The over night bus from Buenos Aires to Mendoza was fine. We got given no snacks, no water etc but we did have a really decent seat it was a semi-cama but we had got the promotion version so was better than a semi-cama they gave you a blanket and small pillow but its not as good as the cama. Basically the cama reclines fully and your legs go completely flat like a bed, the semi cama go half way back and your legs come half way up. Our bed was more like business class on a plane it was bigger but didn't recline fully. For someone short like me it was absolutely fine and I managed to get 8 hours sleep waking up every 45 mins or so to move position. Nathan however, being tall, only got a few hours.
On arrival in Mendoza I was excited as it was small and felt like we were in the country which was a welcomed feeling after 6 weeks in the Capital. We walked the 2 blocks from the bus station to our street and then walked about 7 blocks until we got to our cute apartment for the next 3 days which was pretty central.
After a shower we headed out to explore the city and walked round most the major plaza's and to the nice park before heading out for dinner in Downtown Parrilla. We shared a great bottle of red wine which was the Malbec Reserva from bodega Santa Julia. (I've made a point of writing down every bottle of wine we have had as I want to be able to look out for them back home). We shared the provolone grilled to start and had a sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce and creamy potatoes which was amazing and I couldn't even finish it I had to pass my food to Nathan for the final few bites which is unheard off for me!
Friday morning was exciting as I had been looking forward to doing a wine tour for the past few weeks. We jumped on the 173 bus from Calle Rioja which was the road we were staying on and headed to Mr Hugo's bikes. The bus driver even signalled to us when to get off. At Mr Hugo's we paid around £7 each to rent a bike for the day and map in hand off we went.
The first bodega (vineyard) we came to was only allowing tours am tastings by appointment so we were told to come back at 4pm. To other ladies on bikes were told them same so we all cycled down the road having a little moan about that. Nathan and I continues to cycle for around 7km to Bodega Familia di Tommaso and paid £4 each for a tour and tastings of 3 wines. The 2 reds that we tried were wonderful so we bought a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon from there for £4 (we are grateful we bought this as it came in handy in a few days time, which I will explain in a later blog).
The most interesting part of the tour for me was hearing about the irrigation systems that are all over Mendoza city and the streets heading the to vineyards. The water comes straight from the Andes and is channelled into all the Bodegas and they have a great system for storing and using all the water.
Our next vineyard was absolutely beautiful and completely peaceful, bodega Tempus Alba. There were around 10 people drinking bottles of wine and having tasters on the terrace and the sun was shining and it looked gorgeous. We walked on to the terrace and saw the 2 ladies we had been chatting to earlier on the bikes. We sat down and started a conversation with them, they were so interesting. They had met the previous night in their hostel and decided to come on a bike tour together, they were both in their 50's, one lady was on a 2 week vacation from Brazil and the others lady was from Germany and had travelled all over the world for the past year and was heading home in 2 weeks time. It was so lovely chatting to them with the sun shining down on us. After a while a man who was sitting on the next table introduced himself and asked to join in our conversation. His name was Matt and he was originally from France but lives in Sydney and has been there for the past 6 years and was on a 5 month South America Adventure. Matt was awesome and Nathan and I left to travel to next vineyard with him.
On arriving at the next vineyard we saw lots of Mr Hugo's bikes parked outside so new that there would be around 10 people on the terrace all also cycling back to the same destination. Matt, Nathan and I ordered some tasters and these were by far my favourite wines of the day they were delicious. We got chatting to everyone on the terrace, there was an English couple called Rich and Maggie from Bristol, 7 American girls on their semester abroad in Buenos Aires here for the weekend, a Canadian and American girl in their 30's who met in a hostel the day before. The atmosphere was excellent.
At 6pm the vineyards shut so we were allowed to finish out bottle of wine. At around 6.45 a policeman turned up on a bike which is apparently standard in the area for getting people to leave and get back to the city. Rich and Maggie started cycling back to Mr Hugo's, Matt, Nathan and I were ready to go but were waiting for the 7 American girls who were a little worse for wear! The 10 of us got on to our bikes and started cycling back but we went into total teacher mode with Matt being at the front of the group leading the girls and Nathan and I heading up the back. These girls were all over the place, one totally stacked it a few times so the policeman actually followed us all the way back to Mr Hugo's! We were an hour late back to give the bikes back but Mr Hugo greeted us like long lost friends giving us hugs, kisses and handing out lemonade! The 10 of us plus Rich and Maggie who waited for us at Mr Hugo's all got the bus back into town, said goodbye to the American girls and the 5 of us headed for food and to plan our next day of wine tasting.
On Saturday we hired a car and Matt and I put our names down to drive as I was feeling a little winey in the head after Friday and was happy not to drink. Matt was happy to drive out to the mountains and I would drive back. The first bodega we stopped in was Clos de Chacras and it was beautiful, the house was stunning, situation next to a gorgeous pond with the vineyards as a backdrop!
After everyone tasted some lovely wines here the 5 of us got in the car and drove to discover some of the other Bodegas in the area. Well we went from one to the next and everywhere was shut. The ride around the vineyards was stunning and I got some nice photos of the mountains but we didn't go to any wineries for 2 hours
We headed back to Clos de Chacras where the manager was so shocked as he had recommended ones to visit that even though the kitchen was shut he rustled up a massive cheese and meat platter for us which everyone ordered their favourite wine from the earlier tastings.
All in all another fantastic day in the country, in some of the most stunning settings I have ever been in with great company. I would recommend everyone go to Mendoza once in their lifetime.