
Mendoza - July 27th 2007 - Page 1
Mendoza - July 27th 2007 - Page 1
Mendoza - July 27th 2007 - Page 1
Mendoza - July 27th 2007 - Page 1
Mendoza - July 27th 2007 - Page 1
August 20, 2007
Argentina's wines have come to the world stage only recently, but are quickly growing in popularity, and most of the vineyards and the wine industry is located in the Mendoza province. Our goal in Mendoza was to learn about wine and of course taste it. We spent time enjoying the views of the Andes and even went horse back riding. We stayed at a hotel on a vineyard, which was really beautiful. There were only 7 rooms at this hotel and everyone knew you. Every night they would start the fireplace and you could unwind with tasting of the wines that they produce. It was one our favourite parts of our trip and we are certain that we will return again.
We stayed at this small vineyard called Club Tepiz. They only have 7 rooms and have wine tasting every night near a fireplace. We really enjoyed our stay and would go back in a heartbeat
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:42:00 PM
Our first wine tasting in Mendoza. Couldn't decide what was better the view or the Malbec wine..
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:44:00 PM
We learnt a lot about the wine making process. Tempus vineyard is an experimental vineyard and they develop Malbec clones, which one day (10 yrs from now) they hope to sell to other vineyards, and capitalize on the grape line.
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:47:00 PM
Another way to ferment teh grapes is to keep them in concrete vats instead of steel ones. Apparently, its more difficult to operate concrete vats than the steel ones
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:49:00 PM
The next step is for the wine to sit in oak casts. Vineyards use either French or Amrican oak wood and some use a combination of both! Truely each vineyard is unique
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:51:00 PM
After fermenting and oak casts, the wine is separated into different types and put in barrels. Dependign of what kind of wine, premier or table, the wine will sit for diffrent types of barrels for varying duration.
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:53:00 PM
Once the oenologists gives his/her approval the wine is taken from the barrels and botteled. Most of the bottling is done by these mobile botteling plants
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:57:00 PM
On to labelling. Most of the vineyard we visited were small boutique vineyards and their wine bottles were labelled by hand
RS, posted 8/22/2007 9:58:00 PM
When we were in Mendoza, the vineyards were preparing for the next plantation. They plant the vines and then prune them by leaving just 2 branches, the most healthiest amongst all the branches
RS, posted 8/22/2007 10:01:00 PM
This cellar was not bigger than a garage. They are very scientific in their approach and use all these gadgets to determine the appropriate time to bottle the wine
RS, posted 8/22/2007 10:05:00 PM
The PR guy didnt speak English and we somehow convinced him let us try a yet unbottled wine right out of the barrel! This is how the winmakers decide which wines to blend for their premier line
RS, posted 8/22/2007 10:06:00 PM
The best part of the tasting was the hosts. They took time to explain the process and tour the entire vineyard. We are now at Andeluna - owned partly by ex Pepsi CEO
RS, posted 8/22/2007 10:11:00 PM
Wines have been kept for so long that dust has accumulated on them. Wont mind trying these at all
RS, posted 8/22/2007 10:55:00 PM
Guys cleaning the vats and getting them ready for the next harvest
RS, posted 8/22/2007 10:56:00 PM