Yesterday we did another wine tour with bikes from a company called Wine and Ride in a city called Maipu (pronounced, my poo). And let me tell ya, Maipu was something to behold:). It was really nice and learned about the late harvest, which makes the wine sweeter. The late harvest is in between normal harvest and ice wine harvest (where the wine is so sweet that it tastes like apple juice). The vineyard was beautiful and focused on making Malbec.
Then we went to Vendimia. Being an event in Argentina, naturally it did not start until 10pm🤷♂️. It started with a beauty pageant, which is obviously controversial but all the locals we spoke to love it. Like Miss America, where there are women representing different states, all the Argentinian regions were represented.
There was incredibly gaudy music (I have a brief video on it) introducing each woman, as if it were the arrival of the Queen, which in a way it is. All the women even perfected the Queen’s wave. Guess I can say I have officially been to a beauty pageant and check that one off the old bucket list 😂
Vendimia is a celebration of the grape harvest. The stadium for the event held about 20,000 people, with many more on the cliffs above the stadium watching too. There was an orchestra, singers and tons of dancers (maybe 100 at a time) all going through a choreographed dance.
The music were clearly well known classics that everyone loved. One of the songs (you can hear part of it in one of the videos) was dedicated to their love of Mendoza, and I’m with’em. It was quite the spectacle. The energy was high and the event ended with a fireworks show. Oh those precious grapes we all love so, let them continue to be celebrated for all the eons.Read more
March 8, 2025 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F