Mendoza produces 70% of Argentina’s wine and 14% of the worlds. But at first glance, it’s a surprise anything can grow here, let alone fields upon fields of grapes. One winery tour guide informed us that it had not rained in 2 months. The grapes grow thanks to generations of irrigation from the nearby Andes mountains even if the peaks are obscured by dust clouds by early afternoon.
Throughout the city of Mendoza there are touts and tour agencies handing out flyers for renting bikes and touring the wineries of nearby Maipu. The idea of biking along flat, shaded roads lined by vineyards tugged at ours (and those of every other off-peak tourist) heartstrings. Unfortunately, a few facts intrude on this blissful experience.
- It’s still a desert, read – hot and dusty and dry.
- Cargo trucks don’t like to share bumpy 2-lane roads with bicyclists.
- There are larg e swaths of road with nary a grapevine to be seen.
Fortunately, there were plenty of redeeming facts, such as the following.
- There’s still win e.
- The bodegas (wineries) were lovely and produced high quality wines.
- When trucks weren’t storming by, the roads were peaceful.
- We visited in the spring whi ch meant milder temperature and crowds.
At the furthest point (~9km), we toured the small winery of Carinae, run by French expats, Brigitte and Felipe. The young, cold Malbec Rose, piqued our interest after a day in the sun. At 3pm we hadn’t eaten lunch and Brigitte offered us some empanadas from her freezer. We stayed a little longer than planned.
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