The good thing about taking the formal grey taxis (actually called remises) from the airport is that the rate is fixed for the part of town you are going to and do not have to worry about being cheated. Last time i took the taxi, it cost me 44 pesos to the centre of the city.

I have also taken the bus (need coins, presently 1 peso 80) but the problem is not knowing where to get off if you do not know the city. If going downtown, after changing buses at the nearby "terminal"(called "control") with you reciept, ask the bus driver "micro-centro" before you get on. Sit up front and ask him:
" Dime cuando estamos en el micro-centro, por favor."

So I completely failed to do any planning for this trip. I even forgot about this thread(!) and we ended up booking a remis through Vines of Mendoza and letting the driver plan most of the visits. Also, the rate was $150 per day, so I wish I had gotten at least a quote from Miguel... I have a day or two left, so I may still drop him an e-mail.
I had just the opposite experience. Our tour driver had scheduled Salentein as our first visit, they charged us 40 pesos each when we walked in the door and herded us into an auditorium where there was a hideously loud and seriously awful video about the history of wine, followed by a ridiculously loud video that simply contained visual panoramas of the local area in various seasons set to jarring music. Half-way through I walked out and asked for a refund. I generally don't like mega-producers and it is my firm opinion that if they build an auditorium, an art gallery, and the consensus is that the best reason to visit is the architecture, they are not focusing on the quality of their wines. <shrug>

I explained to our driver that I wanted to stick with smaller producers, so he took us to Azul, where we got to sit down at a table with the winemaker, tasted four red wines: two entry-level that were unoaked and mediocre (a malbec and a cabernet), a Reserve that was mostly malbec with some cab, and then we barrel tasted the Gran Reserve. I thought the Reserve and the Grand Reserve were excellent values at 70 and 150 pesos respectively, and then I noticed they also had a Sauvignon Blanc and asked to taste it. It was very dry, like a European-style white table wine. I'm not sure it was a great bargain, but I picked up half a case at 40 pesos per bottle, mostly because I have been tearing my hair out in Dallas trying to find a bone-dry white wine at what I consider a table wine price point.

Of course, I bought 8 bottles of wine, so no tasting fee was mentioned, but if they were charging you 80 pesos for tasting, it would be well-worthwhile to pick up a bottle or two of the Reserve and see if they would waive the fee. We had the Reserve at dinner tonight, and after it breathed for a while, it definitely held up to post-vineyard scrutiny. Considering that we barrel-tasted the 2011 Gran Reserve and bought the 2008, we will see if it was a smart buy... but I figured that 3 extra years of aging couldn't hurt. :D

Definitely failure to plan on my part, but I see your point now. I think with good planning, it would be easily possible to do 5-6; we did 4 per day and that included a huge/slow five-course lunch and multiple tours on both days. The lunch was a very nice way to savor the wines, we ended up at Ruca Malen and Andeluna for lunches. Andeluna turned out to be a bit of a mega-producer (owned by the Frito-Lay family, 2 million bottles per year), but I forgave them because their chef was excellent. ;)

The big surprise for me so far is how much I like some of the Chardonnays; I usually am not the biggest fan, but I like the crisp unoaked style that seems to be common down here. The other big surprise for me is how much lengua :p we have been served. No me gusta!

Thanks for sharing your experience.... ^

FYI, Miguel quoted me $180 per day for 2 days to take me around to several places in the Maipu and Lujan du Cuyo about 8-10 places overall over a couple of days in early October. All winery fees would be additional to that. I tried to get him down to $150/day for this and was unable to, so I take it that he's in demand - and also, I suspect that the Valle de Uco would have been somewha tmore. I have since decided to do my own trip, as I have already been there and am familiar with the area, and have driven myself around on a prior trip.

Has anyone rented a car in MDZ to drive to the various vineyards for the flexibility? We want to have a nice relaxing lunch etc and not have to have the driver wait/rush us?

I'm not a big drinker so am happy to be DD for the rest .. but seems like everyone seems to prefer to arrange car services? Am I missing something?

Yes. Signage in Mendoza is still work in progress, and quite a bit of roads are being built. This means that its not as easy to drive around as it would be in Stellenbosch or Napa. Also, distances in Mendoza can be quite considerable if you want to visit a place in the Valle de Uco and do other producers that are say in Lujan de Cuyo the same day.

Also, rental cars are not as inexpensive as in other countries. As to the driver rushing you... I cant see how that would be the case. When I hire a car service, Im in charge of the timing and the pace... else, this sorta' defeats the purpose. Perhaps Ive misunderstood.... in any event, if you plan a reasonable itinerary and dont expect to cover too much ground in one day (the most common Mendoza visit mistake in my experience), then there should never be a reason for your driver to want to rush anybody.

To each his own, but I think that being driven is just sooo much more relaxing, and Im a car person that loves to drive.

I've done it, and I'll be doing it again next month. But my take on it is this:

I like doing it because of the flexibility it gives me, but there are a couple of key points:

1) I've been in the business, and know how to taste wines professionally where I only swallow a very small amount - so that I could taste 50-60 wines over the course of a day, while only actually consuming the equivalent of 1.5 - 2 glasses over the course of the day, thus not getting at all intoxicated (1 glass will pass out of your system completely within a couple of hours).

2) Car rental in Mendoza is not cheap - I expect to spend about $75 per day on the car, and about $20-25 a day on fuel while doing this. As I was looking at paying $180 per day for a driver including the use of their car and fuel, the economics of driving one's self are not really compelling, but there is some slight savings - these prices are in USD.

3) Signage is poor, one needs to get good maps and be comfortable reading them - and be comfortable finding one's way around an area you might not be familiar with.

4) I've been there before, and I also would have hired a car for the Maipu and Lujan de Cuyo areas, but for the fact that I prefer to have a car for traveling to the Valley de Uco and for while I am there, it was fairly cost effective to just extend my rental a couple of days to do the area closer to Mendoza city.

I can certainly understand Gaucho100K's point, and I wouldn't try to persuade anyone against hiring a driver if all of the 4 conditions I outlined above did not apply to you.

Great thread.. very informative. Anyway, I would like to get some feedback on my itinerary.
I have only planned 3 days in Mendoza. Main purpose is to enjoy the region and visit at least 1 good wine estate.

Day 1: Arrive around afternoon/late afternoon. Am looking towards staying at the IC Mendoza (I know it is about 15-20 mins from the center). Spend the rest of the day in Medoza city itself.

Day 2: Spend it outside of Mendoza city center - visiting at least 1 wine estate/surroundings

Day 3: Spend the rest of the day in the city itself. Planning on a late flight back to BA.

I was planning on renting a car [hopefully to depend on GPS+map]. Is this advisable? I don't fulfill all the points from DJGMaster, but I really like the flexibility of it to change plans on the spur of the moment.

Is the above all doable within the 2 1/2 days I have? Any additional side trip I can add to Day 2?

Is it worth it to buy the wines directly from the estate or will they be also easily available for purchase back in BA?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!

God tip, though I usually still limit my whites to Torrontes.

For those of you who have traditionally hated Rosés (like me, especially thanks to the putrid stuff from California my mother used to drink), I respectfully suggest trying some of the rosés made here in Mendoza from Malbec. They, in my experience and opinion, have shown themselves to be less cloying and bitter than those of other varietals. Try this if you think you have an open mind.

Gaucho100K, what do you think of this itinerary?

I had a great experience with Trout & Wine tours last time - I did one trip to Lujan and one to Uco Valley. I told them I wanted some places I hadn't visited. This time they're offering me Mendel, Renacer, Decero (lunch) and Benegas Lynch.

My thought was to do one day with them on an organized tour, and then one-two days with someone like Miguel (and maybe some fellow travelers I meet along the way), perhaps to some vineyards you recommend.

I'd also like to at least see Mendoza City and perhaps do an afternoon at the near the Andes. Maybe I'd call a driver like Miguel for that too.

Go with Miguel... he is one of the best private drivers in town, you cannot go wrong with him.... ^

Mendoza (MDZ) - the ultimate Q&amp;A thread
 

I have Miguel reserved for Tuesday. Still deciding my plan w him.

Might do Uco (O. Fornier, Flechas, others) ... But Uco is now a hefty $220 with Miguel. I've asked Lares de Chacras if any of my fellow guests care to share Tuesday with me. I met him on a previous trip and know he'll do a great job.

Wednesday I'm tentatively doing Mendel, Ruca Malen, Benagas Lynch and Renacer with Trout and Wine. I'm traveling solo and enjoyed the camaraderie of a few fellow wine lovers on my last trip.

Yesterday fellow travelers in BsAs told me about a spa in the Andes that sounded wonderful. Maybe I'll stay an extra day and do that...

Please come back and tell us how things went....

If you could only visit 2....
 

Sadly, I am a little short on time in Mendoza and can only squeeze in two winery visits. It looks like

Bodega Benegas
Rutini La Rural
O. Fournier
Achaval Ferrer
La Azul
Familia Zuccardi
Bodegas Lopez

get recommended often. I am looking for somewhere with fantastic wines that might be a little under the radar. Suggestions?

Thanks!

I didn't go to any of their tours, but I did go to lunch at Familia Zuccardi. It was the best meal ever. I would go back to Mendoza just to go there.