Mendoza April 2014

I decided to go to Mendoza this time as I'm a fan of Argentine wine and I wanted to explore more of Argentina. You can either fly or bus to the city which is very close to the Chilean border. 

We decided to get a 12 hour bus journey to Mendoza, we bought our tickets from the Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires. There are three classes, first, second and third. First class is a leather seat which goes all the way back like a bed, second class doesn't go all the way back and third class is more like the seat you get in an airplane. 

We chose the first class which was 1600 pesos/£118/€144/$200. I thought it was a bit steep but totally worth it when we got on the bus. It was definitely first class, large leather seats that reclined all the way back, very comfortable, small tv screens with English films, blanket, headphones, dinner and drinks. There was also bingo on the bus which I think was an anomaly. My friend won the bingo which was funny and we won a bottle of wine. 

After chatting and some films I slept one of the best sleeps outside a bed. We left Buenos Aires at 8pm and arrived in Mendoza at 8am. We got a map from the bus station and got a taxi to Hostel Alamo. Hotel Alamo has a good location and if you're in Mendoza for a night or two it'll suffice. It's quite an old building, breakfast was basic and the shower is more like a dripping tap. There are other more modern hostels in Mendoza. 

We left our luggage at Hostel Alamo as it was too early to check in and enquired about where to go for wine tasting. You can take the the 173 or 172 bus on Line 10 to Maipu which is another part of Mendoza. It's a 45 minute journey and we got off close to where we were going to rent bikes to get from vineyard to vineyard. Our bikes were 50 pesos/£3.70/€4.50/$6.25 each from Maipu bikes, the owner was very nice and gave us a map and water for the journey. So we cycled from vineyard to vineyard, you can rent a car if you want but this is the most common way to get around Maipu. 

During the week is the best time to go to the vineyards as some of them close at the weekend. We went on a Saturday and the first vineyard we went to wasTrapiche which was closed in addition to Tempus Alba which are two of the biggest bodega companies in Argentina. So we cycled to the next place which was about 6 miles/10 km away, a bodega called Di Tommaso which is the oldest bodega in Mendoza. There are several picturesque leafy streets so the cycle was a pleasant one. 

There were about 30 of us for the tasting and we tasted 3 wines, 2 red and 1 white. A Malbec, Cabernet and Torrentes and Grappa to finish. We were told information about the bodega and the wines we were tasting. The tasting was 35 pesos/£2.60/€3.15/$4.40, afterwards we had lunch of picada which is a range of different meats, cheese and bread. After lunch we headed back on our bikes to the next two bodegas which were closed at that time so it was another 30-60 minutes until the next tour. For some reason there isn't really any information about which bodegas have tours at which time so it's a bit of hit and miss whether you get there at the right time. 

It doesn't really matter where you buy wine in Mendoza, whether it's at the bodega or a supermarket it will be good. I decided to buy two bottles for 100 pesos/£7.40/€9/$12.50, a Cabernet and Malbec that we had tasted earlier. That's a pretty good deal considering that how much a glass of Malbec costs back home. 

So as we were cycling we stumbled across another bodega called Carinae. This vineyard was owned by a French couple and an English girl gave the two of us a tour of the vineyard and cellar. The basic tour and tasting is 35 pesos/£2.60/€3.15/$4.40  But there 7 or so other wine choices with different wines to taste ranging from 50 pesos/£3.70/€4.50/$6.25 to 200 pesos/15/€18/$25 depending on the type and age of wines chosen. We went for the 50 peso one which included a rose Malbec, Malbec and Syrah. 

We then cycled back to near where we started to a bodega called Mevi which was the most picturesque so far. There wasn't a tour but we were told that we were welcome to look at the cellar under the restaurant. Next we tasted 3 wines, Malbec, Cabernet and Syrah for 48 pesos/£3.60/€4.30/$6. At Mevi we weren't told anything about the wines we just tasted them. 

We then headed back to Maipu Bikes to return the bikes and got the bus back to our hostel. We had cycled at least 12 miles/20 km that day so we were knackered. When we got back to the hostel we napped then headed out for dinner. We asked our hostel for a good place to eat nearby. We ended up eating a Florencia, a restaurant a few blocks away. The menu is extensive and we seemed to get the waiter that took his time in that it was an hour before we got our food. After dinner we were going to get a drink as we walked through the bar and clubbing area but we decided to get ice cream and head back to our hostel instead. Truth be told I think we were both pretty knackered from the cycling.