Argentina: Day 3

So our beautiful weather of the first 2 days came to an end.  We were in for a rude awakening this day.  We traveled further up to the mountains, where we were all shocked to discover it was A LOT colder--surprising I know. Some people were actually wearing shorts.  It was probably 40 in or so with very strong winds in the highest areas. 

 8:00am Depart On-Time to Altamira Vineyard ( light refreshments on bus)


 9:30am Arrive to Altamira Vineyard

 Visit vineyard and have brunch

 10:30am Depart to Alamos Winery

 11:00am Arrive at Alamos Winery

 Discuss regional influence/tour wine making facility

 2009 Vintage of Vista Flores Vineyard lead by Alamos Winemaker, Felipe


 1:30pm Lunch at Vista Flores –this was all tapas—mostly light fare, but delicious mussel pizzas, caprese pizzas, prosciutto salad, cheese. This was Tikal Sparkling winery. We had a tour of the facility and visited with the wine maker and were entertained by live music.

 3:30pm Depart for hotel

 5:00pm Arrive at Hotel – FREE TIME

 8:00pm Depart for Bodegas Escorihuela Gascon

 Walking tour of the winery

 9:00pm Wine tasting and tapas in restaurant (since weather was bad) and open bar

 9:45pm Dinner at 1884 (Chef Francis Mallman) in the BODEGAS ESCORIHUELA GASCÓN

with winemaking and management team

We had tons of delicious tapas to start including empanadas

Salt crusted pear with burrata, arugula and bacon chips

Steak with potato or pasta

Ice cream



Restaurant Overview:

Considered one of Argentina's top restaurants , Francis Mallman's 1884 is a high-end fusion of Patagonian ingredients and French technique.

Housed in an atmospheric Spanish-style building inside the Bodega Escorihuela, 1884 uses a wood-fired oven in the winery's courtyard to prepare roasted meats and empanadas.

those are the Andes right there--probably a 15-30 min walk I would guess--very close.

Can you notice how the leaves on these vines are already changing?  Much more golden than at the vineyard from the day before with lower altitude. forgot to mention, it's fall there not spring--south of the equator, remember? they flew through the vineyard presentation b/c it was so cold.

tasting a grape.  the grapes here were very intense with flavor--with very thick skin.  they have to work hard to survive the colder temperatures and the wind that wips in from the Pacific Ocean across the Andes (from Chile)

our brunch--everyone went for the coffee.  then the faint of heart got back on the buses.  we toughed it out (Scott was in short sleeves--goofy guy).  side note: nicest makeshift bathrooms you've ever seen. bathrooms there are a big deal--they use bidets, so you know they're all fancy.  they somehow had electricity to these port a potties (not really a correct name). they had real wood sinks, 2 stalls, and mirrors--fancy.  from the outside you were like, great, and then inside--how the heck did they do this.  because there's nothing up here at this vineyard. it's way away from civilization--no towns nearby. they have a tough time getting enough workers up there.

the temple of the winds.  --the only structure on the property othere than the bathrooms. see how the wind is gusting through the top.

down into Uco Valley and Vista Flores to Alamos.  Alamos is their most popluar label in the U.S.  Go to the store and buy some of their Malbec (red) and Torrontes (white).  You're welcome!  They were crushing (busiest time of year), yet they let us have a tour.  A U.S. facility absolutely would NOT do that.  It's also not OSHA approved.  You had to watch your step, seriously.  We were tasting straight from the tanks and barrels.

Breaking the cap for us to taste

Look at his hand from going through the fruit to the wine.

that's a lot of barrels

We tasted their portfolio in this room since we were such a huge group

check out the door at the end of the room.  each building at the facility has them.  Alamos started with 2 or 3 buildings to make their wine.  since coming alongside with Gallo, they've built at least 1 new building a year. they are up to 7 and keep building.  eventually they will have some kind of pretty building i'm sure, but now it's all about production. they don't have their own vineyards there, they buy from local vineyards all over the region to create a Malbec that is representative of the entire region. 

across the street from Alamos, the Catena family's sparkling facility.  this is only half finished. the other half will be a mirror image with the lake and dip in the grass as the center.  the winemaker showed Scott his plans and took him on a tour.  these people were dying to talk to us and be hospitable.  he showed us around how they made their sparkling.  they do it the champagne method--riddling by hand.  if you don't know what this means, just know it's time consuming--which is part of the reason champagne is so expensive. 

We had lunch here and were entertained by a guy and his guitar.  he was pretty amazing.  they fed us tons of tapas and grilled pizzas--and of course sparkling wine.  i forgot to mention that yesterday's lunch included an accordion player playing tangos.  serious hospitality. 

the lake w/bocce ball court in front of  it--they love their bocce ball. they have hammocks and stuff, too, but it was so cold.

these lamas came over for a visit.

at the Gascon winemaking facility. this is almost 200 years old carved by a French artist.

 mmmmmmm....empanandas (for like the 3rd day in a row)

inside the Gascon's home and private bar (the Gascon's sold all their property to the Catenas years ago).

a group of the younger crowd stayed up with winery employees this night.  scott and i were too tired. we enjoyed some sleep since we didn't get done eating dessert until after midnight and had to fly to Buenos Aires the next day.  hard life, i know.