2026 Feb 21-25: Mendoza

Mendoza, in the Uco valley, is the center of the biggest wine making region of Argentina. We got an airbnb in town. Not much curb appeal, but nice & functional inside:

On the first evening we had much action - a soccer celebration (our first clue northern Argentinians sing):

And a torrential downpour:

22nd AM there’s a huge park right in town -Parque General San Martin:

A guy called Mauricio, recommended by friends if Adrienne, took us to 3 wineries. Some things we learned -

• Big temp differences between day & night are good for wine

• Higher elevations are good

• The era in which vineyards were wiped out in Europe was the Filox Era

• 2019 was an outstanding year in the Uco valley

Mauricio said, when asked to compare Chilean & Argentinian winemaking, ‘the Chileans are jealous and the Argentinians are arrogant’ 😂

Bandini:

Bodega Benegas:

Martino:

Evening stroll through city center:

Typical Sunday night in the park?:

Parque General San Martin has an active ‘regatta’ (rowing) club:

Got a haircut:

24th AM strolled Parque General San Martin:

In the afternoon we took a bus out to Chacras de Coria, a bedroom community an hour outside Mendoza proper. Veronica recommended it, said a lot of wealthy Mendozans are moving there. She suggested La Gloria, where we had one of our best lunches of the entire trip:

Chacras de Coria:

Proof that the tram system works (we never used it):

25th flight to Salta was late afternoon so we had lunch at a place we’d seen in our previous strolls - Lobopollito. 5 stars:

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