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Bodegas - You Know, Wineries!

I took an organized tour of some of the bodegas - wineries - around Mendoza.  I was planning on doing a bike tour, but it was recommended not to do that alone especially after taste testing a few! So I followed the recommendation and took a bus tour which was very interesting.  However, the tour company forgot to pick me up, so they had to come back for me!!  Even after being temporarily forgotten, I knew I was supposed to be on this tour!

Besides visiting 4 wineries (one an organic winery, one a museum, one a family bodega), we visited an olive oil factory and a chocolate/liquer manufacturer.  You know how well chocolate goes with red wine, so that was a wonderful addition to the tour and the last stop of the day.

The area is home to more than 1,000 bodegas or wineries, from very small, family-owned to the larger corporate-owned.  I was expecting the land to be similar to our California wine region, but was rather surprised at how arrid, actually desert, the land was.  The vineyards are irrigated by the mountain stream water that flows through the valley. 

February and March are the harvest months, so the grapes were pretty big and colorful on the vines.  I would have loved to been there for their huge harvest festival!

In my tour group were 5 young kids from London who were traveling through South America and 2 guys from Brazil.  When I saw one of the guys from Brazil - Richard - my mouth dropped open!  He looked so much like my special friend Jim (in his younger days) who recently died that I couldn't stop starring.  I finally asked if I could take his picture!  (Unfortunately, the picture doesn't really do him justice!)  He dressed similarly to Jim as well as having some of the same mannerisms and temper!  He even had on an Alaska (Cicely, Alaska) polo shirt.  I had been having a strong feeling that Jim was accompanying me on this leg of my trip for he, Ginger and I shared a love of Argentina wine.  And Jim really enjoyed the Mendoza wines.  I actually had toasted Jim and Ginger at dinner before I ventured on this tour!  Thanks, Jim, for joining me!

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