Probably only a 5 minute cheap taxi ride away we arrived at Hostel Lao. Lizzie had recommended it and Mands booked ages ago. Even so we had the first night in a shared dorm and next two nights back in a double. A shared dorm is a great way to meet people, but the benefits stop there. The hostel is really good with friendly well informed staff and large well kept common areas and garden with hammocks, bed loungers and pool. Probably makes our top 3 hostels.
In the afternoon we caught a tourist bus for a trip around the largest park I've ever seen, Parque St Martin. It's got everything, a logoa with rowing regatta on when we were there, football stadium, bmx tracks, zoo, theatre, rugby/hockey/football, cafe's and acres of trees and grass areas. Being a Sunday, families picnicked all around - many had tables and chairs with them and everyone had their thermos for matte (tea). We'd learnt about customs and rules for drinking matte so picked up on these being put into action. Everyone says the English drink lots of tea, but they have nothing on the Argentinians who are never without a thermos at their side and their special cup and metal straw.
On our way back we walked through the bustling main plaza, Plaza Indepencia. It too was large and craft stalls ran along the paths showing off their wares including, jewellery, leather goods, wine holders, home industries foods and jams. We stopped close by for a sundowner of Andes Cerveca (1 litre, they come big) and Mands ordered a suggested Argentinean rum and coke that tasted like minty mouth wash.
Aristdes Villaneuva is a great street with wide sidewalks and lined with bars and restaurants. Chairs and tables dominated the pavement with a vibey feel from the conversations of hundreds of revellers. We stopped for a glass of wine and barley wine beer before settling down at a restaurant under the oak trees and shared a steak with mushroom sauce.
The new day brought on excitement for the very reason Mendoza is famous, wine. We bussed out to collect bicycles from Baccus bike tours and map for the wine route. The itinerary scheduled 5 stops, but were having such an interesting time at the 3rd we didn't make the other two.
On our bicycles, we headed out down the oak liked road between vineyards and a stunning snow capped Andes mountain range as a backdrop. A few wrong turns added half an hour on to our twenty minute first leg, but some local guidance brought us back on track.
1) Carmelo Patty - small producer. The famous wine maker who has produced one of the top 10 wines in the world in 2010, his Cabernet Sauvignon. Arriving, we were greater by a grey haired, Spanish only speaking man and taken to the adjacent room to taste some wine. Magazines and photos lay all around and soon we realised we were with Carmelo Patty himself. We had heavy handed servings of three of his wines and learnt about his process, timings and temperatures. For instance his merlot should be poured into a cravat for an hour, the cravat placed on ice to bring it's temperature down to 15 to 18 degrees and served after an hour. The tasting was for free and we were pleasantly surprised that he provided personal attention like that for us. Apparently his wine is available in the UK under the Pappas label. We've a nice photo of us and Carmelo.
2) Lagarde - large producer. This cost P$30 and included tour and tasting. An experienced sommelier (wine specialist) took us round. It's harvesting time, so we were luckily enough to see grapes being loaded for the start of the winery process, de-stalking. With a suction, grapes are then removed from the stalks and the stalks shredded. We learnt about the French oak and American oak barrels and how few uses each barrel has. Premium wines get first use, then standard wines, then supermarket wines. French oak costs €1,200 and after it's used, sold for P$200 (€45). We learnt about their top wine, Henry, and many other really interesting facts. A further 3 wines and we were, as mum would say, on our bicycles.
We found an unmarked road leading through a vineyard, so headed down it - amazing scenery. No one was picking over lunch time, so we headed on.
3) Pulmary, an all organic wine producer. A lady took us on the small winery tour into the old basement concrete vats and gave us wines along the tour. She kept on responding to our questions with I and again we figured out that we were with the actual wine maker! A Swiss couple and us spent over an hour talking to her. 16 years ago they wanted to do something new and by chance landed up in wine - her husband is a lawyer and helped out someone and didn't ask for any money in return. The person they had helped later came and dropped of cases and cases of premium wine - as their pallets matured so their interest grew. They bought land and started growing from scratch. 5 years to sell the first bottle, 10 years vineyard break even, will take 20 years to pay off the winery, 5 family members full or part time involved and 4 full time employees. The most important advice she was given when starting was (1) live near your vineyards, they need constant attention (2) in the winery, the detail matters.
The Swiss couple were doing their 3rd round the world travel year! We bought a bottle of Pulmary's blend and shared traveller tales. Their best story is about laundry in China... At one hostel/hotel they asked whether they could get their laundry done. Yes was the response and they should wait in there room for 10 minutes first. They thought it strange, but 10 minutes later there was a knock on the door. Roger opened and their they stood with a washing machine. They had carried it up the steps and now plugged and plumbed it into their room to allow the travellers to do their own laundry - a complete misunderstanding!
Well after bike hire drop off time we eventually returned the bikes and bussed back into Mendoza's centre after a great day.
Don Mario (Dorrego) steakhouse was recommended by our hostel and Trip Advisor as the best grill. When we arrived it was a fancier place than we had imagined and got right into our shared Bife de Chorizo chips and salad (palm hearts, avo and tomato). Wow 7 cm high steak! I've not had a steak that thick before. Brown roasting on the outside and pink with plenty of blood on the inside. They grill the meat on a lower heat and for much longer that what I'm familiar with. And result... Enjoyable steak, but unfortunately not close to top 10.
Our final full day in Mendoza was spent initially exploring plazas, small Plaza Espana being the best. We bought a picnic lunch of salami, cheese, olives and Torentes wine.
We walked back to Parque St Martin and set up next to lagoon we'd seen the regatta at previously. We watched joggers, cyclists and roller bladers pass as we sipped, ate, red and slept our way through the afternoon.
That evening, Mands was feeling a little steaked out, but convinced her for one last outing - I think the wine and a few beers along the people watching pedestrianised Paseo Sarmiento helped.
We picked a restaurant along Avenue Sarmiento purely based on size and quantity of meat on display in the window fronted kitchen. Mands had the bife de fillet and I had the buffet de lomo. Much better both steaks than the previous night, but again similar grilling method and thick steaks. Perhaps such thick steaks need this time. I have learnt that from ordering to eating, expect one hour. I'll add this to my steak knowledge.
I take away from Mendoza that the people are friendly and happy to help, the wine is good, the city is a pleasure to visit and they like their rugby (took all of 1 minute for a waiter to talk about the Springboks).
The next morning was the impressive Andes bus border crossing into Chile, to Santiago, Lizzie and Felipe!
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