Ah, Mendoza! It was the perfect next stop after the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires. While still a city, the main area is much smaller and more easily walkable than the capital.

But of course, the wonder of Mendoza lies in the surrounding areas. The Mendoza region is Argentina’s (and really, South America’s) premier wine country. Most people probably have heard of Malbec, their most popular wine, especially in the United States, but they also produce tons of others.

The other major attraction of the Mendoza region is adventure sports. Adrenaline junkies can do anything from mountain biking to sky-diving—we even saw some advertised that included wine tasting in the sky!

Luckily, we got to experience a bit of both during our time here.

“Private” At-Home Wine Tasting

I say “private” because Vikram and I ended up being the only guests at this tasting event, though more people could have signed up for it. It was hosted at a tasting house close to Mendoza’s central plaza, but the experience is meant to feel like you’re just hanging out and having dinner with your mendocino friends at their home—and that’s exactly what it was like.

We buzzed the door of a very unassuming house on a busy street, and we were welcomed in by the two women hosting the tasting, who were extremely friendly and knowledgeable about wine. They brought us upstairs to the main level of a restored, 100-year old house filled with interesting, modern art.

Over the course of the next two hours, we sampled six different types of wine and five homemade empanadas. The women talked about the history of the region and gave detailed explanations of each wine—where the grapes are from, how to properly taste it, and when to decant it. They also explained that all the empanadas were based on recipes they learned from their family as well as renowned empanada cooks in the country.

(Wine is cheap in Argentina, even the rare bottles from our tasting, so we also wanted to buy some bottles to send to our families back home, but unfortunately the cost of shipping wine to the U.S. was $150!)

Bikes and Wine Tour

The next day, we took a day-trip out to the countryside for a “bikes and wine” tour. This may sound a bit treacherous at first—combining wine tasting with bike riding—but the biking portion was actually pretty minimal and on small roads. We spent the majority of the time at three different vineyards, doing tours of each facility and of course, sampling several of their wines.

While Vikram and I had a great time in Napa with our friends, what we particularly enjoyed about this tour was that we actually learned a lot about the wine creation process, from when how they pick the grapes through the fermentation process and how they bottle the wine. We also learned more about how to properly taste wine (including some tips from a French girl on our tour).

White Water Rafting

Finally, we did get a bit of an adrenaline fix on a white water rafting day trip. We drove out about an hour from the city into the mountainous area, through which runs the Mendoza River. We donned our very attractive wetsuits (because the river, fed by glaciers, is close to freezing) and hopped in our six-person raft. It was quite a wild ride, but unfortunately we don’t have any pictures from that adventure!

But all in all, our time in Mendoza was relaxing and well-spent—which in retrospect was great, because we were about to have quite the saga in Salta…

Travel Notes:

• Do the wine and empanada tasting! It was called Taninas Wine Tasting and cost$40 USD per person, which seemed a bit steep but really was worth it in the end for all the wine we got to sample and for the homey atmosphere. You can make reservations online.
• We booked both the “bikes and wine” tour and the rafting tour through our hostel. It seemed liked most hostels in Mendoza offered similar services, and it’s convenient because the tours pick you up and drop you off directly at the hostel.