Wine not? Mendoza wine country!

In Mendoza, we are mixing it up by staying at an AirBnB house.  We figured this would be more like a homestay that we loved so much in Guatemala.  Our bus was late (of course) so by the time we taxi'd to Mariana's house, they weren't home.  But through their open wifi, she told us they were doing an airport run and to wait at the coffee shop on the corner.  They were so sweet to even pay for our tea when they returned! Turns out Mariana has a 1 month old and two younger boys.  Her boyfriend Luciano has a younger daughter who was flying back to BsAs after visiting for Easter weekend.  Mark loved the simple Argentinian design of the home and the guitars that he played for hours.

On the first night, we sought out the 'cambio, cambio' to exchange money.  We had a lot of Chilean pesos and so ended up getting nearly the same exchange rate as if we had US dollars (and still about 25% more than the official rate).  However, it still feels shady to exchange money with some guy out of his wallet on a side street.  Just crazy.  Then we watched the Wisconsin-Duke basketball game at the local Irish pub.  We were thankful they changed the soccer game to basketball just for us!  Unfortunately, the outcome wasn't what I wanted but at least there was plenty of beer to drown our sorrows. 

On our first day, we caught up on computer stuff and planning and enjoyed a beautiful run around the giant park nearby.  So many other locals were out running and biking too!  That evening we had dinner with the brother of the friend of one of Mark's fellow snowboarding instructors, Eric.  Eric is a retired JAG officer in the Air Force and did ACSC (a military professional education school) with Gustavo who lives in Buenos Aires who said we should have dinner with his brother Xavier who is stationed in Mendoza.  Turns out Xavier is a General in the AAF and the current wing commander at the base in Mendoza!  He is 52 and has served in the AF since he was 17.  He picked us up and treated us to an outstanding dinner.  His passion for Argentina, especially the Boca Jr soccer team, is profound and we thoroughly enjoyed this unique opportunity to hear about military life from an Argentinian general!

Our second day was all about the wine!  To keep it cheap, we ditched an organized tour and train/bussed out to the Maipu region on our own.  At Mr. Hugo's bikes, we met up with Christy, our wine-loving Canadian friend who we met in Santa Cruz, Chile.  Señor Hugo was jolly and happy to join our photo.  

We then biked up to a little shop that offered us tasting of 4 local wines. The pourer was a very sweet gentlemen and gave us a free unlabeled bottled of wine each (vino supresa!).

  Then it was off to the Museo La Rural where we meandered around ancient wine-making supplies, including an big old basin made of cow's hide, and tasted a glass of delicious Sauvignon Blanc in a beautiful tasting room.

Next door was a tiny olive oil tasting room and for about $4 each, we loaded up on bread, olive oils, olive pastes, wine-themed jams, shots of homemade liquor and chocolate.  This ended up basically being our lunch too.  

We then rode a few km all the way south to Tempus Alba.  This bodega was brand-new and beautiful, with a self-guided tour and lovely tasting terazza looking over the vineyards.  Here we sampled lots of reds and enjoyed learning more about Christy's knowledge on the wine.  She is a level 2 wine pro and has working in the industry for a while.  

We meandered next to Mevi where we saw harvest in full swing.  A truckload of young grape pickers were returning their goods and wanted to pose for some pictures from me.  Little did I know the kids would pretend to drink the wine!

To avoid the main road and get to our last stop faster, we took the back roads which were mostly rocks.  After a bumpy ride, we found the cerveceria!  Beers and pizza ended this fabulous day!

 We had to hurry back as we were already past the time when the bikes were due but I was so impressed with this long line of grape delivery trucks that we had to stop for a photo.  These big trucks, full of freshly picked grapes, were lined alongside the road for about a mile.  Mark asked the two men waiting how long it would take for them to deposit their grapes at the vineyard (Trapiche) and he said they may have to wait up to two days!

Thankfully Señor Hugo wasn't upset we were late and instead, he gave Christy a free bottle of wine and even walked us to the bus stop!  Great day in wine country!

On our last day, we ran around the beautiful local park again and relaxed.  It was also Luciano's 37th birthday so we were invited to participate in their house party for him that night.  They said it would be pretty small but around 9 pm (of course, because no Thursday night party should start any earlier), the people started coming and coming.  The kitchen was overflowing with people drinking wine and eating home-made hummus and empanadas.  At the early hour of 11, the music turned on and the backyard looked like a dance club.  The many kids were still playing at 12:30 pm when I went to bed (well before most people left).

Luciano's niece and nephew played with the hamsters until the party kicked off.

              

    

It was very fun to be part of Luciano's birthday party and see how serious Argentinians are about their late night eating and partying!  Our early morning flight might be rough...