Tour de Franzia--Mendoza Style

Saturday, April 7^th, 2012

After 2 days of having everything shut down for the Easter feriado, we were jumping to do something and knew that the wine bike tour was exactly that. We took the 10 out to Maipú, which is the even dustier outskirt town of Mendoza. While it wasn’t a slummy area, it was merely just a humble town that gave a good representation of Argentina outside its cities.  After we brushed the dust off, we looked for Maipú Bikes (the bike rental place) and after we were treated to a delicious glass of juice, we were on our bikes, ready to go.

One glance at the landscape told us there wouldn’t be any hills this time (unlike Circuito Chico in Bariloche…) and we reveled under the hot, dry sun on the dusty roads. Our first stop was a marmalade/chocolate/liquor place where we got a small sample of everything. I opted for the lemon liquor while Angela just went all in and got the red absinthe. Hello 10:30 am! 

Thoroughly pleased, we continued on to the next winery but during the free guided tour, we couldn’t hear anything and just took advantage of the secluded vineyard and the free sample.

We then visited a small-scale winery that specialized in “limited wines” only available at the winery as they were seen as too delicate and high quality to mass market in grocery stores. But don’t misunderstand and think this made the winery pretentious—it was quite the opposite. We were greeted by some really friendly staff, as well as signs that had some words of wisdom. 

In addition, our tour guide had a wine stain on her shirt that was there in a matter of factly kind of way (yeah, it’s stained, but I work at a winery—what do you want from me!). The winery had been a family affair for many generations and you could see the dedication to quality as well as pride. We learned about the wine making process (where no bottle of wine is less than 2 years old because of the aging process), the lines of wines they offered (with 3 main lines and 2 “select” lines with very limited quantities) as well as how to appreciate and sample a wine.

Wine sampling for beginners:

1. Choose a wine that’s right for you. If you are new to wine, don’t immediately jump to the heavily aged reds or opt for the most expensive bottle just because it’s “higher class”.
2. When you've chosen your wine, make sure you hold it from the stem and the base of the glass as you do not want to heat the wine by holding the vase with your hand.
3. As you hold it, note the color. Is it blood red? Fuchsia? Dark maroon?
4. Give it a sniff. You’ll notice that the scent of alcohol dominates. Swirl it around a few times, then sniff again—this time you can smell the delicious components of the wine. Maybe it will be fruity, nutty, hearty, woody, chocolatey or otherwise.
5. As you watch the swirls go back down, notice the bead thickness and speed it falls back down the side of the glass. The slower it goes, the heartier the wine.
6. Then finally, take your first sip. Be prepared for the “palate shock”. Then take another sip. Then another. Make sure to swirl the wine around your palate to get a feel for its flavor. You should take 3 sips before you decide whether or not you enjoy the taste. And if you do like it, well, take as many sips after that as you want ;)

After a great tour/tasting session, we were feeling even better in the heat as we peddled (a little more wobbily) down the path towards yet another winery. This winery, Mevi, was more exclusive looking and had a sleek post-modern design with geometrics ruling all, as well as some good air conditioning. For this tasting session, we were to pick 3 wines from the white or red collection. I admittedly am much more of a white wine drinker, so I was happy to finally have some to choose from. In addition to wine, we felt some empanadas were in order—especially as our empty stomachs reminded us that all we’d had in the past few hours was wine…

Looking over the balcony at the incredible view of the winery and the hazy Andes Mountains, we thought maybe we were in paradise. There’s no way places like this actually exist, and if they do, how did we get here? The place seemed even more affectionately special when we realized that we’d biked here on a perfect sunny day—two best friends in the heart of wine country.

But we couldn’t stay there forever, as we still had more vineyards to see but even less time to see them. We pedaled forward and encountered Familia de Tommasi—the vineyard also notorious for its 100 peso meals. But we had a coupon! As well as the mentality that we would split it. Our soup came fast and it was probably the best chicken soup variation I’ve ever had in my life. I know, I know, my inner vegetarian is crying, but that was in the top 3 meals I’ve eaten in Argentina and maybe ever. I could not get enough. I would have eaten a vat of it. And that was even before we got dessert—a warm brownie with dulce de leche ice cream. Good food, good wine, good friends—good life.

Starting to wind down from our wine haze (worsened by the hot sun), we had to call it a day because we had to make it back to the bike place on time. You’d think that spending 5-6 hours would be sufficient, but we hit maybe half the vineyards on the itinerary. But we returned the bikes, thankful we never crashed or got hit by a car because drunk pedaling can be dangerous… ;) the worst of our worries were the millions of piropos and car honks we got on the trail. These men are relentless…

This was the kind of day that really put me in the travelers’ dilemma: do you explore new lands, or go back to places you love? All I could think of on the bus back to our hostel was how much I wanted to experience all of that again—from the personable vineyard owners, their delicious wines and the liberation we felt biking along the dusty roads in the sun. A perfect day.