Day 121 - Mendoza, Argentina

Time for a other wine tour today but the budget version compared to yesterday. This time we head to the famous Mr Hugo's to rent some bikes for the day, pick up a map of the key vineyards in Maipu and set off on our mountain bikes. We even get picked up by them all for a great value price of $200 pesos each. 

The plan of attack is to head to the furthest vineyard away first which is just over 10km away. It actually takes longer than we would think due to Nat's chain constantly falling off. Haven't put a chain back on a bike since I was a kid! Nearly got carried away and put a coke can on the back wheel to make a motor bike noise. 

The first part of the bike ride is not quite as we expected as it is not that scenic but after about 5km or we get out of the built up areas into the country side and hit some gorgeous roads. 

Gorgeous tree lined roads with vineyards each side. It looks so uniform and tidy. 

One of the best vineyards in the area - Di Tomasso. We'll be calling in here on the way back. 

The two vineyards furthest away didn't look much so we decide to head back to one of the bigger ones called Trivento for our first stop. 

It isn't the most picturesque of vineyards and we were a bit disappointed that the tasting only consisted of two wines but the wines were lovely and the people there were also lovely too. 

First we try the Trivento 2012 Malbec Reserve which had 6 months in the barrel followed by the Golden Reserve 2012 Malbec which had been aged for 15 months in the barrel. We can really taste the oak from the wine that had spent more time in the barrel. 

Onto the next one. 

Next stop is the highly recommended Di Tomasso. We have opted out of the tours today going straight for the tastings as we are a little "toured out" and this turns out to be one of the best tastings we have had. The guide was so knowledagble and we also got to taste five wines with a bit more variety. 

Di Tomasso is a relatively small vineyard producing only 60k bottles per year. As. A result they do not export at all. 

Interestingly, Argentina only really starting exporting wine about 15 years ago as it was only really then that the quality improved enough for the rest of the world to want it. Argentinians drink a lot of wine though apparently they drink a bottle of wine per person of their population every two days which is impressive given a large portion of the population will be children. 

The five wines we taste here are the Torrentes (white but not as nice as yesterdays), Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Malbec 2008 and finally a late harvest wine which is dessert wine. They harvest this wine one month later and as a result the grapes are drier which makes them have more sugar. This obviously results in a sweeter taste but also more alcohol making it 17%. Also helped by them adding grappa. It was really tasty. 

The third stop was Mevi where we also had a bite to eat along with the tasting. 

Great views from the roof terrace restaurant out towards the mountains. 

We opt for the premium tasting and sample the Syrah, Malbec and Cabernet which were all great but the Cabernet was our favourite.  

Great way of tracking what wine is in which glass. 

Empanadas and a cheese board for lunch. The empanadas were fantastic although I now have no skin on the roof of my mouth as they were piping hot. The cheese board was a bit limited to two similar hard cheeses. Still polished it off though of course. 

Fourth stop was actually a slight change but a welcome one - a craft beer garden. 

Absolutely gorgeous craft pale ale that they produce here. One of the best beers we have had on the trip. 

Unfortunately one of the main vineyards, Trapiche, was closed when we tried to go there so we had to resign ourselves to tasting their wine in a restaurant later on. 

We drop the bikes back and get hugs and kisses off Mr Hugo as we leave. He really is a lovely guy. We see why people rave about him so much. 

After another 'tiring' day wine tasting we have a nice chill out and sort some USA admin out. Can't believe we are in to planning the last leg of our trip. 

We then pop out for some sushi around the corner from our hotel in a restaurant called Iamae. Decent sushi and a bottle of the Trapiche Malbec just about finish us off so we head back to bed.