Bermejo

We originally planned to stay half our time in Mendoza in the "Capital" and the other half in Maipu, one of the main wine regions of Mendoza province. However, after arriving in Mendoza, we decided to stay in the Capital and take day trips to go wine tasting. That way, we could visit both Maipu as well as Lujan de Cuyo, another great wine region of Mendoza.

Visiting these wine regions takes about an hour on the bus and costs a ridiculous 40 pesos (21 cents CAD) per bus ride.

Our first foray into tasting Argentine wines was to the Maipu region. We started at Bodegas Tempus Alba where we took their free self-guided tour and afterwards opted to share their Premium Tasting. For AR$ 1150, we had a choice of two Tempus Alba varietals + their Grand Reserve Blend Tempus Pleno. We selected a 2018 tempranillo which was a little disappointing, but their 2018 Malbec as well as the Tempus Pleno Gran Reserva 2018 were both very good. The tasting came with delicious herbed focaccia bread and olive oil produced from the winery's olives. We had asked to share a tasting but the pours were extremely generous... and no spit buckets were in sight.

Our second stop was at Vina El Cerno, a mere 150m from Tempus Alba. Vina El Cerno was originally planted by an Italian who lost the vineyard due to gambling debts. The winery sat desolate for many decades before it was bought in the 1990's by Pedro Martinez, an Argentinian who is also the winemaker. The young man who served us was absolutely charming; however, their wines, less so. A tasting of three of their varietals cost AR$ 800 but I can't say we'd recommend any of the wines we tasted.

850m further down the road, we came to our third stop, Bodega Mevi where we had their Reserva Tasting for AR$ 1100. All their wines are aged 60% in French barrels and 40% in American barrels. We tasted their 2019 Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon as well as their Syrah. All of them were pleasant enough but we found them all a little "thin".

Our next and last stop of the day was Bodega Atilio Avena. We weren't sure if we'd be able to get in since we hadn't made a reservation but seeing it was only 1.5 km away, we thought we'd enjoy the walk if nothing else. When we arrived, the gate was closed but when we saw someone walking out of the bodega, we asked if we could come in for a tasting and we were warmly welcomed in. The bodega was started in 1930 by Don Atilio Avena, a Piedmontese immigrant. It was bought a few years back by a young Argentine couple, Belem and Marcelo. It was Belem herself who served us. Since we already had nine different wines coating our stomachs, we asked to taste only two wines and she suggested an oaked Malbec and oddly enough an unoaked Cabernet Franc. My curiosity was piqued because I don't ever remember tasting an unoaked red wine. Roch and I were very impressed by the quality of both wines, arguably two of the best we'd had all day. Belem was so friendly and interesting to talk with. I think she could tell how much we appreciated wines and she offered to have us taste their yet-to-be released Syrah. Then before we knew it, she offered to have us taste their rosé, the only non-red wine they produce. We were then introduced to Samuel, one of the winery staff who was also absolutely charming. We had a wonderful time chatting with him and he generously offered us a Malbec, one of his own personal favourites from the winery. All these additional offerings were beyond the generous tasting amounts of our first two glasses. When Samuel offered us yet another glass, we had to graciously decline lest I start dancing on their tasting room table.

We somehow managed to find the right bus to get us home but with all that wine sloshing in my belly, I had to get off halfway home to get some air before we Uber'ed the remainder of the way.Read more