Argentina Adventures: A Week in Mendoza

Sunset over the Andes, July 12, 5:56 pm:

This stunningly beautiful sunset was just one of the photo-worthy moments from my week in Mendoza province.  There’s so much more to show you.  Let’s start at the beginning of the story. 

Just a few days after my arrival in Buenos Aires, I was packing up again and heading off to the airport with Elisa, Christian and Sylvie for our flight to the city of Mendoza, one of Argentina’s largest provincial capitals.  Mendoza is also the name of the province.  It’s located in the western part of Argentina, and borders Chile.  The Andes Mountains form a natural boundary between the two countries.  The area draws many tourists, attracted to its varied geography and its world-famous wines. 

“It’s going to be cold there,” my Airbnb host warned me. “Sometimes they get snow.”  Well, of course, I thought to myself.  In the part of the world where I come from, winter always means snow.  But the Porteños are used to winter temperatures that never get below 40 degrees.  During my first few days in Buenos Aires, daytime temperatures had reached the upper 60s and perhaps the low 70s.  Still, people in my Palermo neighborhood were walking around in tall boots, heavy coats, and thick scarves.  They’re worse weather wimps than the Washingtonians.  In any case, I decided to pack a warm sweater and a couple of turtlenecks for the trip to Mendoza.

Christian and Elisa had arranged for us to stay in Lujan de Cuyo, about 15 minutes south of Mendoza city. We left the airport in a rental car with Christian at the wheel.  After a few wrong turns and a couple of phone calls (there aren’t many road signs), we arrived at the finca (country house) that would be our base for the coming week.  The owners, Josef and Monica, welcomed us warmly with a bottle of local wine and a plate of homemade empanadas. Josef explained that the house where we were staying was built over 100 years ago by his grandfather.  Josef and his extended family occupied newer houses on the property.  They had a small farm as well as a large stable for the horseback riding school they operated.  

The rustic charm of the finca brought back memories of my house in French village of Fayence.  The interiors of both houses featured rough white washed plaster walls, tile floors, the heavy wooden beams in the ceilings.  But the gaucho paraphernalia on display throughout the finca made it obvious that this was no Provençal farmhouse. 

Furthermore, these were not luxury accommodations.  Heat and hot water were temperamental, at best.  We made use of the fireplace on several occasions.  “Retro” would be the kindest way to describe the kitchen.  Elisa and I joked that we were living a Little House on the Prairie life.  Yet we soon realized that we were managing just fine and really enjoying the simplicity that comes from having less. 

From the very beginning, Sylvie felt right at home.  She had plenty of room to run around, both inside the house and outside.  Within seconds of our arrival, she had made friends with the dogs who lived on the property.  She discovered a slide, soccer balls, shovels and pails, and numerous toys belonging to the owners’ grandchildren.  Together, we visited the horses, chickens, ducks, sheep and cows.  Sylvie even got to ride bareback on a pony. 

We were fortunate to have a wonderful local guide on our first full day in Mendoza.  Mati was a friend of a former colleague of Christian’s and he was delighted to show us around.  He covered a lot of territory, including historical sights, parks, government buildings, modern shopping centers, and even an upscale gated community that looked like it belonged in a U.S. suburb.  He included a tour of Chacras de Coria, the charming and tranquil suburb of Mendoza where he now makes his home.  It was clear that the local residents were just as concerned with security as the Porteños.  We drove past many beautiful houses that were surrounded by walls and locked gates.  And all of them had iron bars at the first story windows. 

The Cerro de la Gloria the monument commemorates General Jose San Martin and the struggle of the Army of the Andes for independence from Spain. 

  

On July 9, Argentina’s Independence Day, we returned to Mendoza’s main plaza, the Plaza Independencia, for the local national holiday celebration.  Festivities started around midday and went on well into the evening.  The asado (the grill for barbecuing meat) sent smoke and mouth-watering aromas into the air.  Singers and bands performed.  Children begged for cotton candy and roasted peanuts.  Families spread out blankets on the grass.  To mark the occasion, the waters of the fountains were dyed the blue of the Argentine flag.  

9 de Julio in Mendoza's Plaza de Independencia

Mati also suggested a drive to a scenic area called Potrerillo where the beautiful lakeside hotel served afternoon tea.  

Actually, I’m not sure it should be called “tea” because there was never any mention of that beverage.  Our server asked, “Café or café con leche?”  In any case, the coffee was delicious and it was accompanied by a staggering assortment of savory and sweet treats. And the savories were not delicate cucumber sandwiches on thin crustless slices of bread.  They were hearty meat and cheese combinations.  As for the sweets, which clearly outnumbered the savories, many contained the ubiquitous dulce de leche.  Other pastries included chocolate dipped churros, miniature apple pies, brownies, lemon meringue tarts, and berries in chocolate shells. While we were trying to decide where to begin, Sylvie didn’t hesitate.  She dug right in with both hands.  

"Tea" at the Hotel Potrerillo

Of course, Mendoza is Malbec country and the wineries, usually called bodegas, were the main reason we’d chosen to visit this particular province.  Although I hadn’t realized it, Mendoza is a high-altitude desert region.  With little rainfall, irrigation is required to grow the grapes.  The water comes from the snow run-off from the Andes Mountains.  The very hot days and very cool nights are ideal for winemaking.  Since it was winter, no grapes were growing on the vines, but we were able to tour five different wineries, each with its own personality. 

We started with one of the oldest and largest in the region, Catena-Zapata. Located just south of Mendoza city in Lujan de Cuyo, Catena-Zapata is generally credited with elevating Argentine wine production to a world-class level.  Previously, Mendoza had had a reputation for producing table wines strictly for domestic consumption. 

The founder of Catena-Zapata was an Italian immigrant who came to Argentina in the early years of the 20^th century with the dream of producing his own wines.  Today, the winery, which is still family owned and operated, is one of the largest and most highly regarded in the country.  Their bodega is a distinctively shaped building inspired by Aztec pyramids.  The design was chosen as a way of emphasizing the New World identity of Catena-Zapata wines.  

 Bodega Catena-Zapata

The family revolutionized the country’s wine making in the 1980s.  They were the first Argentine wine makers to bring oak barrels from France (at a cost of $4000-8000 US each) and the first to establish vineyards at high altitudes.  Today, Catena-Zapata produces a wide range of wines that you can find throughout the world, and many have won international awards.

The barrel room at Catena-Zapata

During our private tour, our guide gave us the history of the winery, explained the various stages in the wine making process, and showed us the facility before ushering us into a private room for a tasting.  

We sampled four of their premium wines – a chardonnay, a malbec, a cabernet sauvignon and a red blend.  None are currently exported.  I’m mostly a red wine drinker, but I was delighted to find a very satisfying chardonnay, which fell somewhere between a French chardonnay and a Napa Valley chardonnay in style. 

The following day, we drove a little further afield to Bodega Salentein, another large and well-established winery. Salentein’s high elevation vineyards are located in the Valle de Uco (Uco Valley), where the snow-capped Andes Mountains form a beautiful backdrop. After touring the facilities and admiring the art collection of the Dutch owners, we tasted a quartet of wines: a chardonnay, a pinot noir, a reserve malbec, and a primus cabernet sauvignon.  All were excellent.  When I got back to Buenos Aires, I found a very reasonably priced bottle of Salentein’s Portillo rosé in my local Carrefour supermarket.  I brought it home to Virginia and look forward to enjoying it on a hot summer evening. 

Vineyards at Bodega Salentein

At the Norton winery, we had a completely different kind of experience.  Bodega Norton has a long history, dating back to its founding in 1895 by an Englishman.  Today, it has an Austrian owner and is one of the largest winemaking operations in Mendoza. Norton offered an unusual family activity.  We became winemakers for a day. The goal was to come up with a recipe for a red wine blend using malbec, merlot and cabernet sauvignon.  Elisa and Christian teamed up to make a blend and I worked on my own formula.  While we worked away like scientists in a lab, we feasted on cheeses, bread, empanadas, and unlimited wine.  We even designed our own labels for the wine bottles.

Sylvie working on the labels at Bodega Norton

Elisa working on the red blend at Bodega Norton

The Casarena winery in Lujan de Cuyo gave us an opportunity to see winemaking on a much smaller scale.  While wineries such as Catena, Salentein, and Norton produce several million of bottles of wine every year, Casarena produces just about 1 million bottles. The Casarena wines were very impressive, and once we returned to Buenos Aires, we often chose their Ramanegra Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany a home-cooked dinner.  Unfortunately, at the moment, the Ramanegra line is not available in the U.S. but you should be able to find other wines produced by Casarena. 

Vineyards at Casarena

We returned to Chacras de Coria for our final winery visit.  Bodega Pulmary is tiny compared to the other wineries we visited.  They produce a mere 40,000 bottles per year, none of which are currently exported.  At the family-run business, we were able to sample wines directly from the barrels.  It was at Pulmary that I purchased the bottle of malbec which I brought back home to Virginia. 

Sampling wine at Bodega Pulmary 

In addition to tasting wines in Mendoza, we tasted locally produced olive oils and balsamic vinegars at Laur, in the Maipu region.  This olive farm has been in existence for over 100 years. Once again, I was reminded of the South of France as we walked among the five different varieties of olive trees. At this time of year, very few olives remained on the trees.  Our guide showed us both the original equipment used to produce the oil and the modern equipment used today. After our short tour, we were ready to try five different olive oils and three different balsamic vinegars, accompanied by a big basket of bread, and a variety of olives, dried tomatoes, and olive-based spreads.  

Olive oil tasting at Laur

Our guide explained that the green olives harvested in April (which is early fall in Argentina) produce a spicy olive oil with lower acidity than the oil produced from ripe black olives that are harvested a couple of months later.  It was difficult for me to pick a favorite, but after considerable tasting, I chose the Cruz de Piedra, a blend of three different kinds of olives with an acidity level of less than 0.5%.  It had just the right balance of fruitiness, greenness, and spiciness.  There’s a bottle in my pantry right now.

Thanks to Elisa’s navigating skills, we took a long drive to the town of San Rafael, where we stayed overnight in another rustic dwelling.  With no cell phone service and no Wifi, we were truly cut off from the outside world.  Once the sun went down, the temperature plunged.  After bundling up, we went outside to admire the stars in the night sky (no familiar constellations, as we were in the southern hemisphere now) and then came inside to warm up in front of a blazing fire in the fireplace. 

Warming up in San Rafael

The attractions in the San Rafael area were the Cañon del Atuel with its colorful rock formations, the nearby Los Reyunos dam and its man-made lake, and the Borges hedge labyrinth. 

On the way to San Rafael

At Los Reyunos dam

The Borges Labyrinth

Elisa was also in charge of food research for the trip and she did a wonderful job finding exceptional restaurants for those times when we didn’t cook at the finca.  Some notable discoveries were La Zorra y las Uvas (The Fox and the Grapes) outside of San Rafael and an entire strip of restaurants in a non-touristy part of Mendoza city where we enjoyed an al fresco lunch. 

 

Al fresco lunch in Mendoza

Settling down for lunch at La Zorra y Las Uvas

Feeling right at home in La Zorra y Las Uvas

Elisa's truly exceptional find was Siete Fuegos, a restaurant whose menu was developed by celebrated Argentine chef Francis Mallman. It took us a while to find Siete Fuegos because it was tucked away on the grounds of The Vines, a luxury resort set in the middle of private vineyards just at the edge of the Andes Mountains.  (By the way, forget about paved roads in this area.)

Siete Fuegos, the restaurant at The Vines

We knew it wasn’t realistic to plan for lunch or dinner at Siete Fuegos.  In addition to the cost, it was Sylvie’s inability to sit still for very long that convinced us to stop by for an late afternoon snack.  Actually, we figured that dessert, coffee, tea and wine would make a perfectly satisfying meal and we wouldn’t have to worry about fixing dinner that evening back at the finca. 

Fortunately, we were the only people in the restaurant when we showed up around 4 pm on the afternoon of July 12.  Sylvie would be free to run around without disturbing other guests.  We all spent some time wandering around the property and fantasizing about how we’d arrive by helicopter and stay in one of the resort’s villas when we came to visit our private vineyard!   

When we could tear ourselves away from the beautiful setting, with the pond, the vines, and the mountains in the distance, we came back inside and ordered three desserts, all unique and scrumptious creations, as beautiful as they were delicious. 

Pionono with grilled fruit and dulce de leche

Tableton Mendocino with custard, berries, dulce de leech and ice cream

Flourless chocolate cake with lemon ice cream and berries

While we ate and drank, we took turns running outside to keep up with Sylvie, who was picking flowers and apples (berries) from bushes, collecting pebbles and sticks, and inspecting the vines with the critical eye of a connoisseur. 

Inspecting the vines at The Vines resort

As our server was clearing away our plates, he casually remarked, “The sunset will be good today.  Many clouds in the sky.”

A quick glance showed clouds washed with a blush of pink. We were in no hurry to leave.  With no one else in sight, we felt like we were alone in the world.  Sylvie’s laughter rang out in the stillness.  As the daylight slipped away every so slowly, the gentle colors in the sky spread and intensified.  

Soon, fiery reds and oranges streamed over the mountain tops, reflecting in the water.  We gasped at the overwhelming beauty of the sunset.  How magnificent it was, how truly breathtaking, and how small it made us feel.  It was a moment I’ll always remember, made even more special because I shared it with the people I love.