Gaucho Wine Escape
After luxuriating at the wonderful Entre Cielos it was time to make a move to our next destination 3 hours south where the climate, culture, and landscape change entirely.
We were now in gaucho country at the Algodon Wine Estates in San Rafael, where we enjoyed an entirely different style of wine resort. The vineyard here is vast and beautiful however the best part is that you can purchase your own little piece of paradise here. For those of us that don’t have neat stacks of Benjamin’s lying around that means borrowing some bikes and riding around the estate to visit the different houses. During our bicycle tour around the vineyard and golf course, we came across all sorts of awesome wildlife and were constantly stopping to get photos so it took a lot longer than anticipated, nonetheless, the ride was such a relaxing way to spend a few hours at this picturesque estate.
Once back from our ride it was time for some pre-dinner drinks so we got changed and made our way over to the restaurant and enjoyed a glass of their superb Pima Limited Edition wine while perusing the dinner menu. At the onsite restaurant, they offer a delicious 5-course degustation menu from the kitchen and we enjoyed some great local dishes along with delicious wine pairings. The stand out was the Gran Cuvee varietal which is fairly unknown back in the US but here in Argentina it is as popular as Malbec and it has just been introduced into the US market in late February, so you should get a bottle yourself and find out why the Argentineans love it so much. Once dinner was done and we had tasted our fair share of wines the bartender mixed us up with an unexpected special cocktail that showed this Bonarda wine can be as versatile as the next.
The following morning we made our way to the production facility to meet with Mauro Nosenzo the head winemaker who came in during a special Argentinean family day to give us the extended tour. He took us through the steps of production and explained the function of each piece of equipment they use all the way to the final tasting room where we tasted every varietal of the Algodon Estate including their Chardonnay and a delicious extra special Amarone late harvest. With the small production, it was easy for Mauro to know exactly where each wine was resting and which aging barrels were closest to the bottling stage for us to taste. It was very gratifying watching him dip into each special barrel to extract the delicious nectar that was the wine from inside.
When it was finally time to leave we grabbed our suitcases and made our way back up north to the Casa de Uco Vineyards & Wine Resort in the Uco Valley, Mendoza region. Check-in with us next week to read all about it.
