This was our last stop on our wine tour and was the first time I've ever been on a wine tour where…read moreyou actually did the tasting as you walked. I wasn't a huge fan of this. It was very quick, maybe 20 minutes or so? She gave us a quick tour of the storage and processing facilities as well as a quick step into the basement to look at aging areas. We then went upstairs to a conference room with the view of the Andes for the last tasting. Not really your typical tasting, for sure.

Casarena was the perfect spot for my final wine tasting experience in the Mendoza region. Casarena…read moreoriginated in 1937. The vineyards and winery are a century old and are now American owned. The owner fully renovated and brought new life back into the winery while keeping its historic past intact. I like how they maintained the skeleton of the old production building and recreated the space and updated it using state of the art winery technology innovations. Caserena is one of four vineyard estates. Each estate offers different geological and geographical differences. This provides diverse growing influences for the grapes, thus yielding amazing wines of the same varietal with unique nuances and flavor profiles. On the wine tour, they showed us the different climate and soil mixes for each estate. Fascinating! When touring the wineries of Mendoza it is necessary to book a reservation in advance. They don't take walk-ins like in the states. In Argentina from my experience, the wine culture is about providing an inclusive experience. Most tours start with a walk through the vineyards, a tour through the production facility, and then ends in a tasting room or if they have a restaurant, with a wine-paired lunch. Winery visits can at a minimum last 1 1/2 hours. It's time to slow down life here and enjoy. Take it all in. We found it ideal to visit only 2 wineries in a day as a result. At Casarena, like the other wineries, you first need to check in with the gate guard. My limited Spanish came in very handy here. They confirm your reservation with the tasting room manager and then they allow you to pass through the gate. The guard will then direct you where to park and meet for the start of your tour. At Casarena we met with our lovely lady tour guide. She poured us a glass of Rose to enjoy outside while we waited for other members of the group. Like all the other wineries. The view of the Andes mountains behind the rows of vines is stunning. The tour was very informative. We went through the vines and production facility. We got to peek into the old wine vats that they turned into a cellar for their wine library. They let me hold one of the largest bottles that they make!! Man that bottle was heavy. Definitely took some muscle to pick that up. After our tour, we walked to their restaurant at the back of the building for our wine-paired lunch. The restaurant is located in a beautiful modern building with all glass windows. Every table had a stunning view of the vineyard and mountains. The windows opened up onto their outdoor patio so you had an indoor-outdoor dining experience. The chef was busily cooking the meat on a BBQ right in front of us. They recently hired a new chef here, and this was their first tasting of their spring seasonal menu. It was a six-course lunch paired with wine. The food and wine here were incredible. The portions were larger than expected. The pairings were spot on. The food was artfully plated. Their wine was well structured. There wasn't anything I didn't like. We had an incredible time at Casarena. Delicious food and wine experience.

We did a wine tasting at this old winery and loved the experience. We especially liked that they…read moreincorporate little bites to explain the different qualities of the wines depending on the food they are paired with. The tasting was followed by a tour of the winery that was also interesting.

Wonderful tour and tasting experience from this family run winery!…read more I made a same day reservation online and arrived at the winery a little early. One of the employees asked if I wanted to join an English tour 30 minutes later than the one I scheduled, and I said yes. She offered me a malbec rosé to enjoy in the shop or at a table by the lake. I chose to sit outside and found it to be a beautiful place to enjoy my book and wine. The rosé happened to be the best wine of the five that I tried during my visit. The tour itself shares the beautiful history of how the winery was founded, lost, and bought back by the founders granddaughter, who will pass it down to her children. The guide showed us the cellar, original tanks, and a small exhibition. She also explained the wine making process from when the winery first opened. It was definitely the best tour I had in Mendoza. The tasting was saved for the end and was set up nicely. Everyone had a plate of amuse-bouche to be paired with each wine, and they easily accommodated me with a vegetarian selection. The guide took her time to explain each wine, the proper way to taste, and what foods to pair. She was also patient in answering everyone's questions. We tasted one white and three red wines, I felt the reds we tasted were much too dry but did enjoy the white wine. It was a lovely chardonnay that wasn't aged in oak, so it didn't have that smokey flavor. The total experience was five stars! I really loved my visit, but I am taking a star off because I didn't find all the wines to be of the best quality.

SoloContigo winery was one of my favorite Mendoza memories. It is a boutique Argentinan wine…read moreexperience. SoloContigo in Spanish means Only With You. The winery is owned by a Canadian couple, Noel and Terry Neelands, who live in Florida most of the year. They partner with winemaker Santiago Achaval. When they travel a couple of times a year to Argentina, this winery then becomes their home! Their winery is located within a group of vineyard estate plots called the Vines. Only two of the plots have wine production tasting rooms on site. SoloContigo grows some of their wines, and then partners with local producers to source the rest. They have a selection of Malbecs, Torrontes, Rose, and Sauvignon Blanc. When touring the wineries of Mendoza it is necessary to book a reservation in advance. I emailed hospitality@solocontigowine.com for a reservation. They were responsive and extremely friendly. They don't take walk-ins like in like the states. In Argentina from my experience, the wine culture is about providing an inclusive experience. Winery visits can at a minimum last 1 1/2 hours. It's time to slow down life here and enjoy. Take it all in. We found it ideal to visit only 2 wineries in a day as a result. Upon arriving at SoloContigo you first need to check in with the gate guard. My limited Spanish came in very handy here. They confirm your reservation with the tasting room manager and then they allow you to pass through the gate. The guard will then direct you where to park, which was important here as there was a winding road with several different properties on site. It would have been easy to get lost. Like all the other wineries. The view of the Andes mountains behind the rows of vines is stunning. The winery was created by the infamous Argentinian wine architects Bormida & Yanzon, who designed several of the wineries in the area. The building is stunning. It is like a living modern art gallery. The building is alive with color and unique living spaces. The winery serves as both home, tasting room, and production space. While we were there only a couple of other people came. We felt like we had rented an Airbnb for the day. The tour took us through the production area and an impressive barrel room. Daniel the tasting room manager was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. It felt like we were meeting up with a long lost friend. The outdoor patio space is something out of a magazine. Surrounded by the Andes mountains and vines. They had very comfortable outdoor seating areas set up. While they don't have a restaurant on site, they do offer amazing picnics! We reserved a picnic with our wine tasting and enjoyed it outside. The picnic included freshly made empanadas, a delicious meat and cheese board, sandwiches, and a honey nut dessert. It was more food than our group of three could eat. We took the sandwiches with us. The food was incredibly fresh and tasty. It paired very well with our wine. Their wine was very well structured and had an excellent flavor profile. I loved all the wines. There Rose was probably the best Rose I had in Argentina. Their Torrontes was also well done. Their Malbecs were all good. I purchased several bottles from here. We spent several hours hanging out here. A must see if in the area. I will definitely go back if I am blessed to return for a second visit.

This was the Second stop on our wine tasting tour today - the Benegas family owns this place and…read morenote that only 1% of wineries in Argentina are owned by Argentinians. Most had to sell during the financial crisis in the 70s and many were never able to re-invest. Jo was our guide and she was fabulous! Not only did we have an accident tour and also get to see the owners private collection, she also gave us a tour of the family dining area, and then we sat down to a beautiful tasting down in the cell. My favorite was the Cab franc - it was pure and from very old wines. ($70 usd bottle) I felt like these wines were all exceptional and very thoughtful either Pure or blends. Very creative. They also included meat and cheese platters as well as crackers for palette cleansers. They did offer free shipping for US customers if you purchased at least six bottles

Almorzamos aquí cuando estaba Azafrán. Comimos muy rico y la vista es hermosa desde la terraza!…read more We had lunch here when Azafrán was on. We ate very well and the view from the terrace is beautiful!

We did do the degustation lunch. We had the five courses. Although everything was good and…read moresomethings were not as good as others. The price is probably about 150 Argentinian pesos too high. They started with a platter full of focaccia and their in-house pressed all of oil which was very strong and had great flavor. They also brought a small dish of green and black olives. The chefs choice starter was a thin slice of pate de foie gras. It had the right amount of cream to cut the strong flavor of the foie and was served with a sun-dried tomatoes bread and some drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar. It was very delicious. Next we had empanadas and the octopus app. Both very, very tasty. The empanadas were a little over cooked on the bottom just a little too brown, but they had a really great tasting though with plenty of fat in it and a salad salsa criolla. The octopus was very light with yellow lentils and a tasty pepper sauce. Next we had the bondiola - basically a pork shoulder steak which was lightly barbecued and unfortunately not worthy of a degustation. Strangely enough after 3 1/2 weeks of eating beef I still ordered the beef tenderloin. Glad that I did. It was perfectly cooked and approximately 6 ounces with a dollop of a garlic aïoli, three dollops of a mushroom reduction, a wine reduction that I could have consumed by the spoonful and a corn purée which was good but not great. Next was the cheese course which was an age 3, another one I cannot remember and a delicious blue. It was served with about a teaspoon and a half of a cinnamon spiced honey, some reasons I will not half and a quarter of a fresh fig. The desserts were a tiramisu which was semi frozen and an sautéed apples stuffed crêpe which was amazing. The group was so delicate and yet had some Christmas on the outside and the Apple filling was perfectly balanced with tartness and sweetness. We were served five wines with the lunch. The first was a Pinot Noir, the second semillon, the third a grand reserve malbec with grapes harvested here at the bodega, fourth a late harvest wine which was nearly as good as the Inniskillen ice wines from Canada I've had in the past, and the last was a sparkling wine made with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay I believe. It had a tinge of golden hue to it from having been in contact with the Pinot Noir grape skins during the pressing. We stayed here four nights and very much enjoyed all aspects of this winery. The people are fantastically amazing and helpful. So even though the degustation was a little bit overpriced I still give this place five stars.