Argentina: Day 2

So day 2 began the winery education.  This was a business trip as much as a pleasure trip, so they wanted the guys in the U.S. who sell Catena family wines to know about the wines straight from the wineries and wine makers in Argentina.  Gallo has only been partnered with the Catena Family vineyards since 2008, so it's a fairly new relationship.  Since partnering with Gallo the Catena Family wines: Alamos, Catena Zapata, and Gascon (labels available in the U.S.) have sky rocketed.  They are experiencing tremendous growth.  I'm sure if they stay growing like they are, Argentina will become a real destination for wine lovers.  They just need some better roads to help with transportation ease.  All of the places we visited are basically under construction trying to be more of destination stops for groups (tourist friendly I guess), but most are not fully finished.  We were the 12th of 14 visits from Gallo sponsored trips in the last 2.5 years.  They are scurrying to keep up with the growth down there, and they are loving it, and it turn showing us. 

Argentina's wine growing region is primarily in the province of Mendoza (a large province).  The city of Mendoza has over a million people--it's a real city.  We were all shocked by the size of it.  We were expecting a town the size of Mendoza--not a real city. The vineyards are anywhere from 45 minutes to almost 2 hours away from Mendoza city, but are still in the province.  Mendoza is a high desert at the foothills of the Andes (which you will see in the next 2 groups of pictures).  

Here's our itinerary for the day



 8:45am Meet in Lobby

 9:00am for Gascón Vineyard (Agrelo)

 9:45am Visit Gascón Vineyard and winery (Agrelo) (no building yet except the actual place to make the wine--no pretty buildings yet, but it's going to be amazing eventually complete with a polo tower that will appear in the shape of a condor (Mendoza's bird)  from an aerial view

 Gascón winemaker: Ernesto Bajda to meet guests in vineyards.

 Fruit picking discussion (maturity, tank/"breaking the cap" discussion) with Gascón winemaker

 Tour & tasting from barrels—the components of the Malbec blend—a true portrait of the region.

 11:00am Polo Match on winery property with empanadas

 12:00pm Depart to Catena Zapata (5 minute drive)



 Tour of winery

 Family Portfolio presentation by winemakers

 Mendoza Education –

 Tasting of various wines from high and low elevations

 1:30pm Lunch at Catena Zapata with Alamos and Gascón winery teams (this was my favorite meal)

 Roasted corn and veggie empanadas

 Steak with salad and potatoes

 Roasted pears with dulce de leche and ice cream


 3:30pm Depart to Park Hyatt



 5:00pm Arrive at hotel

 Free Time Until Dinner



• 6:30pm Competitive Wine Tasting at the Hotel – Winery & Distributor employees only (they tasted 19 wines)

 9:00pm Dinner at Patancha Attire: nice casual

 We had tapas in their courtyard to live muscians

 Then we had salads and a choice of paella or lamb stew

 Dessert was served by table as a sampler including flan, brownies, cheeses, ice cream, fruits

Gascon's vineyards and winemaking facility at Agrelo

Discussion of how they keep the fruit from always staying at the top of the tanks--they drain it twice a day and pump it back in to push the grapes back to the bottom (and then they float up and repeat)

yes, those are the Andes in the background behind the polo field

all for our consumption

the 4 components separate and then the completed product for the Malbec

polo match for our entertainment at Agrelo--they don't have a building yet, but one day

see the girl with the empanada basket--she's in the white jeans and black top (their uniform for pretty girls to serve you at wineries--no joke)

we are posing with the horse and cart

the driver crammed in next to me and spoke not a lick of English, but we talked the whole way (in Spanish--poorly on my part).  He told me he liked Robin Williams movies and loved jazz music--no lie.

Catena Zapata--built to look Mayan.  This was their first planned property--it's obviously built for looks--everything is beautiful--and no sign of producing wine actually

the barrel room

the tasting room w/Eugenia--one of our guides for the trip. She does PR for the wineries.

Do you see the road is in the shape of a condor--seriously they love that bird

notice the professional photographer at the foot of the table?  he followed us around the whole time we were in Mendoza.

fuzzy, but a good picture from dinner that night

this is the outdoor courtyard.  all the rooms had these crazy paintings that i loved