We stayed in Lujan de Cuyo which is just outside of Mendoza, supposedly closer to some wineries. The apartment we stayed at was very comfortable and safe. As with most places in Argentina, whether it be apartments, grocery stores, or wineries, there is a security guard managing the ins and outs. Our electric bikes arrived the next morning and we took off for Maipu for a wine tasting/lunch at Bodega Alandes. Our guide turned out to be the manager of the Bodega and he went overboard on the wine tasting. Many many samples and then lunch, a food and wine pairing to which he adds top end wines to try. Ok, I’m a sucker and this place is one of the few that actually has a wine club and yes I convinced Katie we needed to join! What! Oh well, great wines and they ship to the US. We started with an 11:30 appointment and we didn’t leave until 4.
We took off on our bikes but I put in directions to our place that somehow got routed through downtown Mendoza. Our 1 hour ride home ended up leaving us in dowbtown Mendoza. We had an hour to go. We both upped the electric motors and cranked for home. Along about 7 pm, with the sun going down and google reporting we were 12 minutes from home Katie spun out. It is unclear why but after going thru some traffic control bars at an intersection her bike didn’t slow down and she ran into a metal barrier at a culvert. Well it’s good the metal stopped her from the 10 foot drop into the culvert but using her lip as a brake was in the long run not a good idea. She sat on the pavement for awhile trying to assess what was broken. Her bottom lip was clearly split and needed sutures and her knee was scraped up pretty good. So many people passing by stopped to offer assistance it was amazing. One of the first people got on the phone and called the police/ambulance. We waited maybe 45 minutes before he just flagged down a passing police car. But then another 30 minutes as the police talked on radios and really didn’t communicate what was going on. Katie and I eventually called an Uber as we just wanted to go to the hospital for stitches but the police said no when Uber arrived. Well we waited some more and then another police car came. This was the Tourist Police.
They let Katie get in an Uber to go the hospital and they called for a truck to pick up our bikes. They drove me and the bikes to our AirBnB then they took me to the hospital to check on Katie. The first emergency room she went to told her they couldn’t stitch her lip as there was no surgeon there (not like what I’ve seen on ‘The Pitt’). The tourist police drove us to a second hospital but that hospital said it would be 5-6 hours before she would be seen. Now, the police called around to other hospitals looking for a surgeon and a shorter wait. We eventually got to our third hospital at midnight which was now in downtown Mendoza. After an hour wait they took Katie back and after another hour she came out stitched up. Meanwhile the tourist police were still there. They would check on me in the waiting room, asking if I needed anything, any food, any water. So nice. They drove us back to our AirBnB but since our place was now in a different district than where we started, they transferred us to another set of tourist police to finish the ride. Amazing help!
We slept like zombies but awoke in time for a small breakfast and coffee before our morning winery reservation. Katie wanted to continue on despite the painful fat lip and sore knee. We got an Uber driver to take us to our first appointment. We had a tour in english and a private tasting in the wine cellar. I had set up an elevation tasting in that a Malbec from Lujan de Cuyo the lowest elevation district was put up against Malbecs from the 3 Uco Valley districts each with a higher elevation then the last. All of the wines were made by the same vintner, Terrazas de los Andes.
We walked to our next Bodega for a food and wine tasting, stopping at a Farmacia along the way to pick up antibiotics and other supplies for Katie.
Bodega Renacer ended up being a fantastic lunch and wine tasting though for some strange reason I chose a vegetarian main course and Katie had the beef. Still kicking myself about that but the lunch was still fantastic with great paired wines.
Ubered to home but the service is much thinner here with 10-15 minute waits and sometimes they just drop you after you have waited awhile. Our last day in Lujan we walked to Bodega Artisanal L’Orange. This was a small all natural (not Au Naturel!) vineyard with some unusual varieties and styles. It looked like a great place for a country wedding with Bocce and a pen full of chickens. We walked back to our place and later ordered an Uber for our next stop. I thought it was a 20 minute drive and so I ordered an Uber 30 min before. Our first driver canceled us after we had already waited for 10 minutes. Another 15 minute wait or so for the next. We were finally picked up and taken out some long dirt and gravel road. We were dropped at a gate that had a small sign for the vineyard we were looking for but nobody would answer the buzzer. I double checked google maps using the restaurant name instead of the winery and it turns out the restaurant was not in the same place as the winery! It was another 20 minutes away. We walked a bit after ordering an Uber. That would be another 15 minutes and in the end we were an hour late. The restaurant turns out to not care a bit. They met us before we got to the door with glasses of wine and began saying nice things to us. We settled into Quimera Bistro for another fantastic lunch and wine pairing.
Our trip to the Uco Valley started the next day and like some of our previous days, when talked about, it will be boring to those who weren’t there as it is a series of wine tastings along with lunches and wine pairings. I know, boring. But if you were there, fun. There was always a backdrop of snow capped Andes looming to the West. So our trip begins with our hired driver, Riccardo, who is from San Carlos in the Uco Valley. He picked us up for our 3 day exploration of the Valley. There is zero tolerance for alcohol and driving around Mendoza with the blood alcohol limit set at zero. Penalties include huge fines and possible incarceration. We also heard and now believe that Uber drivers are few and far between in the valley thus we opted for a hired local driver.
Our first stop Domaine Bousquet. Fairly typical of wineries here, the Domaine included a restaurant and lodging. Beautiful morning views of the Andes but cold! The server was setting us up outside but we asked to be moved inside so our hands would stop shaking. This was not our favorite wine but not our least favorite either and they export most of their production, especially to the US.
We moved on to lunch and tasting at Andeluna which turned out to be one of my favorites. We had multiple courses again with the Filet being outstanding. Even the different breads served with fresh olive oil were hard to stop eating even though we were full. The olive oil here is fantastic. Then of course desert with a form of creamy ice cream. Really, really good.
Now stuffed and tipsy we moved on towards our AirBnB but not before our last stop at Bodega Salentein, one of the originals in the area. Good wines but honestly, too much for one day. We vowed just a winery and lunch from then on. Our lodging was a ‘cabin’ built amongst the vineyards. It was very comfortable but as in all of Argentina there are a slew of dogs roaming around with lots of barking. We had a hot tub on the roof but it was only about 2 feet deep so that was awkward. It was in the 30’s so we battled to get as flat as possible in the tub to keep warm. Quite the sight I’m sure. Big full belly protruding from the water’s surface (mine anyway). Oh well, first hot tub in months.
In the morning we were greeted by Javier a friend of Riccardo’s. He drove us over to Alfacrux a huge concrete monstrosity. Their production, similar to others in the region has been going down and the wine produced has shifted towards white wine, Rose, and young unoaked red wine. The taste trends seem to be worldwide. The high end Alfa and Beta brands were oaked red wines and sold for $80-400 per bottle. They were ok.
We moved over to Piedra Infinita, a restaurant associated with Zuccardi wines.
This is repetitious but another fantastic meal with super good wines. Katie figured out the fuss over Tomahawk steaks. Delicious but we were so full we gave half to Javier. Back to the hot tub for the rest of the day.
Our last day in Mendoza reunited us with Riccardo. He drove us over to Corazon del Sol where we had a very nice tasting. A cardiologist from Texas owns the place along with the Ravana winery in Napa and another winery in Oregon. Cardiology, coulda, woulda, shoulda.
Our final stop was lunch and a tasting at La Azul a character filled Bodega lacking any pretentious feelings. The waiter informed us at 12:30 they would be serving us wine until 4:30 unless we decided to stop. Whoops, we left at 3:30 with way too much wine on board. Riccardo drove us an hour and a half back to Mendoza where we stayed at close to our worst hotel of the trip. Katie had scheduled an Uber for the airport drive in the am. Either our alarm went off late or he arrived early but that was the quickest we ever got out of a hotel room. Luckily we seem to have all our stuff, well except for a pair of Katie’s sunglasses which still might be in our bags somewhere.
Lima is going to be a footnote. We got snookered on arrival by a guy showing us an Uber badge but he was a taxi driver. Drove for an hour, looking at his phone most of the time and the backseat seatbelts didn’t work. Charged us double what he said it would cost and begged off. Welcome to Lima. Drivers are the equal to Argentinians if not more aggressive and the cars are proof of that. Many have ropes holding the trunk closed and the bumpers on. We’ve explored downtown and the neighborhoods of Barranco and Miraflores along the Malecon. The coast reminds me of Santa Monica with the cliffs and the highway running along the ocean
We had a nice food tour yesterday evening with some ceviche, tuna tar tar, multiple corn dishes and Cremoladas, a slushy kind of thing. Unfortunately, Cilantro is back in style so Katie missed out on a few dishes. We are chilling today with plans for the airport and the Amazon tomorrow! Can’t wait.