Back to Mendoza for a Refill

Young fruit soaks up the rays at the Bodega Cataena Zapata. At this time of year, the buds are vulnerable to afternoon hail storms and torrential downpours.
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Last March we were in Mendoza, Argentina´s wine capital, during the wine harvest. The bodegas were intensely busy processing the grapes, and we were able to see the wineries in full-swing. We toured many wineries, tasted some gorgeous wines, and had a really nice time chatting with local artesanal wine-makers. I came away from Mendoza for a new appreciation of wine, and love for the art and science of wine-making.

Yesterday we were back in Mendoza and visited three more bodegas in the Lujan de Cuyo region: Cataena Zapata, Carmello Patti, and Ruca Malen. If you can get your hands on some bottles from any of these producers you won´t be dissapointed.

Mendoza has recently been named the hottest travel destination for 2007 by the New York Times. You can read a bit more about the area in this article.

Welcome to Chile

After a long and cramped flight on an packed American Airlines plane, I was welcomed into Chile by Immigration with a us$132 ¨arrival tax¨and a 1.5 hour wait to clear customs. Then the bastards checked my luggage, found all the backpacking food I´d carefully packed into ziploc bags, and confiscated the sunflower seeds. ¨If these were toasted and salted, you could bring them in, but since they are raw, we have to take them,¨ said the perkily annoying customs official. By this time I was so fed up with this Chilean airport, and I could see Frank waving at me from the arrival lounge, that I just said ¨ya, whatever,¨ and got the hell out of there.

We spent a night in Valparaiso, a lovely seaside town, where we kept encountering distressed Chileans on their front porches wailing and reciting ¨Pinochet…. Pinochet…,¨ at hearing the news of the former dictator´s death that same day. Keen to move on to friendlier parts, we took off for Argentina where the cost of travelling is half that of Chile, and the wine flows like water from a tap - to Mendoza, the heart of Argenina´s wine country.

We´ll be making quick forays back to Chile (for specific trips) from Argentina, but the plan is to spend as much time as possible in the Argentine Lakes District - hiking, kayaking and I´ll be learning some mountaineering skills so we can cross some glaciers and such.

Now we are off to a couple of boutique wineries to sip. Look for some photos soon!