Bienbebidos

Monday was yet another beautiful day in Mendoza, we got up and hopped on the 10-173 bus out to the town of Maipu recommended to us by the tourist info folks. After about an hour we arrived in the front yard of Mr. Hugo, a really likeable guy who fit the mold of everyones favorite uncle. He hooked us up with bikes, maps and a bottle of water (kinda against the point of a wine tour, but whatever) and off we went.

We checked out four wineries (La Rural, Tempus Alba, Viña el Cerno and Familia di Tommaso), a place that made liquor and chocolate (a good combo) and an olive oil-ery. The wineries were great and pretty varried, one was a pretty big industrial operation with stainless steel everwhere, one was a small place that hand labeled all their bottles after they filled them by hand from oak casks, one was a really modern looking building with an amazing roof deck. We drank a lot of good Malbec, a lot of good Cabernet Sauvignon, an ok Merlot though my favorite was probably a blend called Pleno from Tempus Alba.

At the liquor and chocolate place we had, you guessed it, absinthe and chocolate liquer (and a bunch of chocolates and jams). Lunch at Tommaso was awesome, its hard to beat snacking on cheese, meats, the best sundried tomatoes I've ever had (though really the only ones I've ever had outside of a sandwhich / Loop bagel) and drinking free wine while sitting in the sun looking out on a vineyard. The olive oil place had some good eats, but unfortunately the whole tour was in Spanish (though they have them in English) so about the only thing I learned is that olives have three parts.

About seven hours after we left, we returned to Mr. Hugo's, a little sunburned, a little drunk and very happy. He promptly opened another bottle of wine and we sat around talking with some other folks from Canada and Wales until that bottle was gone. Took the bus back to Mendoza, got back about an hour later than I wanted (I guess wine + biking = no sense of time) so told my cab to the airport 'rapido, por favor'. This is something I would recommend doing only in dire situations, as the second I said it the driver slammed on the gas, I flew back in the seat and he proceeded to run every red light he could on the most exhilirating cab to the airport I've had in a while. Needless to say, I made my flight.

Kyle and Meghan left on Tuesday after a day of shopping for souvenirs and I've been enjoying the last few days while my manager is in the states. Might try to check out Tigre and the north weekend, then planning on making nice big parilla (BBQ) on Sunday.

Ciao