I was determined to get to know better the local wineries – for that I mean the ones in the Mendoza Province – so my friend and I booked to visit three of them in a whole day tour.
So, there we went, to the Uco Valley once again.
We got to the first winery at 10:00 am. I better say we got to the first visit, as it was in fact to a group of wineries, named Clos de los Siete.
Clos de los Siete, means something like “Place of the Seven” and it is a group of wineries, in fact 5 of them, that belong to 6 entrepreneurs because the 7th went to a lone project. Complicated?! Well, it may sound like, but the result is good and the wines have good structure and … complexity – oops.
The owners are French and have Michel Rolland (the most known French fly winemaker) as consultant and also he is one of the proprietors.
What they share is like a condominium, where each winery has its own propriety (vineyards and winery) and produces its own wine. However, 50% of their production must be committed to a ‘communal wine’ named after the project: Clos de los Siete.
Ok, that’s enough, too much figures…
Next stop was to a very well known winery, not just for its wines, but also for the whole experience one can have at the place: Salentein - as you can guess, it is not owned by locals, it is part of a Dutch group.
It was build to be visited, literally.
To give you an idea, its Art Gallery - named Killka - got a World Gold Award, at the international competition The Best of Wine Tourism 2009 of The Great Wine Capitals global network, Art and Culture Category, which is not bad at all.
We started having a look at the vineyards, followed by a tour the winery, tasted some of their good wines, visited the art gallery and ended up in the chapel. We just missed the restaurant because our lunch was booked at the next visit, but that was a possibility too…
There is a lot to see and admire at the place, but then it was time to go, again.
Not far from there was our 3rd visit of the day – awesome, because it was already 2pm and I was starving…
We reached Andeluna when the sky turned gray and gave a very idyllic picture of the landscape, just beautiful!
When we got inside the expression that came out my mouth was: wow! The feeling was the same.
I had the sensation that I was back in time, anywhere charming and homely.
Hungry and impressed you were placed right in front of the chef, at the restaurant which integrates kitchen and eatery.
The atmosphere, the background music and the cooking scene gave us an idea that we were at a friend’s lunch party, somewhere.
The menu is very creative and has conventional and regional products used in an original way, such as a Corn Ice Cream, that I was delighted to eat.
The meal was paired with two wines: one white and one red, as simple as that.
The white was a Torrontes, from their Andeluna Line.
Grapes origin is from vineyards situated in Lavalle, in the north of Mendoza. This is a low altitude region with an average temperature higher than the one they have in their vineyards in Tupungato.
In fact, it was a good surprise to have such good Torrontes from a region less non than others for this variety.
The red was a Malbec, form their Reserva Line.
In this wine, grapes are all taken from their vineyards situated in Tupungato at over 1300m.a.s.l. This region, due to the wide range of temperatures experienced here, produces wines which are very intense in their color, aromas and structure.
After dessert we went for a brief tour with a lovely guide – who made us feel like home, once again.
A little tired but with no rush to leave we spend a little more time overlooking the vineyards and the sky to turn even grayer – time to leave before the rain!
Oh, guess what?! The winery is American owned. Andeluna Cellars is owned by well-known international businessman H. Ward Lay, who thankfully is doing more than potato chips.
Felling world citizens, very grateful for the global business exchange, we came back to Mendoza city already planning the next trip, at this time to Lujan de Cuyo.
Wait for the news!
Cheers,
Marcia Amaral
So, there we went, to the Uco Valley once again.
We got to the first winery at 10:00 am. I better say we got to the first visit, as it was in fact to a group of wineries, named Clos de los Siete.
Clos de los Siete, means something like “Place of the Seven” and it is a group of wineries, in fact 5 of them, that belong to 6 entrepreneurs because the 7th went to a lone project. Complicated?! Well, it may sound like, but the result is good and the wines have good structure and … complexity – oops.
The owners are French and have Michel Rolland (the most known French fly winemaker) as consultant and also he is one of the proprietors.
What they share is like a condominium, where each winery has its own propriety (vineyards and winery) and produces its own wine. However, 50% of their production must be committed to a ‘communal wine’ named after the project: Clos de los Siete.
Ok, that’s enough, too much figures…
Next stop was to a very well known winery, not just for its wines, but also for the whole experience one can have at the place: Salentein - as you can guess, it is not owned by locals, it is part of a Dutch group.
It was build to be visited, literally.
To give you an idea, its Art Gallery - named Killka - got a World Gold Award, at the international competition The Best of Wine Tourism 2009 of The Great Wine Capitals global network, Art and Culture Category, which is not bad at all.
We started having a look at the vineyards, followed by a tour the winery, tasted some of their good wines, visited the art gallery and ended up in the chapel. We just missed the restaurant because our lunch was booked at the next visit, but that was a possibility too…
There is a lot to see and admire at the place, but then it was time to go, again.
Not far from there was our 3rd visit of the day – awesome, because it was already 2pm and I was starving…
We reached Andeluna when the sky turned gray and gave a very idyllic picture of the landscape, just beautiful!
When we got inside the expression that came out my mouth was: wow! The feeling was the same.
I had the sensation that I was back in time, anywhere charming and homely.
Hungry and impressed you were placed right in front of the chef, at the restaurant which integrates kitchen and eatery.
The atmosphere, the background music and the cooking scene gave us an idea that we were at a friend’s lunch party, somewhere.
The menu is very creative and has conventional and regional products used in an original way, such as a Corn Ice Cream, that I was delighted to eat.
The meal was paired with two wines: one white and one red, as simple as that.
The white was a Torrontes, from their Andeluna Line.
Grapes origin is from vineyards situated in Lavalle, in the north of Mendoza. This is a low altitude region with an average temperature higher than the one they have in their vineyards in Tupungato.
In fact, it was a good surprise to have such good Torrontes from a region less non than others for this variety.
The red was a Malbec, form their Reserva Line.
In this wine, grapes are all taken from their vineyards situated in Tupungato at over 1300m.a.s.l. This region, due to the wide range of temperatures experienced here, produces wines which are very intense in their color, aromas and structure.
After dessert we went for a brief tour with a lovely guide – who made us feel like home, once again.
A little tired but with no rush to leave we spend a little more time overlooking the vineyards and the sky to turn even grayer – time to leave before the rain!
Oh, guess what?! The winery is American owned. Andeluna Cellars is owned by well-known international businessman H. Ward Lay, who thankfully is doing more than potato chips.
Felling world citizens, very grateful for the global business exchange, we came back to Mendoza city already planning the next trip, at this time to Lujan de Cuyo.
Wait for the news!
Cheers,
Marcia Amaral