We arrived at Mendoza at 10h30am instead of 6h30am, having spent an unprecedented 5 hours at the border – our record! This delay was due to the heavy rains that had resulted in big rocks falling from the Andes and blocking parts of the road. The emergency services were quick to the scene but much of the impacted roads were down to one lane, resulting in carnage.

We arrived exhausted to discover that our hotel was quite far from the center and if we wanted to avoid spending a fortune on a taxi, we should get a local bus, which would cost less than 7 pesos per person (about 40 pence each).

However, to get on one of those buses, we needed a local card and as usual, they were impossible to find (strangely, all kiosks are always out of stock or have some but are out of credit so they can’t sell them). It was hot, we were tired and we’d had just about enough of lugging our heavy backpacks around the bus terminal.

Just as we were about to give up and hail a cab, a nice local man saw how annoyed we were and offered us one of his cards. We still had to charge it but he kindly pointed us towards a place only a few minutes walk away, which we managed to find.

After a long wait, we finally got on the correct bus and set-off south to our hostel. Our decision to stay in Maipu was purely wine-based, since many of the bodegas are based there. Also, we’d read many blogs about how much fun it is to rent bicycles for a day and visit the bodegas.

Maipu itself was somewhat disappointing. Perhaps spoilt by previous wine experiences, we were expecting beautiful landscape, manicured estates and modern designer bodegas. However, it was all a bit “outskirts of town” and we noticed a lot of trash along the surrounding water canals.

After about 45 minutes, the bus dropped us where the bus driver had said we should get off (upon inspection of our map). We then stood by the side of the road and watched the bus turn right down the road that we wanted to walk down. Unimpressed, we ambled the final 1km in searing heat. Finally, at 2h30pm we arrived at la Antigua Residencia.

We were welcomed by Laura and Cristina, two Italian sisters who run the place as a hostel and restaurant. Excited at the prospect of real Italians cooking pasta, we promptly ordered a bottle of the house red and settled-in for a lunch of excellent carbonara, bolognese and a simple salad, containing tomatoes, which actually tasted of tomatoes.

All plans of an afternoon tour went out the window and we proceeded to collapse for 4 hours, waking-up just in time for a twilight dip in the pool. After diner we made friends with an English couple (Aaron and Georgia), who gave us some helpful bodegas tips. We were then entertained as Laura attempted to save a little bat that had been attacked by one of her many cats.

The next day was Sunday and, sadly, biking around the vineyards was prohibited because the tourist police do not work that day. So we, along with a Romanian couple (Sergio and Andra) and two other Dutch couples, hopped in taxis to visit Bodega Augustino. Our taxi broke down on the way, so we were a bit delayed but everything got better once we had a glass of sparkling wine in our hands!

Bodega Augustino is run by 4 Italian brothers, who grew up in the area. They moved to Canada, where they became quite wealthy, thanks to a real estate business and decided to throw money into making wine. The result? Delicious wines sold at affordable prices and a very polished estate, equipped with guesthouse, family home and restaurant. After a quick tour, we set about tasting an array of wines.

Mendoza is obviously famous for its reds and most notably Malbec. However, during our short stay we tasted fizzy wines, whites, reds and sweet wine, all assembled using an array of grapes – we came across Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Torrontes, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Noir and Riesling.

We were then ushered through to the restaurant for lunch (and more wine). The food was excellent and we enjoyed, without doubt, the best piece of steak that we had tasted to date. The eight of us sat at one large table, exchanging travelling tips and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Our work was not done and after lunch we ordered taxis and set-off to the next bodega, a “boutique” estate, which was called Carinae and run by a French couple – we had high expectations. They were extremely charming, however, having tried their young wines, we quickly realized that Augustino was on a different level. During the tasting, we were joined by a two Israelis that we had previously met on a tour in Valparaiso (it’s funny how you keep bumping into the same people). After sharing another 6 glasses it was then time to head home, where we napped and enjoyed the pool.

Incidentally, the word “boutique” has popped up frequently on our travels. Unlike in England where there’s usually an expectation of quality attached to it, in Mendoza it simply means ‘small’, whereas, in Punta Del Este it meant ‘overpriced’.

The next day we rented some bikes and, over breakfast, plotted a route around the local bodegas. We started our trip by visiting Di Tommaso, the oldest bodega of the area, set up by an Italian family in 1869. We parked-up the bikes and rang a bell to alert the owners we were there.

The tour only lasted a few minutes and we were soon into the wines (it was 11am). 3 glasses down (each), 100 pesos poorer (a fiver) and we were on our way, back on the road to the next bodegas. The scenery was certainly the best we had witnessed – a long, sheltered tree-lined avenue, boarded by vines.

Next stop was Mevi, a slightly more modern affair, with a building more akin to what you might expect to find in Rioja. It was surrounded by vines and its many terraces offered encouraging views of the countryside.

We found a shady spot with a light breeze, promptly ordered 2 tastings of tinto (6 glasses of red) and set-about blind tasting to see if we could distinguish between the Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah on offer. Ed shaded the contest but the average score was disappointingly low! Our empty stomachs needed feeding, so we settled-in for some lunch (which arrived with a free bottle of wine), followed by a nap.

Our last visit of the day was a lovely bodega called Vina el Cerno, which, we were proudly informed, was completely organic and family run. The youngest daughter (nicknamed Merlot and a bit of a hippie) gave us a tour, which concluded with a farewell of “namaste” and “have a great life”. Apparently it was her last day working at the bodegas before going on a tour of Latin America as a chorister with a reggae group called Ganja something. She was sweet and we really enjoyed the wine, so we bought a couple of bottles (which we later regretted as they added to the weight of our packs).

The rest of the day was spent wobbling home, recovering by the pool and joining Aaron, Georgia, Sergio, Andra, James and Caroline (another British couple) for dinner – tagliata and grilled vegetables for the table. Gracie chef.

On our final day, we joined with Aaron and Georgia to visit Trapiche, the largest bodega of the area, which was a mere 100 meters down the road. This place was huge and a completely different operation to the bodegas we’d visited previously.

Despite the scale of the bodegas, the tour still retained plenty of charm, since they had restored some old buildings, which is where they now made their best wine. L suffered a little with the tasting, which was again on an empty stomach, so Ed decided to enjoy all the wine and then duly fell asleep over lunch!

Our short visit to Mendoza allowed us time to catch-up with Tom and Katie, another English couple that we had met at Refugio Frances, on the W hike. We went to a place called Anna Bistro, which was great. However, we had to make a hasty retreat from the terrace when the heavens opened (for the non-native speakers, it started pouring with rain). After dinner and settling on a plan to hopefully meet-up later in our travels, we headed to the bus station for another overnight journey.

Next stop: Santiago (Chile) and thoroughly looking forward to staying with Lolo’s friends.

Highlights:

• Biking around the bodegas – remarkably, no crashes involved
• Meeting Sergio, Andra, Aaron and Georgia and exchanging lots of travelling tips (and movies – thanks for those!)

Gastro Highlights:

• Wine, wine and more wine
• The steak at Augustino
• The tagliata, bruschetta, pastas and homemade fruitcakes at Antigua Residencia