Luján De Cuyo

My second day of wine tasting is in the area known as ‘the cradle of Malbec’. We travel south of Mendoza city to Luján de Cuyo. The day started off surprisingly cool and foggy, but perfect weather for visiting bodegas.

First stop of the day, Vistalba. A beautiful setting with an old world feel, fermentation tanks are in buildings that look like stables and everything is designed to use gravity. Here they use a combo of steel and concrete tanks.

The tasting room has an entire subterranean wall, a cross section of the actual vineyard, clay, roots and rocks! I wasn’t sure if the terroir I was smelling was in the glass or the room.

Next, Tapiz. The picking has just finished and the Lamas, part of their environmental stewardship program, are allowed in the vineyard to clean up the vines, eat any remaining grapes, and fertilize.

I imagined the harvest would be finished when I arrived but the weather here makes for a long season, February through May, varieties are picked when they are ready. I am really fortunate to be able to observe much of the process, picking by hand and machine, sorting and destemming, pumping over and filling barrels.

I also got a chance to taste Chardonnay and Malbec before they made it to the barrel …. lets just say barrels are really important!

Next on my stop, Ruca Malen and lunch. This vineyard uses the old method of flooding using irrigation ditches. The geography allows gravity to flood the rows once a week, but someone has to open the channels by hand.

Barrels, as I just mentioned, are a crucial step in the winemaking process, most come from France or the US. The high demand and price have caused vineyards to source barrels from other markets like these from Hungary.