Great wining and dining in Mendoza
We're on yet another 17 hr bus from Mendoza to Bariloche and for once it's comfortable, quiet and easy. The semi-came executive seats are big and recline a good way down and although still not quite enough leg room for Mark, I think they are the most comfortable we've had for a while. After the dinner and drinks service and a good film, I had 8 hours sleep and now enjoying the lovely scenary. Yes it's a bit more pricey (around £90 each) but it's safe, enjoyable and you get excellent service with a smile. Just great! Incidentally, this is also how I would describe our last 4 days in Mendoza.
We stayed in the Savigliano Hostel near the bus terminal, just a quick 10 min walk into the town centre, and met up with the lovely Emma and Jaimie in the evening to go off in search of some good food and wine on offer on the pedestrianised Sarmiento street. Mendoza's tree lined streets, trendy shops and many coffee shops spilling onto the pavement really remind you of a cosmopolitan European city. We enjoyed our yummy food, a good bottle of local Malbec and made plans to do some wine tasting next morning.
Enjoying around 300 sunny days per year and a prime position at the foothills of the Andes, Medoza's vineyards produce some of the best wine in South America. It was going to be another stunningly sunny day and we caught one of the local buses to the little town of Maipu where we rented bikes to cycle around to the nearby bodegas (wineries). We actually started off with a tour of a little olive grove and tasted their delicious tepanades, olive oils and liquours before heading off to some wineries nearby. On the way back to the bike shop we stopped at a beer garden to sample their local brew and under the watchful eye of the motorcycle police we picked some lovely tasting plums. The police escort continued to follow us all the way to the bike shop and we were not sure if this was for our own protection or to stop us causing mischief after a boozie afternoon. Just one day of wine tasting was not enough and on the bus back to Mendoza we made plans to do it all over again the next day. That night was our last night with the girls so we treated ourselves to a swanky meal and got all dressed up, which was welcome change after spending most of our time in flipflops and tank tops.
Couple of our Favourite bodegas were Tempus Alba and Vistandes, where we got treated to some lovely wines and made the biggest number of purchases. Also Familia di Thomasi was a perfect spot for our lunch stop whilst we enjoyed a nice glass of bubbly under the shade of the trees in the resturant's garden. After two days on the wine tours Mark and I ended up buying 8 bottles of wine, one of which - a nice 'Carmenere' - we got together with the girls to share that night before they departed on their night bus. It was a sad goodbye, but it was lovely knowing that we would soon be seeing them in Melbourne.
