The Adventure of Ruan: Mendoza

Some people think that my trip to Mendoza, Argentina is a bit of a weird “detour” to take. Well, I had two reasons for travelling there: I’d heard a lot about the Argentinean wines (so needed to sample for myself) and I wanted to visit Tago (to whom I was introduced by a mutual friend, Nick). So I made my 3 day detour to Mendoza before setting off to San Pedro de Atacama.

Having not met Tago in person before, I realised that I would possibly not be able to recognise him when he came to pick me up at the bus station…oops :) At least we spotted each other without hassle. I immediately felt at home with his friendliness that was somehow familiar.

Since I wanted to taste wine, Tago took me to the wine area just outside Mendoza and dropped me off at a bicycle rental, a popular way of seeing the farms that friends had told me about. Armed with a bike & map, I set off to taste away. The place is quite dry, so not was I am used to a wine region looking like, but looks don’t determine taste! So I set off with an open mind.

Remembering all the wine farms is difficult as there was wine involved, but photos help :) Trapiche is one of the largest wine producers in the area and their cellar shows this. At the time it was build it was revolutionary. I can’t remember all the reasons, but the one that stuck with me was that the owner build is own piece of railway to allow the cargo train to stop next to the cellar (this was the time when rail was the mainly used). This seems so simple, but imagine having to carry barrels of wine to the train!
Something else that also struck with me was their storage of wine. Before going into the barrels for maturing, the juice (turning to wine) was left in square, concrete tanks! Now they have an epoxy coating so that the cement taste doesn’t go into the wine. Still strange, and not the only cellar where I have seen this.

The wine was good, but either my pallet has been trained to like South African wines or S.A. wines are just that good :) I still prefer our local stuff back home!
I did taste some interesting olives and pates at the first place I went to.
I only managed to make it to about 4 wine farms, partly because I stopped for lunch with some other guys which killed about 1.5 hours of our time. Eish.

When I returned my bike, I was handed a glass of wine that some claimed “were better than all the wines tasted at the cellars.” We’d heard about the home made wine earlier the day…and this was definitely it! Ethanol mixed with grape juice….WTF!!!! Just for the record, vinegar tastes better.

Getting back to Tago’s house was a bit of a battle. I had a map of Mendoza, but only covered the central part. And to make it worse, there was another street with the same name as Tago’s, but not the street of his home! Fortunately he’d also pointed his office on the map. Once I (finally) got my bearing while on the moving bus, I was ok. Never have a felt that lost!

At the one side of Mendoza is a huge park that is irrigated and has dams, so really green and beautiful! So I spent the morning of my second day exploring town and then heading for the park. I guess you could call it a mini-Central Park. As it was Saturday there were people strolling, jogging, cycling, rollerblading and even rowing. Yes they have a rowing club in the middle of this dry place. What a relaxed day. The highlight of which was to come. I walked up the main hill on which the monument celebrating independence is build. There I randomly met two guys that were riding 1950’s Argentinean build motorcycles! I was allowed to have my picture taken on the bike. Nice!

That night I went with Tago and his girlfriend to a friend’s birthday supper. In between the red meat and Pisco & Coke, I had some time to practice my Spanish (most of the people didn’t speak English). Everyone, including Tago I think, was impressed that I was able to (sort of) have a conversation in Spanish. Yes I needed help every now and again :) Much nicer experience with the locals than in Buenos Aires.

My last day was quite relaxed. Got up late and went to one of Tago’s best friend’s birthday lunch in the outskirts of Mendoza. Nice people! I was surprise when we sat down for lunch that the men sat at one table and the women at another (in the kitchen). I was assured that this was not some kind of Argentinean sexism, rather that they didn’t have a table big enough for everyone and this was the only way to fit everyone in as they would've liked to :)

Being lazy after lunch, we look a drive to Tago’s “summer home”. He has a piece of land in between the vineyard (a different wine region to where I’d tasted wine), where he has a house that his grandfather build. With a large lawn and a pool, this must be an awesome summer party place!
Since I was leaving that evening, we went for a drive into the mountain. There is an old bridge where people regularly go to spend the day during the (much warmer) summer afternoons.

On the way home, we stopped at the “outdoor mall” for a coffee and food. This apparently a concept that has come from the USA, which from outside felt more like a small village than a mall (I guess the idea).

I had a great time in Mendoza thanks to Tago. I would’ve liked to spend more time there, but time has caught up with me on this stretch of my trip. Peru was calling.

Entrance to Trapiche (x2) – The large tanks in Trapiche – Wine tasting at Trapiche

The wine museum – Fiat outside the museum – Random (cool looking) DKV in town

The roadwork…in the middle of town – Collection of their best wine (not Trapiche)

Independence day was close to celebration (yes the water has been coloured blue) – Monument at one of the 5 squares in Mendoza – Another Fiat, but in “almost new” condition.