Our mission: to discover Mendoza's beautiful wine.

Estamidos amigos,

I am sure there were no doubts that Jeff and I would be enjoying the deep red liquid gold from the Mendoza province making it a region famous and popular. This liquid gold I am talking about is of course wine, more specifically the mendocinos pride and joy, Malbec wine. Since the city of Mendoza lacks some on the typical sites that draws the attention of tourists like museums and shopping, Beacon and Red decided that their tour of Mendoza will be through its vino. This burden we carry of discovering the secrets of Mendoza wine is not something we take lightly and we feel that we must fulfill this mission on behalf of all of our loved ones who do not reside in wine country.

The testing process did not of course just start when we stepped onto Argentinean soil; we drank Malbecs in the States probably due to the influence of my mom. It always seemed to us to be a quality alternative to the cheap Australian Shiraz. To find our first bottle was not a challenge since all shops seem to sell the fermented grape juice; from the fancy wine shops to the little minimarket on the corner. We have been shopping primarily at the supermarket because of the selection and the ease.

As for the learning component of this prized study we went to the source: we took and organized Bodega Tour (bodega is winery/shop on location at the vineyard). I am sure you are all a little curious of what type of funding has been needed for our scientific pursuits, to be fair when applicable I will put the price in Argentinean pesos and you can do the conversion (3.8 pesos= $1), Jeff and I are guessing to approximate what the same tour or bottle of wine might cost in Napa valley….just don’t convert the price. Anyways we did a four hour bus tour (45 Ag Pesos/person) which included transport to the close wine region and a guided tour of two very different wineries, one was small and more focused on high quality export wine and the other was more industrial and for national consumption. The tour also went to an olive oil factory, because where there is wine there is usually olive oil production. The olivícola produced beautiful olive oil some of which was unfiltered (not usually produced for stores b/c people don’t like the cloudy color) with an oliveier flavor. Finally, we went to a homemade liquors and chocolate shop.

We have learned about the process of wine making and although all wines are so unique in flavor, texture, smell, etc. the process is about the same as well as using the same basic tools. Thus, the mystery remains; is it the love and the intention of the winemaker that makes each so special and different? (the real secret is of course in the grapes). So for some facts and an abbreviated rundown on wine making for you: 1st you need your vineyard and even after planting your specifically selected grape varieties the vines will not produce for two years and will not be fit for harvest for another two. Once you have grapes they need to be de-stemmed and smashed (making sure not to break the seeds). If you are making white wine you ferment just the juice whereas, red wine is fermented using the all of the fruit the seed and skin (its where those illustrious tannins come from). The fermentation takes place in either stainless steel vats or concrete cells that are coated an epoxy resin for about 12 months. If you are making “young” wine aka cheaper wine it goes straight to the bottle and it might be aged in the bottle for a little bit. Otherwise it goes to the oak casks where it can age anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. Now this is where my ignorance about wine was wizened up: the description of wines varies greatly mentioning flavors of citrus, cherry, plum, chocolate, vanilla, leather, and oak, but where do these flavors come from? THEY ARE NOT ADDED TO THE WINE, the wine accumulates these flavors during the aging process in the oak barrels, so the only real “flavors” would be oak naturally and smoky flavors which come from the curing in the barrels, the other flavors are memories that the wine coaxes out of us while we enjoy the blood of the grape.

Our next adventure in wine exploration apart from bottles at the house (ranging 12-30Ag pesos) was a solo tour via bicycle. We took the bus to Maipú the close wine region and found a great a little bicycle rental shop (if you like cool websites check out theirs www.bikesandwine.com) and they gave us a bottle of water and a map and sent us on our way. We biked for 9km to a great old winery and worked our way back to the center of the town. We saw a few other wineries all pretty different, sheek and new compared with vintage and classy. Our lunch break was at the Tempus Alba winery; good wine but fantastic food (140 Ag pesos/2 meals with glasses of wine + 2wine tasting flights) although a splurge it was worth it and probably some of the best food we have had since leaving the states.

It was overall a great afternoon, I did take a minor spill on my cruiser but I refuse to believe it was because of the wine. Besides minimal roadrash we made it back to the house without problems and the day of research of wine and jubilation was a total success.

Les extraño,

Red

Wine Touring in Mendoza Argentina

Beacon and Red on bikes!!! (only the 2nd time since leaving home)

Olives and grapes growing harmoniously.These are the doors to the huge concrete cells where the wine is stored during
fermentation.

French oak barrels for wine aging - classic wine beauty.

These old bottles are the winery's archives; they save a bottle along with notes to remember each batch.

Don't be fooled, these barrels are huge but now are only for decoration.