Beyond a strange economic scenario for foreign visitors, Mendoza was a nicer city than expected and being there during the World Cup was fascinating. We saw Argentina play and win--we wonder what would have happened had they lost, having already had a shocking loss in the first round. The city was literally shut down during the games, feeling like a ghost town from 4-6 local time in particular.
A massive Remax conference occurring at our hotel perhaps made it feel less 'foreign' while on property, and we are adjusting to the traditional 'plaza mayor' which graces all of these south american cities. Here, having been destroyed once by earthquake, the main square was rebuilt and 4 additional squares were placed in the four corners equal disance from it to so that if another earthquake strikes, they can shift the main square to one of the others.
The vineyards near Mendoza were of course on the agenda. We had three days of driving ourselves around the three wine areas of Mendoza, one being 80km out and the other two about 30km out, all in different directions. The vistas were gorgeous. We particularly loved a brief but memorable horse back ride and tour at Gimenez Riiili Winery, a long and hot but gorgeous lunch at El Enemigo, the geological/soil wine variations of malbec from Salta (where K has fond memories of visiting with some dear friends a lifetime ago) and Mendoza at Matavini Vineyards, a lunch and education at Norton (yes, these Malbecs frequent US wine lists, but we had no idea the same family owns Swarovski Crystals, a museum we visited in Austria earlier in 2022 as part of the Scarlett Chase shoe project as Swarovski has been active in shoe bedazzling for decades but especially recently. This also means they have some Austrian roots and some Austrian grape varietals in their white wines.
Finally, and definitely K's favorite for education, a visit to Anaia. The owner runs a US engineering firm and wanted to apply engineering to wine. The vineyard has mini solar panels attached to the vines, the owner has made a new form of concrete wine holder and mixer that will impact their 2023 wine harvest. It was fascinating, the view was gorgeous and our guide Andrea was exceptional at explaining aspects of the process we would never have known through mini charts and an iphone whiteboard we've never seen before. In short, while we didnt need the tastings nor rich food its paired with (def its too much) we adored the vineyards and education and meeting some of the actual wine makers.
