By Lois Rothschild for OCregister.comThe peaks of the Andes in Argentina were covered in snow that never melts as we flew east from Santiago de Chile toward Mendoza. The great range filled our window for our hourlong flight until the Uco Valley appeared below, green with heavy, healthy grapevines.
These Andean foothills 4,000 feet above sea level have become a hub for wine lovers. The altitude, soil, sun and low humidity combine to help create the fruit for excellent wines. The vineyards are fed with the spring waters that flow down from the Andes, feeding more than 900 wineries in the region. It's a mix that has made wine lovers sit up and notice that Argentina is on the connoisseur's map.
Four of us, all women above retirement age, traveled through South America together for three weeks in early December. Mendoza would be our first stop after a short overnight stay in Santiago after a 10-hour flight from New York. Our leader was Gretchen Janssen, my high school friend who had been to Argentina 11 times. Also along were her friends Corry Grant and Joan Coughlin. We were hungry for new sights, sounds, stories, foods and, above all, wine.
We'd arranged for tours of Mendoza wineries for the four days we were there, with tastings and elaborate luncheons. We stayed at the Villaggio Boutique Hotel with a full breakfast every morning and free Internet use in the lobby. The rooms were clean and modern, and we were within walking distance of Plaza Independencia and close to shops and restaurants. And every day, our comfortable tour van arrived on time with our English-speaking guide, Anna Laura.
We'd read up ahead of time, so we knew malbec is the flagship Argentine varietal, but local wineries also produce other reds, such as syrah, cabernet sauvignon and tempranillo. There's torrontes, a light, dry, fruity wine (it would turn out to be my favorite). As a novice to the world of wine, my preference was for the dry white with the fragrance of peaches. My three friends preferred the reds. But we promised ourselves to taste everything.
The first day we toured the Atamisque Winery, named for a native plant, with stainless steel tanks, modern wine presses and French oak casks. The farm is over 100 years old, but was purchased in 2006 by Frenchman John Du Monceau and his wife, who settled there and harvested their first grapes in 2007.
But drinking wine at 11 a.m. is a little tough to get used to. After the first day of our visit to Mendoza, touring wineries with English speaking guides and learning about malbec and other grapes, I realized that wine tasting is just that: tasting, not drinking. In Napa one is encouraged to spit wine into special containers after tasting, but such pots weren't as available in Argentina. I wasn't sorry for that; it's an unpleasant necessity for some, I suppose.
Each of the wineries offered at least four wines, and always included malbec. The white wines I tasted during our tours included torrontes and chardonnay, but merlot, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir were more often poured for us.
Every vineyard we visited was outlined in olive trees, and some vintners grow red roses at the end of each row. Anna Laura said there's a symbiotic relationship among roses, olive trees, lavender and grapevines. At the Domaine Jean Bousquet Vineyard, long-stemmed lavender plants were in bloom under the olive trees, a touch of the French culture, she said. The olive oil we had at every meal on our trip was light in color, delicate in taste and easy to distinguish from the Italian or Spanish olive oil I have in my pantry at home.
We met Bousquet, a Frenchman who put his resources to work in his vineyard outside Mendoza. In 1997 Bousquet began to develop the winery, erecting new buildings and cellars, buying equipment and planting new vines. He welcomed us personally during our luncheon while we enjoyed the fruits of his labors. His winery also produces traditional sparkling wines, the Santa Bax Extra Brut and Extra Brut Rose.
We returned each day to Mendoza, with its public squares every few blocks featuring a larger-than-life statue of a local hero or national figure. Mendoza is proud of its parks, but without irrigation, most ground cover is dry. When we had our guide to translate, communication was no problem. But in the evenings, on our own, it was different...Read full article
