After spending nearly a week in Cafayate and enjoying all that it has to offer, mostly wine and steak, we headed down south to Mendoza to experience more of the Argentinian culture, basically more wine and steak. Rated as South Americas best wine region and included in the top 8 wine regions of the world, it was a little hard not to go out and sample some of the local drops. After some hefty research aided by my trusty Hugh Johnson's pocket Wine Book 2013, I narrowed down 4 wineries all located in the Luján de Cuyo region, which is regarded as the best area for Malbec in Mendoza, and possibly the world. As this area was a little further out than the more touristic Maipu region, we opted for a private car which luckily enough our hostel offered at a very reasonable price. So early in the morning we were picked up by our driver, who was actually also the owner of the hostel, and taken 45 minutes out of town to the first bodega (South American for winery), Alta Vista.
Alta Vista was the oldest established winery on the list, and possibly in the area, with its history dating back to 1899. Originally the winery was founded by a Spanish settlers but most recently bought and restored by the d'Aulan family in 1998. Upon buying the property the current owners had to restore the entire facility and due to its proud heritage they decided to keep the original Spanish style and structure, only opting for different building materials to better suit the climatic conditions. Also not wanting to waste any of the historic materials left around the winery, the current owners chose to use these in a more decorative way, such as the old wine barrels left behind were stripped down and the iron was used to make the doors of the factory and the wood for the floor of the tasting room. After a very extensive tour of the winery, starting on the ground floor where we were shown the entire process from grape to wine, then down to the original cellar where they housed their current vintage in French oak as well as previous vintages dating back to 1998 (when they started properly mass producing) and finally ending in the tasting room. Here we were treated to 4, very generous, tastings of their more premium range. All of the wines were of high quality, particularly the torrontes, although as it was still only 9:30am we opted not to get a bottle as we still had much more wine to taste.
The second winery on the list, Tapiz, was a much small organic producer which mainly focused on producing quality wines rather than the typical Argentinian quantity. Driving through the gates and into the winery grounds we noticed something that we both have never seen in a winery before and possibly never again, herds of llamas galloping though the vines. Feeling very puzzled at first we were later informed that the idea behind the llamas is to help keep the workers happy by employing them all year round. They not only work the vines but also tend to the llamas and make products from their wool, with the overall goal of 'a happy worker will help produce better quality wine'. After a quick introduction to our very enthusiastic guide, we were shown to an awaiting horse and carriage to begin the tour. Again something we have never down before, we set out for a private tour of the grounds weaving our way through the vines watching the llamas scatter as we go. After the carriage ride, we were delivered back to the winery to continue the tour and learn about the process once again from grape to wine. This time however was a little different as instead of finishing with a tasting we were handed a glass about half way through so that we could taste the wine straight from the tanks and then compare it to the finish product. Whilst both the bottled wines were certainly better then their less matured counter parts, it was still an interesting experience to taste the wine during its maturing stages. Overall, whilst the wines may not of been our favorite from the region this was by far the pick of the tours.
Like the previous wineries the next, Belasco de Baquedano again had something completely different to offer with its tour and tastings. Initially it started out like the others with a guided tour through the establishment with each process explained along the way. You would think that by now we would be experts on the process, however I fear that all the tastings took their toll and I'm lucky enough to remember the names of the wineries. But that's the idea behind a wine tasting tour right? To drink and appreciate the wine not learn where it came from. Anyway, back to the story, after we finished 'learning' about the wine we were taken to the aroma room which was filled with over 50 different scented tubes which you could test your senses against. This proved to be a very fun exercise, which I may of even learnt a thing or two about aroma. After this we headed straight for the tasting room where again we were treated to something different. Much like Tapiz, Belasco de Baquedano is a small time producer which prides itself on producing quality wines, so much so that it only makes 1 white, 4 types of Malbec and a very exclusive Ice Wine. With such a limited selection we were treated to try all but the Ice Wine. So again receiving some very generous tastings sizes we sat back and enjoyed a very crisp Torrontes, a very dry Malbec rose, and 3 Malbecs ranging from their standard range to the premium quality (the 2 premium wines having 94 & 96 points), all with varying aspects yet still containing the typical Malbec earthiness.
Our final winery and one of the largest was Norton's. With a rich history, almost as old as Alta Vista, this winery has been around for generations producing wine in bulk quantities all around Argentina and the world. Glass of sparkling in hand we set off around the enormous grounds for another historical and educational tour of the winery. Again much like the others we were taken right through the process from grape to wine and similar to Tapiz we were treated to try the wine during its different stages. However this time it was slightly different as we tried the same wine, Malbec, from the 3 different stages; tank, barrel and bottle. All showing different characteristics in their look, aroma and flavor, while having an underlying similarity. Probably the best part of the tour was being taken to the 500,000 bottle capacity cellar which still houses some of the earlier bottles, dating back to the 60's, which are tested every year to check for consistency and quality. This is also where the tasting room was where we got to try some more of the premium quality wines Norton's produces.
Overall it was a very enjoyable, educational and intoxicating day, lucky we had a driver... It was great to experience not only the Argentinian wines, but also receive an extensive guided tour throughout the wineries and learn about the process. Also every winery not only differed with its wines but also what they had to offer at their winery, whether it was history, aroma rooms or llamas. Finally whilst I'm not sick of wine and am looking forward to seeing what France has on offer, these past 2 weeks of non stop tastings and bottles over lunch, a change would be nice. So I'm looking forward to Buenos Aries - "dos cervezas por favor!"
- Ryan -
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