Jul 3, 2018
i still have no idea which country won in spanish
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i still have no idea which country won in spanish
Bodega La Azul
Something that I’ve become quite passionate about since moving to the Pacific Northwest is wine. Wine Wine Wine. I love great wine, as well as good wine tours and in every vacation period, I seem to “magically” ;) end up in a new wine region of the world. Last time it was Cape Town, South Africa, this time… Mendoza, an area of the world-famous for their Malbecs.
While here in Mendoza, I signed up to do two wine tours with the company Trout & Wine so today I headed out with them to see what the Valle De Uco had to offer.
After about a 45 minute drive into the foothills of the Andes, our first stop in the Valle De Uco was Pulenta Estate. As soon as we walked on the property, we were blessed with a nice chilled Sauvignon Blanc for “breakfast.”
We then were quickly sent to tour Pulenta Estates Winery. Pulenta Estate is located in Alto Agrelo, Valle De Uco and is small yet modern specializing in Sauvignon Blanc and Cab Sauvs.
After touring the winery we played a game where we were to identify wine-odors used by sommeliers and wine makers when making wine…. from fresh-cut green apple and grass to tobacco. I always enjoy this activity and find it’s a great one to start a wine tour with as it helps to identify some of the nose on the wines pre-tasting.
The owner of Pulenta Estate also were importers of Ferrari and then Porsche to Argentina, so they also had some F1 and Ferrari engines in their winery:
My favorite wine from Valle De Uco Pulenta Estate was probably the Sauvignon Blanc followed by the Reserve Blend as the Merlot I found a bit bitter on my palate and I’m generally not a fan of the notes of green pepper found in Cab Francs.
After finishing up at Pulenta, we were back on the road in the Valle De Uco headed for a little boutique winery called La Azul, along the way, we pulled over to take a picture of this volcano (which reminds me of Washington State’s Mount Adams):
Tupungato volcano
We had a few tastings at La Azul, all of their tastings were unaged and definitely not my favorite. Usually I drink my “tastings” unfortunately at La Azul, most of my tastings went into the spittoon. I however did like La Azul’s freshly casked reserve and was VERRRRYYY curious to buy the 4-year aged version for $350 pesos but without a taste, I couldn’t make myself do it.
La Azul also had fresh peaches and our wonderful guide also picked some for us to try on the road to the next winery in the Valle De Uco, Bodegas Salentein.
Bodega Salentein
At Bodega Salentein we had a nice little Argentine Valle De Uco wine country lunch accompanied by Bodegas Salentein wine pairings which included a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and their top label, Primus, Merlot:
We then explored Bodegas Salentein’s massive most-impressive ultra-modern winery, it was absolutely jaw dropping:
After exploring the amazing production floor and vault, we then visited the Bodega Salentein art gallery before getting back on the road and heading back to Mendoza:
A wonderful wonderful day out in Mendoza’s Valle De Uco. I’m really loving Mendoza for its great wine, gourmet food, tree-lined streets and laid back vibe and I’m very excited to explore the area of Lujan de Cuyo tomorrow on another Trout & Wine tour as I currently can’t get enough of what Mendoza has to offer.
//The I.A.
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Mendoza Trout & Wine Tour Of The Valle De Uco Something that I've become quite passionate about since moving to the Pacific Northwest is wine. Wine Wine Wine.