Mendoza: More Wine, And Some Olive Oil

For our second full day in Mendoza we decided to take a guided tour of some nearby wineries. We signed up for this excursion in one of the many small travel shops in the morning, and were picked up by a van at our hotel after lunch. Our first stop was Carmine Granata Winery in Luján de Cuyo, just south of Mendoza. A small winery started by an Italian immigrant in 1931, Carmine Granata Winery produces a nice range of wines: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sémillon, Pinot Noir and a sparkling wine, too. Carmine Granata exports all of the wine that they produce, mainly to Europe, but also to North America.  Some of the old equipment used to cultivate and harvest the grapes and then turn them into wine is on display in the courtyard just outside the main building. The facility we visited (and where they produce the wine) is an enclosed compound and there are no vineyards on display, unfortunately. The tour we were given was brief but informative. We got to see many locked cave doors (above, left) containing thousands of bottles of wine aging before being packaged and shipped off. The tasting we had was nice, though the sales pitch was a bit heavy. We enjoyed a young Malbec and a Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir was our favorite, a much more refined (and, of course, expensive) flavor and finish.

And now for something completely different: Pasrai Olive Oil Factory. From Carmine Granata Winery we next went to the Pasrai Olive Oil Factory. Pasrai is a small company that makes a variety of food products, including olive oil, and dried fruits and vegetables. We saw many olive trees while riding bikes through wine country, and were interested to learn about the olive oil made in Mendoza. Pasrai makes olive oil the old fashioned way, using stones to crush the olives into a paste which is then laid onto round sheets which are stacked and placed into the press to sit for several hours while the natural oils separate. All of the olive oil Pasrai produces is extra virgin (contains no more than 0.8% acidity and is judged to have a superior taste). We tried a few samples and it was excellent.

Our third and final stop of the day was Vistandes Winery. A very large and very modern facility built in Mendoza by a group of Chilean wine makers (Mendoza is less than 60 miles from the border with Chile), Vistandes was a much different experience from our previous two wineries. At the beginning of our tour we were brought into a massive room – the tank room – where a dozen shiny 1,500 liter (400 gallon) stainless steel tanks sat waiting for grapes to ferment and turn into wine. We were then taken underground to the cellar where they store the oak barrels (French and American) – hundreds of them. The highlight of the tour came next, when we were led into a spacious underground event hall. The far wall of the room was the exposed rocky soil of the Mendoza desert on display. A nice reminder that making wine in these conditions is not an accident. We enjoyed the tasting, and sampled three wines: a rosé, a young Malbec, and an excellent Carménère. The Carménère is not a common varietal to be grown in the Mendoza region, but it is quite popular in Chile, where the owners of Vistandes come from. As we were departing the workers were opening up the irrigation system and letting the water flow through the canals of the vineyard (above, top right). Our tour guide told us they only water the vines once every two weeks, so this was a rare treat.

The view of the vineyard with the setting sun and the Andes mountains to the west brought a very beautiful end to another successful day of wine tasting in Mendoza. Of the three establishments we visited I admit I enjoyed our last stop, Vistandes, the most. The modern facility was much different from what we had previously experienced in Mendoza, but the tour was thorough, the wine was excellent and the scenery was very enjoyable.

If you have the opportunity to travel to Mendoza, I highly recommend it. We found our time to be relaxing and informative. In the meantime, the next time you stop into your local wine shop, look for a Malbec from Argentina in the international section and let your taste buds travel to the warm and sunny desert of Mendoza.