Viajero Perpetuo

You mean SCL? Also the buses don't terminate at SCL but inside the city at Estacion Alameda or Estacion Santiago.

I personally have taken 6 different bus companies on this route.

The best (for this 7-8 hour trip) are Turbus, Andesmar and CATA.

Tickets can safely be purchased day of or day before at the Mendoza bus station EXCEPT DURING A CHILENO OR ARGENTINO HOLIDAY WEEKEND! Buy days in advance for this situation.

Get seats up front across from the driver's side for thrilling views. The highest peak in SA will be to the north. Take a jacket or sweater for the border crossing and something to snack on but do consume and trash all fresh produce before the border.

Gaucho100K

Thanks for the detailed info on the buses, Viajero.... I get asked this question all the time and I can never answer proficiently, until now that is...

RxCapt

I am coming to BA next week. Are there any day tours offered from BA to Mendoza? Air and tour of the region? What can I expect to pay? Thanks!

Gaucho100K

While its (in theory) feasible to go to Mendoza and return the same day, considering the recent air-travel issues that have hit Aerolineas Argentinas and the rest of the local carriers serving this route, I would suggest caution if you need to be back the same day and on time to catch an outbound international connection.

Gaucho100K

As advised in a separate thread, please beware that flights to Mendoza from Buenos Aires are now being operated from EZE and not from AEP (Buenos Aires City Airport).

RD57

Sure about that? EF shows plenty of AR flights AEP-MDZ in November.

Gaucho100K

I dont know what EF is.... but, please note Im not saying that service to MDZ is being shut down, Im just saying that flights will operate from the International Airport. Perhaps flights are still being sold as operating from AEP, but in practice, the information that was published today in all the major Buenos Aires papers indicates that all flights to MDZ will have to operate out of EZE.

SanDiego1K

I stumbled on a great article that covers many of the restaurants in Mendoza recommended in this thread. It really sounds like some fine eating.

The Park Hyatt concierge has recommended La Bourgogne, on the grounds of Vistalba Carlos Pulenta. She tells us it is about a 20 minute drive; however, the article I referenced above says it is about 40 minutes. Gaucho100K, what do you think? We'll have a car. How difficult is it to find? It only matters because we will be stepping off a plane at 11:30am, then going out for lunch. Also, is there an online map that shows where this is? I've had no success in my search.

Gaucho100K

Im afraid I dont know of an online map. I think an accurate drive time is about 30 minutes.... however, getting around Mendoza is not easy and there is a lot of road work going on, further complicating things. If you rent a vehicle, I would strongly suggest you arrange for a driver to take you around (make sure he knows the wineries you want to visit).

Gaucho100K

BTW, the recommendation of La Bourgogne is a very good one, when in Mendoza - dont miss out on a meal at LB. IMHO, its better than LB in Buenos Aires.

Gaucho100K

I want to add Andeluna to the list of top places to have a meal in Mendoza. Andeluna is a winery, its a joint venture of the Reina Rutini (ex La Rural) and the Lay (Frito Lay) families. They have build a state of the art facility in the Valle de Uco, and have more recently opened a guest-facility that includes a very nice restaurant. Chef Pablo del Rio is in charge, and the food is very good. Only catch is that advanced reservations are a must, and there is a minimum group of 5 required, plus other details.

Please note that the Valle de Uco is approx. 100 kilometers away from the city of Mendoza, so make sure to plan this in advance, including issues of transportation and possible lodging nearby.

For more information on Andeluna, please see:

http://www.andeluna.com/

Gaucho100K

Good news for Mendoza visitors. Starwood has finalized plans and purchased a large plot of land in Tunuyan (in the Uco Valley) where they plan to develop a 5 Star Resort, presumably under the Sheraton Flag. This will give Mendoza an excellent option for international standard accomodations, and serve visitors that wish to have better access to the entire Valle de Uco region. Today, visitors that stay in town (ie. Mendoza) have to travel up to 130-150 Kilometers to visit many of the important producers that have their operations in the Uco Valley. With the opening of this new Starwood resort, travel distance will be less than 40 kilometers to most all Bodegas.

No dates on opening for the resort have yet been announced, but this is great news for Mendoza and will probably mean more players will look closely into building new hotels to add to the Mendoza Wine Route.

dmk11

Hello from Mendoza!

I arrived here yesterday via an overnight bus from BA. Not wanting to think, we decided to take the half day winery tour offered by many travel agents. This particular one, brought us to "Cavas de Don Arturo" & another. During the tasting, we tasted Cab '04 and it seems pretty good. So we decided to buy their Cab 04 & 03. Back at the hotel, we tried those wine and they seem different than the one we tasted.
During the tour, they said that they don't sell their wine anywhere else but US (some exclusive deal with some US company) so you won't see it in Argentina. I've googled the web but only came up with blogs from people that went to the same wine tour.
When we did the tasting, they didn't open the bottle in front of us, they already had it in a decanter. Now I'm wondering if that was some different wine they try to "bait & switch" on us. And this is their only means to sell the wine. It's a small winery, family run.
Have anyone heard of this winery?? or am I just being paranoid?

Gaucho100K

Dear dmk11-- There are many wine projects in Mendoza that are 100% export oriented, and quite a few of these are focused exclusively on selected US markets. It seems like the winery you visited has an agreement to exclusively sell the wine they make to one US importer. This is not uncommon in Mendoza (and many other wine regions internationally).

Im afraid I dont know this winery, and cannot give you further references. All I can think of is that if you have a phone number handy, I would give them a call and have them replace the wine.... also, have you tried decanting the bottles you purchased? Are you serving the wine at the same temperature it was served to you at the winery?

SoFlyOn

Alex - what's your opinion of their wines?

I enjoyed the 2004 Malbec Reserva, but the bottle of 2004 Merlot I opened was basically undrinkable - it had some overpowering off notes. Was this just a bad bottle? I haven't been tempted to open the second bottle I have, but anyway I'll have to wait until I'm back in BsAs.

John