Mendoza - The wine trail

I have been a fan of Malbec for some time. I like the fruity character that it tends to have, and you can still fine good cheap Malbecs in the US. I was certainly excited to head to Mendoza to see the wineries where it is made.

We arrived in Mendoza after a very hot bus ride from Santiago over the Andes as the bus's air conditioner was broken. Despite the heat, it was a beautiful ride over the Andes with views of Cerro Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Americas, and the highest mountain outside Asia). Interestingly, this area is also where Seven Years in Tibet was filmed.

Mendoza is hot and dry and it was 105 degrees when we arrived. We got settled in our hostel and checked out the town. We were expecting the town to be more catered to the wine industry with wine shops and boutiques on every corner. However, while Mendoza has a few pedestrian malls, a couple of wine shops, and a fancy Hyatt, it is a pretty typical Argentinian town.

We, of course, were here for the wine. Jim is certainly the beer connoisseur, but I prefer red wine and so I was excited to visit the vineyards. We checked out the options for wine tasting. A great resource for the area is the gringo wine magazine Wine Republic that can be found at most wine shops. We found the most economical way to do it was by taking a bus out to the Maipu area and rent a bike to tour the vineyards. Maipu is great because you can get a feel for all types of wine making processes from quaint historic wineries, modern boutique wineries and the huge industrial wineries.
We went to what was the most advertised bike rental place for the area, and got some pretty shoddy bikes. (FYI - The next day when we went we rented from Mr. Hugo, who is a fantastically friendly guy and whose bikes are far superior and gives you as much water and wine as you can consume!)

The map we were given showed Club Tapiz, which was one of the vineyards Wine Republic said has a great tour and tasting. It is also the one furthest away from the bike rental place and "wine road" so we decided to hit it first to make sure we got there. It was not a very pleasant ride as we were kind of on a highway to get out there. Also, my bike's tire started to go flat, so it took more than usual effort to get out there. When we did arrive, we found out that this was not where they gave tours, but instead was a gorgeous hotel surrounded by vineyards. We were very hot and tired and they were very nice to invite us in to their restaurant (a refurbished 1890-built villa) Terruño for a glass of Tapiz wine. I had their Malbec, and Jim tried the Cabernet Sauvignon. As an accompaniment, Terruño provided Malbec infused fruits and almonds which were fantastic.
After our wine at Tapiz, the security at Club Tapiz tried to pump up my bike tire and we tried to get back to the main wine road. Jim was, of course, amazing and rode the bike with the bad tire as it slowly deflated again. Luckily we made it back to the main area and asked the guard at VistaAndes winery to call the bike rental place for a new bike. While we waited, we walked across the street to walk through some vineyards and took some pictures.

Armed with a new bike with a hopefully better tire, we headed to CarinaE. CarinaE is a small boutique winery run by a french couple who retired and purchased a vineyard that had been shut down for some time. The owner is an astronomy buff and the winery is named for a constellation that can only be seen in the southern hemisphere and only during the grape harvest. The vineyards are 80-85 years old when the first owner established the winery. This winery had a small intimate tour and tasting outside on their patio. We tried their 100% Malbec Rose, their young Malbec (bottle aged only) and their Octans (another constellation) which is a Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon blend where the Cabernet Sauvignon has aged for 12 months in French oak casks. It is available only at the vineyard, and was one of Jim's and my favorite wines we tried that day.
After CarinaE we headed to Bodega Familia Di Tommaso. This is one of Mendoza's oldest wineries built in 1869 and still has the original brick built tanks and cellars. The site has been named an Argentinian historic monument, so sadly they had to cease production of the wine in the original tanks. However, it does make for beautiful pictures, and a insight into turn of the century wine production. At the end of the tour through the bodega, we tried Di Tommaso's young bottle aged Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon and Familia Di Tommaso Roble Malbec which was barrel aged in French and American oak. Doing these tastings we were starting to be able to discern flavors in the wines and which we liked. Both of us prefer the wine that has been barrel aged (as I think most prefer as it is the more sought after) as it has more oak, vanilla and just more rounded flavors.
We finally ended our tour with Tempus Alba which has a brand new fancy bodega and tasting area. This winery has the new modern equipment for wine making even though it is a third generation family owned winery.
There we tried another trio of wines ending with their reserve Tempus Pleno which is a 60% Malbec - 40% Cabernet Sauvignon blend aged 13 months in new oak barrels. This was probably our second favorite wine of the tours that day. It was already 6pm, and we tried to go to Almacén del Sur (an organic farm with a restaurant recommended by our friend Heather) but it only serves lunch, so we decided to head home and come back after resting for a day.

The next day we explored Mendoza, and that night went to The Wines which is a tasting room in downtown Mendoza. I thought I was ordering a nice, but cheap Achaval Ferrer wine, but they accidentally served me the Achaval Ferrer Finca Mirador 2007, which scored 94 points from both Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator. It was a REALLY good wine, and luckily it was on that night's "half price" glass list.

The next day we headed back Maipu and started off at Bodega La Rural which makes Rutini wines. Here there is a cool wine museum with winemaking tools from the origins on the Mendoza wineries including cow hide presses and brass bottlers. There we tried the Rutini Malbec aged in French and American oak for 12 months. Another great wine.
We did not want to miss Almacén del Sur, so we headed there next. They make gourmet sauces and spreads, all organic, grown at their farm. They have a tasting lunch using their products in a large casona built in 1888. The lunch was amazing. There were so many courses I can barely remember them all. Lamb, shrimp, stuffed fresh peppers, braised ribs....
We left Almacén del Sur totally satisfied and full and headed up to our last winery, Trapiche. Trapiche is the biggest producer of wine in Argentina. Their tour is actually in a refurbished old winery that shut down in the 1970s when people were not consuming as much wine. They now are trying to make high end totally organic wines at the spot. This is the one vineyard that encouraged you to actually try their grapes off the vine! We had a nice tasting of their young Malbec, a Syrah and a very sweet dessert wine.
After the tasting we noticed that a storm was approaching, so we returned the bikes and headed back to the hostel.
We left for Santiago the next day, and were sad realizing that it was the last time on our trip to be in Argentina.

Patagonia animals in Torres del Paine and El Chalten

Seeing animals in the parks at Patagonia is a rare treat. Most of the animals stay away from the main trekking trails as there are large untouched acres for them to roam.


In Torres del Paines we spotted a few Andean Condors, which is a national symbol to numerous countries in South America including Argentina. It was cool to see these birds as they came close to extinction, and are making a comeback due to conservation efforts. They sun their feathers to dry off after the heavy rain we had that morning.


The guanaco, the puma (mountain lion to us in Colorado), the zorro or Brazilian fox are some of the common animals. As with all mountain lions, sightings are extremely rare, as they will likely have seen you, but you will not see them. However we did see a lot of guanacos and a little fox while in Torres del Paine! (looks like Taz!)


Finally, while on our treks through Fitz Roy we heard numerous singing birds that we were unable to get pictures of but we did see this woodpecker pretty close to the trail!

Cerro Torre & Fitz Roy

After five days in Torres del Paine, we headed back into Argentina to the small town of El Chalten, gateway to the areas of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy. Though there is some camping both in town and in the mountains, most of the most famous sites can be visited by day hikes from town. Since we would have had to rent gear, we opted for a hostel in El Chalten and day hikes.

The first day in El Chalten the weather was pretty miserable, even by Patagonia standards. Clouds covered the area and heavy rain and winds made hiking unappealing to say the least. We had a few days, so we opted to try to wait it out. The following day the weather was slightly better, but we decided to bite the bullet and hike up to Lago Los Tres at the base of Fitz Roy. The hiking weather wasn't bad. It was cool and only occasionally was there light rain. But, unfortunately, the clouds obscured much of the famous sights. Still, it was a nice hike.



On day three, we woke to find beautiful, clear blue skies. Our plan was to head up to Cerro Torre. We made the hike to the mirador relatively quickly and with the sun still low in the sky, the views were incredible and it was impossible not to take amazing pictures. This meant, though, that the mirador was crowded with people. We quickly set off with a new plan in mind. We would head towards Lago Torre at the base of the tower and then head north on a three-hour trail to the area around Fitz Roy, since we hadn't seen much of it the day before.

We made good time to the split in the trail, but there was no telling how long the clouds would hold off and we had three hours of hiking ahead of us. After Torres del Paine, the Salkantay trek, Nevado Chachani and lots of other smaller hikes, we were feeling in pretty good shape. So, with only daypacks, we decided we would do a little trail running. We made the three-hour distance in a little under an hour and it was actually quite fun running on the less popular and empty trail.

As a result, we made it to the valley to enjoy the clear blue skies and spectacular views of Fitz Roy. It was well worth it! We snapped way too many pictures, but it was hard not to when the weather and light is so perfect. It was a great way to conclude the Patagonia part of our trip.

All in all, Patagonia's infamous weather cooperated much better than we could have ever hoped. The worst weather was in the Valle de Frances in Torres del Paine and still we were able to see the valley, if not under ideal conditions. Patagonia is an amazing place and we're a bit sad to leave. We've had three weeks in the region and could have spent three months. We can't wait to go back!

Tierra del Fuego - Patagonia - Ushuaia

Patagonia is one of the places we had on our "must visit" list. Actually, over two years ago we tried to plan a trip to Patagonia for a week's Thanksgiving vacation. Realizing that was way too short a time for a trip to Patagonia, we ended up in Panama instead. It was during that planning the seeds of what would become this year-long trips were planted. And now we have made it to the southernmost city in the world: Ushuaia.

After the ferry from Uruguay at noon, we had a nighttime flight down to Rio Gallegos from Buenos Aires and got into the Rio Gallegos airport around 2:00 AM. The bus station did not open until 6:00 AM so we tried to catch some sleep on the floor of the airport with about 10 other travelers who were in the same predicament. Patagonia has a short season where the weather is passable (meaning there is still rain, wind and sleet, but that is a good day!). However that also means that buses and hostels book up early. We arrived at the bus station to find out that there were only two direct buses to Ushuaia and both were booked for that day. After about an hour of waiting and slight pleading with the guy at one of the bus companies, he got us on a bus to Rio Grande and from there we were to take a minibus into Ushuaia. We were very lucky to get on a bus, as when we were leaving the bus station we saw a couple who did not get on the bus making a cardboard sign saying "Ushuaia" to attempt to hitchhike!


Going from Rio Gallegos we crossed the Strait of Magellan into the archipelago Terra del Fuego by ferry.

When we arrived in Ushuaia at 1:00 AM the sky was still slightly glowing from dusk as Ushuaia is so far south (Latitude: 54° 48' 0" S). It is the southernmost city in the world, and calls itself "El fin del Mundo" (The end of the World). It is the jump off point to most Antarctica trips as well. It is still quite a ways north of the Antarctic Circle, however, and therefore, doesn't ever get 24 hours of sun. It is probably comparable to Juneau, Alaska.

We were ecstatic to be in bed as we had been traveling 40 straight hours since leaving Montevideo. We met some folks in the hoste, and all agreed to head to Laguna Esmeralda the next day for some hiking. We had a pretty fun group. It was a muddy trek as it has been raining a lot here, but there were only a few wipe outs.

Near the lake it started raining and some ladies from Buenos Aires who were camping invited us to have some coffee and sit by their fire. They were asking us where we were from and we explained: Germany, Holland, Israel and the U.S. They gave us a puzzled look, and said.... "and you guys are all friends?"

On our last day in Ushuaia we took a zodiac out to see the penguins on Martillo Island. The island is dominated by Magellanic penguins, but there are also some some Gentoos, larger than the Magellanic and with orange-red beaks ending in black. It is a huge colony, and the penguins are almost as curious about humans as we were about them and they would waddle up right to you to check you out.

The babies had been born about a month and a half ago, and were just starting to molt and lose their fluffy feathers so they can go into the sea to fish. I think our favorite part was watching the penguins swim, jump out of the water, then shake themselves off. They all start with their top, and down to their little tails. It was one of the cutest things I have seen.


Penguins - Martillo Island, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina from Jim Kendrick on Vimeo.


We only had a few short days in Ushuaia before heading to El Calafate, El Chaten and Puerto Natales where we are hoping to be doing a lot of backpacking/trekking around Fitzroy, Cerro Torre and Torres del Paine!

Montevideo, Uruguay

We were able to find relatively inexpensive plane tickets from Buenos Aires to Patagonia, saving us a lot of time on buses. So we decided to use our new found time to visit Uruguay. Montevideo is a short three hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires.

We arrived in Montevideo and decided to walk the short distance to our hostel. Immediately we were struck by how quiet and empty things seemed compared to Buenos Aires. It seems as though much shuts down following New Years and we saw many shops and restaurants with signs that said they were re-opening on January 17th. We don't know if the weather plays a role, but we did experience one day of driving rain. It was, however, a nice change of pace.


We stayed in the Ciudad Viejo or Old Town. Our hostel was right in the heart of the bar district so the relative quiet of this time of year was perhaps a blessing. Things in Montevideo (and perhaps all of Uruguay) are much more expensive than Buenos Aires or anyplace else we have been in South America.

The Old Town is charming and the Plaza de Independencia, a block from our hostel, was very nice. We were mostly taking it easy and we spent a hour or so every morning at coffee shop in the neighborhood that we really liked.


We wandered the streets and ate at a few local restaurants -- those that we could find open -- on the first day. The Uruguayan people are very laid back and extremely friendly. We enjoyed our time with everyone we met.

One of the main advantages Montevideo has over Buenos Aires is the fact that there are several beautiful beaches right in the city. We spent one day lounging on the beach at Pocitos. We may have spent a bit too much time on the beach as we came away a bit sunburned. But we relished this time in the sun as we knew we were headed to the infamous Patagonia weather.

Our time in Uruguay was short... too short! We really wish we would have had time to visit coast towns such as Punta del Diablo. Punta del Este is a very popular international resort destination, but Punta del Diablo sounded like it would be more our speed.

We headed back on the ferry and then had a flight from Buenos Aires to Rio Gallegos in Patagonia. A 15 hour bus ride from Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia brought the total to 40 straight hours of travel. I'm going to bed!