nice and cool in the hot Mendoza summer.

After we recovered from our hearty lunch we managed to do a bit of shopping along the walking street and then attended out next wine tasting at Vines of Mendoza.  This was another private wine tasking bar and we picked two different wine flights to taste.  Nothing too spectacular here, however we did have an interesting conversation with a gal from the U.S. who had emigrated to Argentina and was now working as a consultant with the company.  The final wine we tasted was good so had a glass and continued on our way. 

The square was alive when we arrived as they were crowning their Wine Queen of Mendoza.  There were thousands of people there so we made our way through and back to the apartment.  

I have to say Mendoza was a fun city to visit;. the food and wine are spectacular.  The sights of Argentine were amazing.  We are looking forward to our ride through the Andes Mountains and onto Chile.

Cheers!

 

THE WINE CONNECTION 

 MENDOZA

 FEB. 21, 2013

Today was a rest day where we slept in and relaxed with coffee on the deck.  We tried to go shopping in the afternoon but have now discovered that all of the shops close for siesta between 1:30 and 5:00pm.  So walked around the squares for a while but decided it was too hot and went back to the apartment until we were scheduled for our next wine event.

This was a private wine tasting at a place called the "Wine Connection".  We made our reservation and when we arrived we were welcomed into the owner's private home and the tasting was set up for 6 different Malbec wines.  We were joined by a couple from Denmark and 2 couples and a thurd wheel from Chile. All 5 were originally from Mexico City and the 2 guys worked for Boeing in Chile  Our two favourite wines of the evening were 2010 Zagal from Hacienda del Palta and 2009 Terruno Lunlunta from Enrique Foster.  

As we tasted we had to guess the price range of each of the wines.  Our host told us that if we guessed at least three of them right he would open a 7th wine to taste.  Luckily our new friends from Chile were up to speed on retail prices and did quite well.  Our 7th wine was called Bacan which was the same wine we had purchased to drink at our closed door restaurant.  The price range was between 50AR - 180AR.  Each of the wines were very good and as a side note the  Meixican/Chileans provided us with some information on good tequila.

 

After our tasting ended we walked out the door to Mendoza's first wine event of their fall harvest festival.  Wine tasting on the streets of Mendoza for 80AR each.  About 50 wineries were set up and you just purchased tickets to taste full glasses of wine.  No small pours in this country!  There was live music as well as DJ's.  We even got our picture taken by the radio station as we sat and enjoyed their music and drank our vino. 

    

    The square was alive with lights and entertainment getting ready for the weekend events.  

I will be sad to leave this city and country.  We only have one day left.  

Marcelo, our guy at the Modigliani Apartments has been the best guy to have at your finger tips.  Anything we needed or wanted he was there for us.  He made reservations, called cabs, arranged for a Dr. to make a house call and then stayed to interpret, provided information, maps, and details.  He made spending time in Mendoza the best week so far.

I've often said I would spend months in Thailand when we retire, but I have to admit this place has given Thailand a run for her money.  The food has been amazing, the people friendly and the wine, while what can I say, its the best damn Malbec in the world.

Cheers!                                                                     

MENDOZA - DAY 3

THE WINE TOUR

Our private driver Miguel arrived at the crack of 9am to pick us up.  He had a full day of wine touring planned for us.  We were headed to the Lujan de Cuyo area which is located on the southeast side of the valley.  Our first stop of the day was at Alta Vista.
 The d'Aulan family produces wines in several wine growing regions around the world, from France, the country of origin, to Hungary and Argentina, where they created Alta Vista in 1998, in the search of the greatest qualities of two emblematic varieties: Malbec and Torrontes. The result is the perfect combination of French savoir faire and Argentinean passion.







The winery is in the heart of Chacras de Coria, 15 km south of Mendoza city. It is a historical building built in 1899, fully restored in 2003, and with all the cutting-edge vine-growing technology.  The winery stands out from all the rest because of its small tanks, which enable the production of high-quality wines. The cellars, the most beautiful in South America, shelter Alta Vista wine barrels.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    This was a door to one of the original wine tanks which is now where their wine tasting room is located.

 

 The original cellars are being used to store the wine in mostly French oak but some American oak is also used.  The French oak's pours are further apart from one another than the American oak which creates more oak flavour.  The premium wines are store in the barrels when they are new and being used for the first time.  Second and Third use is for the lower end wines.  Sometimes they are used a fourth time but that depends on the winery.  They are then recycled for furniture, flooring or liquor making.

 This is the owner's private collection of wines for the past 15 years.  Very impressive!    











Second stop - Achaval Ferrer

 The coolest part of the wine tour here was our Guide took us down to the cellar and we tasted wine straight from the barrel.  It was not completely ready yet but it was fun to taste the difference between the wines even before they were complete. 

The cellar is temperature and humidity controlled.  Because Mendoza is such a try climate they have to pump humidity into the cellars to keep the barrels from drying out.  If they don't pump the humidity in they wet the cement floors and walls instead.







Third stop:  Ruca Malen  -   THE LUNCH!

The tour of the production facility was not nearly as impressive as Alta Vista, however the 5 star 5 course meal with each course paired with a specific wine ranked right up there with our closed door restaurant.  Bill actually said it was the best steak he had ever tasted and that takes a lot to impress my husband when it comes to meat he has not cooked himself.

The third course had so many different ingredients that the chef served in on glass with a description sheet taped to the underside so you could tell what each of the swirls were.

The best steak we have ever had in a Restaurant!  And this was lunch.  We were so full after we got home we had to cancel our dinner reservation because we could not eat another huge meal, so opted for something a little lighter.

Bill had enough wine during the day so ordered a coke for dinner.  They served it in a wine glass and half way through dinner I caught him swirling his COKE.  I told him coke did not get better when swirled only red wine did.  LOL

Walked through the Plaza Independence on the way home from dinner, which they are setting up for their Wine Harvest events this weekend.

Cheers!          

Mendoza Day 2

     Bike and Wine touring in Maipu. 

 We had a lazy morning of relaxation and then decided we should take take short wine tour on bikes through Maipu.  So Marcelo booked us in last minute and arranged a taxi to take us out to Maipu which is located just south of Mendoza.  We rented our bikes reviewed the map and took off.

 The first winery we hit was called Bodega Trapiche.  It is a very large winery so we asked if we cooked skip the tour and go straight to a tasting.  The fellow at reception was a little hesitant but after a bit of convincing he agreed and radioed his college to come and fetch us to take us to the tasting room.  We arrived and he invited us to look around and then have a seat on the nice leather couch.  He then bought out 3 bottles of red wine 1/3 full and told us to make ourselves at home and enjoy the wine.  We had the whole place to ourselves and the wine was wonderful.  We started with their mid range Malbec, then a Cab Sav and then their Premium Malbec.

We could have stayed there all afternoon, but about 1.5 hours later we had finished the wine and decided we should attempt to ride our bikes to the next stop.  Our next stop was an olive stop that also sold liquors and chocolate.  The olive paste with garlic was very tasty and also the dulce de leche con coco was to die for.  So I now have additional glass jars to put in my bag.







Next stop Bodega Vina Maria which was a very small family owned winery.  We tried two red malbecs, one was a young wine and the other had been aged for 2 years.  We both liked the young wine the best which surprised me because I thought it would have a very raw taste, but it was really quite smooth.

  This was as far as we got before we had to head back for our shuttle to the apartment.  Bill was not too happy with his bike seat, his ass was not happy even with all the wine he consumed.

Welcome to Mendoza.

Well after a few little hitches, flight delays and not so good accommodation we have settled into this wonderful city.  We arrived late on Sunday night and made it to the hostel without any problems, however the hostel was not quite what I had hoped it would be.  Our room was very small and you had to sit sideways on the toilet because the wall was too close for your legs to fit otherwise.  It was clean however, so w decided to suck it up and spend the night and then see what we could find in the morning.  The wifi was hit and miss so it took about 2 hours to contact a new location but we managed.  We found another apartment to stay in called Modigliani suites.  Much better than the hostel and the guy that runs the place, Marcelo (very nice looking Argentinian) is the best tour guide you could ask for.  We settled into our room which has a nice balcony over looking a very busy street, he answered all our questions, provided a great map and made some amazing suggestions.  He has made our days in Mendoza the best they could be.

Day 1 - we simply got acquainted with our surroundings.  Jumped across the street to a local eatery call Sabores de mi Huerta which means flavours from my garden.  It is a buffet style restaurant that the locals frequent and you pay by weight.  We had a wonderful meal of gnocchi, veal Parmesan, salad, rolls and rice with mussels.  All for $10.  The Italian influence is alive and well in Mendoza which suites me just fine.  We firmed up all of our reservations for the next few days went and got some staples, like beer, wine, water etc. and hung out on our patio chatting with our neighbour James from Scotland.

THE DINNER:

We managed to get dinner reservations at a closed door restaurant called Ituzaingo.  A closed door restaurant is located in the owners personal residence with a personal chef and small groups of people.  You don't get the address until your reservation is confirmed.  Gonszalo Cuervo was our host and there were two additional couples in attendance.  One from Ontario and the other from Brazil.  The Brazilian couple spoke English very well so the conversation was easy.  We started out in Gonzalo's living room having a white wine and appetisers of brochette of trout and cheese and then a tart made with corn etc. and an arugula salad.  The wine glasses were filled as soon as they were low and the food was amazing.  We then moved out into the private outside garden and the meal continued.

 Gonzalo instructed us to tuck our napkins into our shirts, lean over and eat the Empandas with our hands.  One was made with "sweet breads"  don't ask it was very tasty, and the other was filled with trout.  The pastry was so flaky it melted in your mouth.  The best I have had so far.  The reason for the napkin was so that the fat did not drip on your clothes as you devoured these little pastries.

 I have never tasted anything quite like this.Jodi, tell Gary I was right there with him on his high end meals, only mine was up close and personal.  Bill even cruised the kitchen to meet the Chef and chat with him about the cut of meat we were about to eat.
Quite an amazing experience.

 Ok, my husband can cook the best steak in the world and I have never come close to finding one in a restaurant.  In fact I don't usually order steak when we are out to eat because I am usually disappointed.  However tonight was a closed menu so we did not have any choice in what we were eating other than the wine with dinner.  (I even had the waiter make a suggestion with no menu or prices present, a little scary after the bill in B.A.  but what the hell I'm only 50 once and the group of us decided we could celebrate for a number of weeks surrounding our actual birthday.)    The steak of simply divine.  One of the best I have ever had (sorry honey).  Under the steak was some sort of potato and I have no idea what the sauce was but it was amazing.  Next we had three types of desert and champagne.  This was an experience to say the least.  5 hours later we were taking a cab back to our apartment at 2 am.