Long weekends are eagerly awaited by wineries in Mendoza. This time, in honor of the Argentinian Bicentennial, many of them offered special festive menus, tours and activities. Here are some of the alternatives offered by the local wineries.
As part of the celebrations of the Argentinian Bicentennial, many wineries offered special services for local, national and international visitors to the province. For this reason, most wineries were opened over the long weekend, on May 24th and 25th. According to official sources, hotels had an occupancy rate around 100%.
Moreover, last Friday 21st May was also a holiday in Chile in celebration of the glories of the Army and the Navy. Thus, the wineries in Mendoza also received a great number of tourists from the neighboring country.
Carolina Macaya, in charge of Tourism and Public Relations at Bodega Ruca Malén, explained that the winery offered a genuine criollo tasting menu on May 24th and 25th. “We decided to organize this special activity after two weeks of constant calls from customers.”
In addition, Macaya observed that this long weekend was different from other holiday weekends in Argentina, as it was close to the summer holidays in Europe and attracted many visitors from that continent, as well as from Brazil and the United States. However, the great majority of the tourists who visited Mendoza came from other Argentinian provinces. “Ruca Malén wines sell well all over the country: Rosario, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, Villa La Angostura, Bariloche and Buenos Aires. That’s why many people from those places are interested in the winery: they want to know where the wine they’re drinking comes from,” she remarked.
In turn, Cintia Noé Figueras, Tourism and PR manager of Bodega Belasco de Baquedano, explained: “the winery decided to offer something different, so we designed a traditional May 25th menu that consisted of empanadas, locro (a thick corn stew), a dulce de leche dessert platter, pastelitos (quince-filled thousand-leaf pastries) and sopaipillas (deep-fried pastry dough cakes).”
Further options
Clara Argerich, Tourism and PR manager at Bodegas Norton, stressed that “the range of tourist activities offered in Mendoza for this weekend was very wide. Bearing this in mind, our winery offered innovative alternatives such as a traditionally Argentinian-style breakfast, a historical tour and a themed lunch menu named ‘The Taste of Freedom and Revolution’.”
Chandon was also opened during the holidays and offered different services. “We had a very good weekend with a large number of tourists. Besides the tours around the winery, we provided visitors with three types of menu options at the restaurant. One lunch menu option featured quality products from Mendoza; there was also a six-course tapas menu which includes dessert and is paired with three sparkling wines; and finally, there was a choice of cheese and smoked meat platters to be accompanied with three choices of warm dishes,” explained Tatiana Casero, who is in charge of Tourism in the winery in Mendoza.
Bodega O. Fournier and its restaurants Urban and Nadia O.F. offered a specially designed menu on the weekend and holidays through Wednesday, May 26th. As Nadia Harón, chef at both restaurants, explained, “the menu options were inspired in Argentinian gastronomy and traditional products.” The restaurant in San Carlos offered deep-fried ground-beef crescents, peppers filled with potato omelet, humita (steam-cooked ground corn) on a crunchy potato flower bed, shredded stewed beef on polenta cream and a local zucchini variety filled with tofu carbonada stew. Prices ranged between ARS 90 and 180 depending on the wine lines that pair with the different courses.
Finally, Bodega Salentein did not only serve a typical lunch, but also celebrated Argentina’s Bicentennial Day with the performance of the Andes Army’s first marching band. Once the performance was over, the visitors were able to enjoy a lunch catered to feature Argentina’s local flavors.
Article written for winesur.com, by Laura Saieg. Photo by winesur.com
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http://www.winesur.com/news/tourism/mendozas-wineries-were-full-of-tourists
