Mendoza, Argentina

There was a time when the pretty western Argentinean city of Mendoza was an oenophile’s insider secret, a wine region with over a hundred of years of history that had finally come into its own. The area had found its superstar grape, the otherwise humble malbec that adapted perfectly to the terroir, and in true Argentinean style, the locals kept all the best stuff for themselves. Only those in the know came, and of course the locals weren’t sharing.

Although those days may be over, the wine is better than ever, the parrillas just as juicy, and the vast majority of wine from Argentina’s highest profile region still never gets out of the country. Although the city of Mendoza has its charms and is quite liveable (and at a million people all told, larger than you expect), the reason most tourists come is for the surrounding wine country.

Sitting on the edge of the long spine of the Patagonian Andes, the flat expanse of Mendoza’s endless vineyards boasts a breathtaking backdrop. There can be no more Mendocinian experience (did I make that word up?) than sipping malbec after an endless Argentinean parrillada (barbecue), surrounded by vines that seem to stretch all the way to massive Mt. Aconcagua (the tallest in the Americas) looming above. Sonoma, eat your heart out.

And so, without further ado, it’s time for the truly eating and drinking-focused part of this blog! The following entries should help the first-time Mendoza visitor to make sense of the literally hundreds of wineries, restaurants and tastings that make Mendoza one of the world’s greatest gourmet meccas.

Ladies and gentlemen, raise your glasses, and leave the spittoons at home.