Mendoza, Argentina: The Napa Valley of Sudamérica

As we took our 16hr bus ride on Ruta Nacional 7 from Buenos Aires, I sat with excitement for Mendoza,  Argentina.  This little gem of a city is known for 2 things; Wine (Malbec to be specific) and olive oil production. Mendoza is quickly earning its title amongst The Great Capitals of Wine. Mendoza is also the largest producer of wine in Latin America and having visited Napa Valley….I was ready to give Mendoza a try;)
We planned on visiting 2 vineyards and an olive oil tree crop plantation. 

Lujan de Cuyo; The Land of Malbec

We started with the smaller more traditional vineyard, Cavas de Don Arturo. At this charming vineyard they export less than 40% of their wines outside of Mendoza worldwide.  That means if you want Don Arturo….you have to come to Mendoza to get it! Something we could tell…they were extremely proud of.

They walked us through the artform of wine making at Don Arturo. 

BRING ON THE WINE!!! (I don’t have a problem…I swear) 😉
As I grabbed my stem ready to get me a taste, our tour guide wanted to teach us a thing or two BEFORE we drink. Val still waiting patiently….learns about how you should never drink a red if it’s orange or brown in color, that swishing the wine around not only aerates the wine and releases the aromas but also lets you see if the wine has tears. Ps…you want your wine to cry per our guide. After all if this, we were allowed to get a taste. BUT WAAAAAIT! Dont swallow, swish it around in your mouth let your tastebuds tingle a bit….NOOOOW you can swallow. All of this for one sip of wine!
Ooooh but it did not disappoint;)

Next on our list was Vistandes Vineyard.
This more modern and much larger vineyard exports over 60% of its wine. Now this doesn’t mean that this vineyard has a lower quality just much larger in size and has the capacity to export due to size.

Noooooow…I’d just be lying if I told you that we continued that whole rigamaroo (that’s a word right?) that we were just taught….we simply drank and enjoyed;)

All I can say is MENDOZA KNOWS MALBEC…Cheers!