Arrival in Mendoza only holds very deep and sad memories for us, if you have read the previous posts you will know why. With “the incident” aside Mendoza is a very laid back city with plenty of small parks plaza’s and retail therapy outlets. All these public spaces were immaculately kept and provided much relief over the time we were here, chilling out in the afternoon heat.

The real reason why we were here is that Mendoza is set in the heart of the Argentinean Wine Region producing some of the world greatest wines. So before we headed off to the wineries we thought we would do some tasting sessions of our own, Backpacker Style. So with our connoisseur hats on we visited the finest of wine locations, the supermarket. In true budget style no wine was to be more that 5 pesos. Here was our haul.

I will be the first to admit that these we not the greatest, but you can’t complain when you spend that little really. A short aside from wine is the perfect counterpart to such a drink, steak. While here we ate Prime Argentinean Steak everyday and “half a cow on a plate” pretty much sums up the quantity of meat were talking about here! See exhibit a. They were amazing and a great relief from the ¼ chicken, chips, rice and salad (carb overload) we were used to eating up until this point.

Returning once more to wine the main winery region is just outside Mendoza in a small area called Maipu and this is where we headed to for a day of fermented grape goodness. What’s the best way to live the Argentinean wine valley lifestyle? That’s right, on a bike! After hiring Bicycles from Bike and Wines we set off to the furthest stop on our self guided winery tour. This took about an hour to conquer but the hard work had been done.

During the day we managed to visit a total of XX wineries in each one we sampled some of their favourite wines.  The wineries each had their own little charm, whether it was an astrological theme, vintage cellar or wine museum. Of course visits to wineries would not be complete without the best bit… the tastings. We found the region to be especially good for the cabernet Sauvignon & Malbec grapes, which were very good and also very much out of our price range.

As the day progressed the cycling became more erratic as the alcohol took its grip but no harm was done. In fact the riding was extremely quaint and peaceful wit the hot sun peaking through trees onto the small lanes which lined the vineyard boundaries. A feeling of being in the south of France was dominant throughout the day.

The tour wasn’t all bout wine however. We also popped into a olive oil producer and a chocolate liqueur maker. The latter was superb with creamy chocolate heaven in a glass with alcoholic infusion.  The range of flavours was huge, peppermint, toffee, caramel, hazelnut you name it they had it!

Mendoza for us could be summed up in 3 words Wine, Steak and Relaxation.