Thursday 30 November 2017
A different bed so we do not sleep perfectly and we are up and about for a busy day. Our protest over morning wine tasting has achieved nothing and we head out of town for a 30 minute drive to the Matervini winery. Whilst a young winery it has vines going back to 1938 and the owner has a history of producing some very high quality Malbec – and when he sold the original winery he retained ownership of the older vines as part of the new winery. The best wine we taste is US$90 per bottle and the volumes are such that they only sell direct from the estate. They also hope to be eco-friendly and take steps to utilise solar generated energy.
The other winery we visit has Chilean owners but they have huge Italian heritage with the estate modelled on a Tuscan style. This is the Renacer winery. It is working towards much higher volumes than Matervini and buys in grapes from local growers to achieve those volumes. A very different approach and using blending of wines at the final stages to achieve some consistency. The grapes used in both cases come not just from close to Mendoza but also from the Yuco valley and from other locations with only the top wine from the Matervini bodega being an estate wine. Renacer are also experimenting with a Chardonnay!
Photos of the morning tour are here.
We return to Mendoza for a break and a sandwich before the afternoon city tour. In reality Mendoza is a working city with agriculture not the main industry – that is oil. And olives are as important as wine to the local economy apparently. Mendoza is the fourth largest city in Argentina and there is nothing of great age as earlier buildings were all destroyed by an earthquake in 1861. Experts were brought into prevent another similar disaster and the older part of town featured a main square and four lesser squares set apart by a few blocks to allow people to be in the open in the event of another major earthquake. Additionally the city was protected by a huge park to prevent rock slides into the city itself from the edges of the hills.
Our tour ends at the top of the San Martin park where there is a monument at Glory Hill to the Army of the Andes which was led by San Martin and achieved the independence of Chile and with other forces achieved independence for Peru. Although a revolutionary leader San Martin was often at odds with his fellow freedom fighters as he wanted to install local monarchies – his fellow revolutionaries generally sought presidential led republics. There is no arguing with his resolve in achieving independence for three countries (Argentina coming before Chile and the Army of the Andes with Peru later). General José San Martin had a busy life – reading that linked entry tells a complex but compelling story – he bestrode the continent in the first half of the nineteenth century like a colossus!
The afternoon tour photos are here.
As with Santiago we have a good guide looking after us – knowledgeable and informative. His dinner recommendation leads to perhaps the least exciting meal of the holiday – but who knows, we might have chosen the wrong food!
It has been sunny and warm today. We managed a couple of hours in the sun when we get back to the hotel before dinner. Time to move on again!