In our recently escape to Buenos Aires, we decided to stay at Palermo Chico neighborhood, that is more residential than Palermo Soho and just a couple of blocks from the famous Palermo’s Parks.
Bikes at CasaSur Bellini Hotel Beautiful Nature
The CasaSur Bellini Hotel, where we were staying, has some bicycles for their guests, so we could go around easily and had a perfect idea about how huge and wonderful those parks are. We had been there before, but have never realized how big it is. If your hotel doesn’t have bicycles available, or if you are too far, you can rent them at the park.
Bikes for Rent
Doesn’t matter if it is for running, cycling, walking, or just to admire the nature, there is no other place so beautiful in Buenos Aires. Some parts are so splendid that you feel a mix of Central Park and Hyde Park.
El Rosedal
It’s worth to spend some hours there just to wander around the charming parks, cause they are really huge and impressive. For me one of the most beautiful parts is the one around the lake, near El Rosedal and Jardín de los Poetas. To relax and watch the time goes by with no hurry at all…
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.
Main Entrance of the Modern Pulenta Estate
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!
Wine Tasting at Catena Zapata
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.
Wide Range of Cobos
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.
Wine Tasting with View at Achaval Ferrer
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!
Bike at Zuccardi
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.
French Style Gardens at Chandon
In 2018 we went back to Mendoza and visited new wineries. Check it our here what we have got for you.
Thinking about going after read my post about Dreamy Mendoza?
Mendoza Contrasts
At first, be well organized. For some reason (probably its fame), Mendoza area are almost always sold out. So If you wish to get to know the most unique wineries (not those touristic and big ones) and stay in special hotels, you should schedule everything at least several months in advance. Otherwise you will have to “accept” the options you get. See where I recommend you to stay here.
It’s better If you have a local agency to arrange everything for you. So we made it through Red Globe Tours, with Roman (the owner) and I can say they are absolutely dynamic, answering my questions and requests very fast.
Vineyards of Mendoza in Summer
Each season has it’s own particular beauty. In our first visit, we went there in the end of summer, during harvest, so the vineyards were abundant and beautiful, full of grapes, and it was still hot (about 20oC – 30oC). In April or May, it’s cooler but still warm, the Andes Mountains a bit white, and the vineyards’ leaves red. It’s magical! During winter it’s cold and can snow ocasionally. I saw some pictures and it’s amazing, but you are going to need more bottles of red wine (not a problem, at all). During spring, it’s warm and the leaves start to grow again. The best thing is that Mendoza has very dry weather, so whenever you go it’s almost always sunny.
Mendoza in Autumm
An important thing to know before you go is that Mendoza is vast and the wineries and their vineyards are spread all over three different main areas: Maipú, Lujan de Cuyo and Valle de Uco. In my post Singular Wineries of Mendoza, I tell you more about the wineries I visited in my first visit.
Are you a wine addicted? Are you a gourmand? Are you a nature lover?
Wine Barrels
If you answered YES to at least one of the questions above, Mendoza should be on your bucket list. For sure its a wine lovers’ playground, but also has some amazing food experiences (specially with Argentinian meat) to offer, combined with a great landscape (imagine having the Andes Mountains on one side and beautiful vineyards on the other) and warm hospitality in some outstanding hotels.
The Vines Resort
It was on my bucket list for ages. It’s very close to home (about 4 – 5 hours flying), but the tickets are usually very expensive, so we kept putting the trip off. Thank God, my husband had the great idea to celebrate our 3rd anniversary there as well as my birthday. So… Early March this year we were arriving at Mendoza Airport to live our dream. And now I gonna tell you everything you should know about this amazing destination.
Decided to go? So let’s get started here planning your trip.
