Mendoza, Argentina! Wine, Nature, and a Casino.
The second leg of our travels to Argentina took us to Mendoza. Mendoza is like the Napa Valley in California, or probably like the other wine producing regions across the globe but at the same time I cannot help but feel a couple years on that it was not like other wine regions I had visited at all. A couple of things to mention though. I was working in the hotel industry at the time of my visit and I had a good contact who really setup a great deal of the trip for us so I did less research than I normally do. We also stayed 4 days but what I discovered is that I wished we had stayed a few more because I underestimated how much there was to do. We stayed at the Park Hyatt which I thought lived up to Park Hyatt standards. We stayed because I got a great discount and really no other reason so as far as hotels go I would do an updated check. That being said the Hyatt was really nice! Casino, breakfast, and international pretty people(read: women). One other note that still amuses me to no end is at some point while walking around the hotel the Humpty Dance was playing on some speakers within in the walls, who knew Mendoza, who knew. All you had to do was give Humpty a chance and he did his Humpty Dance.
The first thing that I really liked about Mendoza is that it had great nightlife! There was bar/restaurant area called Aristides Villanueva. If you’ve ever been to Napa at night, it can be just ok so it was cool to go to a lively area of town so you could drink some more after a long day of drinking of course.
The next thing was the Plazas. At the time I did not have a kid but Mendoza would be a fun place with little or big kids I think and thats why I liked the Plazas. The layout of the city is all these wide open plaza/square/parks. Plaza Independencia was the the large main one. Really close to the Hyatt it always had these farmers markets going on at night with endless booths selling all kinds of things. Lots of Mate tea from what I remember which I did not take too but that does not you won’t. Try it, live a little. Oh and Ice Cream was everywhere too. Helados Ferruccio Soppelsa was the place I went back to a bunch. I think I found it on Yelp or TripAdvisor and I thought it was fantastic. You may concluded from this and past blog posts that Ice Cream plays a big part in my travels and you would be right. My favorite cookies and cream to date is J.P. Licks in Boston in vaguely related and unimportant news.
WINERIES! — Now the main reason I was there. This is where the lack of research yet lots of success comes in. I was hooked up for my winery tours because of my work at the time so not sure how to replicate my experience but even if I had done it off the street I think I would have enjoyed this just as much! So we visited Bodega Norton. Beautiful grounds, great wine, and most of all La Vid. The restaurant at Norton is amazing! The atmosphere was is crazy good! One of those I feel so special and important type places. Valle de Uco and Luján de Cuyo were the areas where the wineries were located. We also visited Tapiz, and Polenta Estate. Truth to be told i enjoyed all of them. Malbec was a huge reason, being a fan of the wine I sampled it everywhere we went. It also pairs well with Steak which I ate in abundance. Oh and Lomo sandwiches…….I held down the period key for a few thinking about those sandwiches! The tastings worked like they do everywhere in the world. We came, we paid, we drank. We also bought some bottles to take home. There was an unusually expensive Paul Hobbs wine that was incredible. It had all those fancy points and awards to go with it but it really lived up to the hype. Finally after we visited these wineries we thought we would try a wine tour as well to go to multiple places all at once. We went with Trout and Wine tours, another tripadvisor rec. Normally if i get a pretty girl as tour guide I get suspicious that the quality might be lacking but our tour guide was well versed and took care of our group from the tastings through lunch. Overall I enjoyed the tour with them.
The final thing that I wish we had participated in more was all the outdoor activities. This is where the lack of homework I usually do before a trip hurt because I just did not realize how much stuff they had to do. It was based around Parque Aconcagua. Motorcycle tours, white water rafting, horses, and a whole slew of other things. I was to drunk to do those and admittedly you can do a great deal of them in the States near where I live but the local scenery was amazing. Even just a motorcycle ride through the area near where it borders Chile would have been so much fun! Alas have to leave something for next time. Its right next to driving down route 40 through Argentina. If anyone wants to do that don’t forget to invite me! I suggest you speak good Spanish though. My strategy of adding o’s or a’s to basic english words is mostly just embarrassing for all involved but my commitment is unmatched.
Enjoy the empanadas and alfajores!
http://www.norton.com.ar/laVid.php?idIdioma=2&idLaVid=7
