Four wineries x Five tastings each = too much wine

Post by Ella

The wineries are 25 to 100 km out of town. We could pick a few wineries, rent a car and go. Or hire a driver. And there are a zillion small local companies that provide small group day tours. We chose a day tour with a company called “Wine and Trout” who also offer fishing expeditions. There are upwards of a thousand wineries in the two wine making regions, Valle de Uco and Lujan de Cuyo. I arbitrarily chose “Classical Lujan Valley Wine Tour”.  

We were 9 altogether on the tour. The most entertaining aspect were our tour companions but I’m leaving it to Grubb to spin his tales about that. Our guide, Francesca, was a wine maker herself, had lots of stuff to say about the history of wine making.

Bodega Budeguer. 

“The Budeguer Family began their dream of wine with their first hectares in 2005, driven by the passion and devotion they deposit in the work along with the tireless search for excellence in every detail.”

A small, boutique operation specializing in limited edition wines. The guide described this as a “hobby” for the Budeguers. (kind of like Coppola). Their real money is made elsewhere. 

Their most exclusive wine is $US 86. And we discovered at other wineries, bottles are from $17 to $30 a pop. Why so cheap for world-renowned wine? There are no taxes on wine in Argentina because wine is considered a food. Shipping is another story. The winery will ship 6 bottles to your home in the US for $120 (shipping cost alone). Given the “exclusivity” of the wines, most on our tour bought and shipped.

We tasted five wines: Chardonnay, Malbec, two different blends (Malbec/Cabornet/Petit Bordeaux) and a sparkling dessert wine. Mind you, this was at 10am. Our first stop. I helped myself to cheese, crackers and nuts to avoid getting immediately drunk.

My sophisticated wine notes: In my opinion, the blends with less Malbec are the tastiest. The Chardonnay was lovely also. And you can’t beat a good dessert wine as long as it’s only subtly sweet, which this was.

Terrazas: 

A larger operation. I think I’ve seen their brand in Jubilation back in Albuquerque. Similar tasting array ( except a Pinot Noir was served instead of one of the blends.) 5 more tastings down the hatch. More laughing. Our tour was crashed by 2 guys. One from New York who had an uncle in Rio Rancho. More steel vats, less oak barrels ($1300 to buy an oak barrel), and cute ceramic bubbles. All experiments in getting the best flavor from the grapes. 

Norton. 

Lunch. Finely dined four course meal with a pairing at each course. An a view of the Andes on the veranda.

Altavista. 

Our last and most cursory stop. None of us needed more wine. All of us tried. Some (not me) had a bottomless thirst for the fine wine.

All in all, I tried to moderate the drinking but once home I almost immediately downed nearly a liter of agua con gas. No more food necessary.