Best Foot Forward: Wine Wednesday

And what a Wine Wednesday it was! After doing a bit of research online for wine tours, I chose to go with a local company called Trout and Wine Tours. They have an office just off the main plaza and it was refreshing to actually speak with someone and have the person to person connection. Auto responders and random confirmation emails start to get old really quick.

Trout and Wine offers tours in various regions of Mendoza- Lujan de Cuyo, Maipu and Valle de Uco. The plan for Wednesday was to hit four wineries in the Lujan de Cuyo region which is about 30 minutes outside the City of Mendoza. I was excited to finally get into some serious tasting and maybe meet a few cool people along the way. Boy did I hit the jackpot! Getting on the van alone with 6 other people was a bit intimidating but within minutes of arriving at the first winery, I knew it was going to be a great day with amazing people.

My drinking mates were Sunshine (Michigan/New Zealand) & Collin (New Zealand), Jordan & Meaghan (Florida) and Christian & his dad Rod (New York). Mariana was our very knowledgeable guide. Sunshine and Collin have been on the road for 20 months...YES 20 MONTHS! We all had a blast listening the their stories about Columbia, Bolivia, Peru and Vanuatu.

The four wineries on the itinerary were Mendel, Alta Vista, Ruca Malen (tasting & lunch) and finally Terrazas de los Andes (Chandon). All the tastings exceeded our expectations and with the snow covered Andes as a backdrop, we all had a fantastic day together. Of course the day didn't end after we left Mariana...though she was probably happy to see us "chatty chickens" off her bus. We continued the festivities at The Vines of Mendoza Tasting Room, then to the Vinoteca in the Park Hyatt and what else do you do when you drink too much?? Let's go gamble at the Casino!! What a night! More glasses of wine than we can recall, purple teeth, Kiwi accents, contraband, black tongues, power straps and one hot blackjack table. Thank you to my new friends for such a memorable night in Mendoza. See you guys in BA for the big game!