Time for fine wine

Mmmm...wine
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After a long bus journey we arrived in the sweltering heat of Mendoza. When arriving from the South on a bus as we did, you are treated to vineyard after vineyard of beautiful black grapes. We were excited: It was time to spend some time studying...wine.

We spent the day chilling in the hostel by the pool, catching up on some sleep and trying to get some colour in our skin. That night the hostel had an all you eat barbecue where all but two participated. Great fun and our first chance to sample some of the local wines (although admittedly Malbec was by now not a new grape variety to us!). Very pleasant. Most of the people at the barbecue decided to take a bus to Maipu (wonder how that is pronounced) where you can hire a bike and cycle round some vineyards.

After many tastings and a pack full of five bottles of wine we cycled, a little wobbly, back...

Making wine the modern way
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The next day over twenty of us set off on backs to sample the wines. It was an absolutely great day where we tried wines from six bodegas (vineyards) and one place where we tried chocolate and liquors. There were some outstanding wines to be had. Our favourite vineyard was Famila di Tommaso where sampled some fine Malbecs, as well as a great Torrentes and some desert wines. So good we bought three bottles from here. After many tastings and a pack full of five bottles of wine we cycled, a little wobbly, back to the bike shop and then headed back to town. Beautiful weather too. Very highly recommended!

Wines and bikes
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After a fun day of rafting on the Rio Mendoza and a day tour to a viewpoint for Aconcagua via other sites, including an ascent to 4200m (where there is a some sort of border crossing to Chile) for a superb view of the Andes, we decided to move on. Obviously in the meantime we had sampled many other Malbecs (and some Cab Savs), ate some more steaks and done some shopping.

Next stop Cafayate, another region noted for its wine.