Posted by: Jenn
In my opinion, the whole renting a car thing was quite a process. Although the freedom was very nice, it was crazy navigating moutain dirt roads, crossing the borders, and figuring out city street etiquite (which have no stop signs or lights) all on our own. So, in all reality, our next stop on the itinerary was totally in order. Mendoza - the Napa Valley, California of South America. We cruised into town early Saturday morning, dropped our bags off at the hostel and booked a bicycle tour of the bodegas (wineries) close by. Two travelers from Holland, Jasper and Anique, were also leaving our hostel for the same tour so the four of us set out to do some wine tasting. We caught a city bus to the bicycle rental place and anxiously hopped on our bikes after recieving a map of four bodegas to visit. We headed towards the first bodega but upon arriving at the gates, we found that they had just closed for the day. It was around 1:00 PM so I'm still not sure what would possess a winery in a tourist town to close at one in the afternoon on a Saturday...I guess they were siesta-ing. Because these people were sleeping, they lost our business and we continued on to bodega numero dos. A young man greated the four of us at the gate and continued to give us a free tasting and tour of Bodega Granata. We learned the difference in the process of making white, rose and red wines and we were shown the machines used to mash the grapes along with the holding chambers in the cellar.
In my opinion, the whole renting a car thing was quite a process. Although the freedom was very nice, it was crazy navigating moutain dirt roads, crossing the borders, and figuring out city street etiquite (which have no stop signs or lights) all on our own. So, in all reality, our next stop on the itinerary was totally in order. Mendoza - the Napa Valley, California of South America. We cruised into town early Saturday morning, dropped our bags off at the hostel and booked a bicycle tour of the bodegas (wineries) close by. Two travelers from Holland, Jasper and Anique, were also leaving our hostel for the same tour so the four of us set out to do some wine tasting. We caught a city bus to the bicycle rental place and anxiously hopped on our bikes after recieving a map of four bodegas to visit. We headed towards the first bodega but upon arriving at the gates, we found that they had just closed for the day. It was around 1:00 PM so I'm still not sure what would possess a winery in a tourist town to close at one in the afternoon on a Saturday...I guess they were siesta-ing. Because these people were sleeping, they lost our business and we continued on to bodega numero dos. A young man greated the four of us at the gate and continued to give us a free tasting and tour of Bodega Granata. We learned the difference in the process of making white, rose and red wines and we were shown the machines used to mash the grapes along with the holding chambers in the cellar.
After the tour was tbe best part - the tasting! We tasted a Malbec and a Rose. Jonathan and I favored the Malbec.
We thanked the young man, grabbed our bikes and headed for the third bodega on our list. The weather was great and it was nice to feel the hot sunshine after spending a while in Patagonia. One thing I found interesting while cruising the dirt roads of Mendoza was that the bodegas we were visitng, along with some small vineyards, were right smack dab in the middle of the city. Nonetheless, we had a great time riding around through the small vineyards and checking out the bodegas.
The third bodega we visited was Bodega Pulmary.
We totally skipped the tour on this one and headed straight for the tasting room. We had all intentions of doing the tour but another group of Americans had arrived a couple of minutes before us and jumped straight to the tasting (typical Americans). So, of course to make things easier for the lady running the tours, we said we would do the tasting with them and then have the tour afterwards. Just a little forshadowing, we never got as far as taking the tour. The lady serving us wine just kept it coming. She opened bottle after bottle and made sure our glasses were never empty.
The first wine we tasted was a Malbec that had aged for six months in French Oak. After we sampled multiple other wines she asked us if we wanted to taste the difference in a Malbec that had been aged for two years in Oak. Of course we didn't want to be rude and say no... However, instead of popping the cork of another bottle, she began pumping wine straight out of one of the barrels in the holding room. It was incredible! That Malbec was by far our favorite.
After we depleted her sampling rack she asked us if we wanted to sit out on their terrace and try a bottle of their Rose. This bodega was amazing! So the four of us, along with the group of Americans, sat out in the sun and laughed and talked over the last bottle of wine. For $25 pesos each (around $7 US) we had as much wine as we could handle and a great time talking with other travelers. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. Because of the quantity of wine we felt obligated to consume ;-) we opted to not go to the fourth bodega but to head back to the hostel for dinner and water.
We had a lot of fun learning about wines and of course sampling them. I think you can safely say we are now wine connoisseurs. Well mayble only connoisseurs at being able to tell whether it's a red, rose or white...
We had a lot of fun learning about wines and of course sampling them. I think you can safely say we are now wine connoisseurs. Well mayble only connoisseurs at being able to tell whether it's a red, rose or white...