Day Nine

Our ninth day in Argentina, and our second day in Mendoza, was all about the vino. Actually, most days were about the vino as we sipped some pretty much everyday, but this day was completely dedicated to the vino. The greater Mendoza region has three or four main areas where grapes are grown; the most popular (Valle de Uco) was too far for a day trip, but two regions, Maipu and Lujan de Cuyo, were nearby. The Mendoza wine country is amazing...tiny tree-lined roads (some of which were dirt) characterize most of the region, and amazing stories and wine at each of them. We hit five wineries/vineyards, or maybe it was four...who knows? Either way, this was definitely a highlight of the trip. Who doesn't like tasting wine???


This is right out front of our B&B...most of the streets in Mendoza are this beautiful.

Yep, it is everywhere.

You must look very closely to see the sign in the middle. It says 3,287 (or 3,289 - can't look that close). Anyway, this is the kilometer number...this highway is very large. It goes from tip to tip.

En route to our first winery in Maipu. Vineyards on the left and right...you don't need to look closely.

Yep, another self-portrait; this is our first wine experience in Mendoza, Argentina, South America. This winery said they were the oldest in the region, dating back to the 1800's (can't remember what year, precisely).

Mark and sign de Familia Cecchin.

A beautiful tree-lined street in Maipu. This was the most lovely and serene drive. A lovely and serene moment tambien. We miss it very much.

Another self-portrait, which includes some grapes.

This was the second or third winery we visited. It is called Familia Di Tommaso, and dates to 1869. They also said they were the oldest winery in the region; guess they all say that. Anyhow, these brick VATs (that line the room) are original (from 1869 or so), and they still age wine in them. After they spend some quality time in these brick VATs, its off to oak barrels to finish the aging process.

This is a room that is used for nothing more than a stop along the winery tour. They used to age wine in here and you could see the crystals, etc. on the walls from the tannins [sic]...or something like that. Either way, its a real nice room.

We should have purchased one of these bottles as they were going for about 90 pesos or something, which is only like $25 or $30. We wouldn't have brought it back, instead we'd have drank it at a special dinner, but oh well. Anyway, this particular Malbec (Don Angelo) is quite rare...they only produced 4,000 bottles or so. If you purchase one, the winemaker writes all the details of the wine and signs the bottle with a wax marker or whatever. Quite neat...too bad the picture is a bit out of focus.

More wine, more self-portraiture!

This was our final stop, and boy was it a doosey [sic]. So we park and this dude comes out to greet us, stating "I am Christiano, welcome to my house". He was wearing a white cloth sort of robe, along with some greasy hair and some sandals. He instructed us to go on HIS wine tour and to meet him on the patio to try some wine. Real weird situation. The place was gorgeous, and I'm sure it was handed down to him at some point by his father or grand-father or something. Whoever founded it is probably rolling over in his/her grave.

This is the patio at Christiano's house/winery. It was a real nice setup, but a bit too modern, especially considering there were some serious Euro beats going on, real loud. It actually wasn't so much the music, but the volume level of the music that was too much. There were a number of other groups on the patio (prior to this picture being taken), and Christiano would come up to them and put his hand on their shoulders and make sure they were comfortable; at one point we noticed him stumble as if one had had a little too much of the vino. Anyhow, upon our departure, Christiano invited us to come back when his house/winery closed, at 19:30, for dinner. We did not go back. As for Christiano, a nice guy, but lots of cocaine is suspected.

We wondered around the city and had dinner at some point. This extravagant light situation is at the main plaza in el Ciudad de Mendoza.

We had lunch at the Familia Di Tommaso winery. A lovely location for a lunch, with a babbling brook running beside us...it provided very pleasant sounds.