Now that I have introduced you to the spectacular world of Mendoza, and showed how you can plan your trip, I am going to tell you the wineries you should include in your next (or first) visit, from my point of view, of course.
Believe it or not, they have more than a thousand wineries there, from small boutiques to huge producers. My husband had some particular wineries to include in our tour. Once it was our first visit in the region and he has great knowledge about argentinian wines, he had so many plans. About 10 wineries to visit in 4 days. “OMG”! I thought… “I will need a new liver after this…” But everything went fine, as you only taste how much you want to. The good side is that we were able to visit almost every winery that was on our list. That’s why I will tell you about the ones we’ve been, and not about every big and famous Mendoza winery (which you can easily find at experiencemendoza.com).
PULENTA ESTATE
A well know boutique winery that is controlled by some of the most tradicional families of Mendoza. With modern installations, a small museum inside (on the tour you can see it), great vineyard views from the tasting rooms and wonderful wines, it was one of the best visits we had.
CATENA ZAPATA
It’s a must place to visit. The most famous and traditional family of Mendoza, with spetacular wines, huge vineyards widespread all over Mendoza (in the three areas) and an outstanding winery, with a pyramid-shaped building. It’s one of the most demanded wine tours by people who really appreciate wine and culture. Because of its fame and exclusivity (just 4 – 6 people each tour), it was the hardest one to book, so if you want to go there, hurry up!
COBOS
This winery has one of the most high quality wines of Mendoza and my husband was crazy about it. Just don’t expect to have plenty of history like Catena and Pulenta or outstanding views. It’s a winery to have a great tasting, probably one of the best in this aspect.
ACHAVAL FERRER
This is a boutique winery similar to Cobos. They have high quality wines, but don’t expect to have an outstanding tour. It’s much more about the tasting, that is frequently taken in the garden with spetacular views.
EL ENEMIGO
This is a winery that you should include in your itinerary, especially for lunch. The winemaker had developed his knowledge at Catena, so you can expect high quality wines in a very small and young winery, with warm hospitality and great gourmet food.
ZUCCARDI
This winery has some peculiarities. At first, it’s important to mention that there is two branches, the biggest, in Maipú, where they produce their basic line Santa Julia. The other, in Valle de Uco, it’s a newer one that just produces Zuccardi line (higher quality). We went to the Maipú branch and realized that it’s very commercial, although it’s beautiful and has many activities to do, as riding a bike through the vineyards (one of my dreams). The experience I really recommend is to have lunch at Casa del Visitante Restaurant, inside the winery. They serve the classic parrilla, that includes Argentinian meat, classic empanadas (fantabulous, by the way), salad and vegetables. And you can pair it with Zuccardi Wines. Just perfect!
CHANDON
On my birthday my husband had a surprise for me… We had lunch at Chandon to drink sparkling wine (that I love with all my heart!). It’s a delicious gourmet menu paired with the best sparkling wines they have. The architecture is amazing, you feel like you are in France. Actually, it was the first Moet&Chandon branch outside France (just Chandon here) and the sparkling wines have amazing quality and flavour. Perfect for bubbles lovers.
In 2018 we went back to Mendoza and visited new wineries. Check it our here what we have got for you.