The Wineries of Mendoza
There are well over 100 wineries in the greater Mendoza region. We chose the ones below to tour, based upon rcommendations from various sources as well as promixity to our hotel. The results are presented below in the order which visited. We knew that the wine industry had changed much since our last visit to Mendoza some 34 years ago. Then, the emphasis was on producing good table wine without much thought about modern techniques or world marketing. That changed dramatically over the past twenty years or so, as new wine making techniques were studied in Europe and the United States, and as wealthy investors begain to purchase and develop the land in this region. The grape used for most of this region is the Malbec. This grape was used centries ago in France, but was not highly successful in that damp climate. Argentinians found that the malbec was particularly suited to the high desert climate of Mendoza, producing various levels of sweetness based upon the stress created through limiting the water provided the vines. Under stress, the malbec creates a thick skin and intense sugar content. The smart producers also recognized that the malbec developed different flavors at different elevations. As a result of this, many bodegas grow malbec vineyards at several elevations (5000 to 7500 feet above sea level) and then blend the grapes to produce the desired final taste. This is a special art obviously, and is constantly being improved. Complementing the artistic creativity of the ventnors is the major capital investment they have made to install the latest machinery and hardware for scientifically producing the best possible product. Typically, everything inside a winery is now stainless steel coupled with the insturmentation to allow constant monitoring of the fermentaion and maturing process. Most of this tooling comes from Switzerland manufacturors. The bottom line of all of this is that Argentinian wines are now arguabily among the finest in the world. And, they can now be found in quantity in our local U.S. stores.
