Mendoza - Argentina

Keegan Tudehope
Feb 18, 2017
4 min read

Day 11

Have a look at this, getting better with age.

The grapes in this field get better and better each year, or is it after they are made into wine, I'm not sure. But, what I do know is that the pretty girl in the photo does get better with age, like a fine wine. (Happy Valentines day). I just love this photo of you on Mr Hugo's bike. It's modelling at its finest, especially compared to this shot. I am however, getting better at modeling. And, just like Ellie, I am getting better with age. Not like a fine wine, but like a banana on the bench. Let's split from the banana talk and see what we got up to in Mendoza.

The city of Mendoza had a much more relaxed feel than Buenos Aires, due to its smaller size and population. Mendoza is surrounded by some nice countryside and is home to many wineries. Our time there started late at night, or early in the morning (2am) after the bus ran late. We walked to our hostel in the early hours and got as much rest as possible. The next morning we ate a 'breakfast', cakes and cookies - a standard breakfast in Argentina but not for anyone else. Then we began to make our way to the wine tours via an ATM and catching the bus, however, all the ATM's at the bus terminal were cash-less and we had to go on an hour long expedition to find a stocked machine. MXLLSBy then we had wasted much of the morning so opted to taxi to Maipa Wine Region and checked in at the bike rental company, Mr Hugos.

Pedal, pedal, pedal. 6km until the first winery. Not that they were that far away but this one did a lunch deal and we were hungry. It was hot and sunny in the middle of the day, so it was tough going on the bikes but there was a nice breeze and the shade was nice. The first winery was called Mevi and gave outstanding views of the Andes mountains in the distance and the landscape of mixed desert, shrubs and vineyards in between. The lunch deal came with a complementary bottle of wine, a good way to kick start the wine tasting. We ate ravioli pasta bologna which was pretty basic but went with the wine, I think. We also ate some empinadas, a common pastry in South America that's a bit like a pie as the pasta didn't fill us up. We needed food, especially on a wine tasting tour and having a bottle for lunch. We met some nice Aussies and a German girl here for a chat before getting back on the bikes.

The next ride was only short, around 500 meters and landed us at Bodega Tempus Alba, the top location on Google reviews. Ellie and I had a selection of 6 wines to share from a light Rose to a heavy Cab Sav and started to feel the affects of dehydration from the sun mixed with drinking wine. We were having a great time relaxing in the shade with nice music and a friendly Dutch waiter. I interviewed Ellie on the trip so far and recorded it but she's to shy to let me share it because she sounds and looks funny. She needs encouragement but wont take it from me. (Lets see how much trouble I get in and how long this lasts on the site).

Wine tasting continued in what was a great afternoon, but as we headed back to return the bikes we stopped in at a 'chocolate, olive oil, jams and liqueurs' tasting store. I can't recall the name - too much wine perhaps. Stocking locally produced products we started with some delicious olive oils and pastes infused with garlic and so on, it was very tasty with some bread. The bread which was for the jams was gone by the time we got to taste it so it wasn't as enjoyable, but it wasn't bad either. The liqueurs were very strong, making some un-enjoyable. Our favourite was the Baileys replica and I didn't mind the borderline whisky mix of course. Finally, we tried some chocolate, although we felt the man wasn't as generous as he should have been. Maybe we just wanted more chocolate because we had to half each piece he gave us. Even though we both paid for the tasting. It left a strawberry chocolate taste in our mouth as we pedaled on back to Mr. Hugos and took the bus back to the city.

With another bus leaving Mendoza that night, we showered at the hostel and returned to the bus terminal. This was to be another overnight bus and one that included a border crossing. We had premium seats, not sure why, but somehow we had some big spacious seats on the bottom level of the bus. It was time to farewell Argentina, another nice country with great steak and nice wine. It has a picturesque countryside perfect for capturing that 'blue steel' look. Move over Ellie, it's my turn to star in the photos.