Thanks for your prompt and detailed response.

I'm just going to have two days and one night in Mendoza (time constraints on my overall trip). The first day I'm joining some others on a winery tour with lunch included, then dinner with the same people. The second day I'll probably walk around the town or something like that.

This will be my third trip to Argentina. Each time I've spent time in BsAs and have also done some side trips and/or day trips outside the city. First year I spent two days and nights at Iguazu at the end of my trip. Second year I did day trips to Tigre, an estancia, and Colonia, Uruguay (on three different days, of course). I liked them all, especially Iguazu. If I like Mendoza, I'll go back again some time in the future.

By the way, what do they serve for breakfast on the bus? ;) (I'm still talking about the first-class bus, of course!)

Breakfast was nothing fancy: coffee or tea and some biscuits with jelly. Oh, and a fresh newspaper.
Now I have a question for you: I have often considered taking a day tour to one of the estancias or even spending a night. So which one did you go to and were you pleased with the experience?

Hello!
Does anyone know where I can buy Alma 4 Bondarda in the states? Is there a website from which I can order it?
Thanks!

There is:
http://corkd.com/wine/view/26570-Alm..._Sparling_Wine

Salud!

My wife found the card we were looking for. The young lady who helped us so much is Veronica Oliver from Orbe Travel. The address of the agency is Rivadavia 151 Tel 0261 429 2882 and 429 6930. e-mail [email protected]
Veronica is a delightful person and we would definitely look her up if we went back to Mendoza.

Please note the above link will ultimatetly lead you to a wine search engine, and unless Im using it incorrectly, it seems like someone has listed this wine to rate it, but I cant seem to locate US based merchants that are offering it.

In my talks with the Zuccardi Family, they have explained that they are looking to start exporting this wine to the States, but I still dont have all the details. I will post any updates as I receive them.

Further in depth searches for Alma 4 using both Wine Zap and Wine Searcher have all drawn blanks.

Has anyone used a wine tour company known as The Grapevine? If so, I'd appreciate a review.

Wirelessly posted (Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x320)

Ive heard good reviews about them. It may be a good idea to tell them what sort of visits you are expecting.

Yuu are right, of course. I saw the link and offered it as a resourse without first checking it. Sorry.:(

http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/

They are located approximately 1.5 blocks from the Park Hyatt. In May, they put together a four property tour for us. Cost of the car (remis) and driver was approximately $US60. This is comparable to renting and self-getting lost. Some properties had tasting fee and there was a charge for the outstanding five course lunch served with 5 flights (actually more, since the staff got into adding to our glasses).

They are really great to deal with and they do not charge for the service. The conceirge at Park Hyatt can put together something similar, but, frankly, the people at Vines are so pleasant and efficient that I will unequivalently use them in the future.

For English speakers, fluent English is spoken by the staff. Not true of our driver, but he was great anyway and he and I chatted the entire day. A detailed intinerary was provided. They do need approximately 24 hours to book a tour.

Our visits:

http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/travel...dc_achaval.php
http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/travel...ldc_catena.php
http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/travel..._ldc_luigi.php
http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/travel...g_ldc_ruca.php

This tour took us from 0900-1830. It is in an area about 45 minutes from of Mendoza. (Lujan de Cuyo)

An additional restaurant note: We really like Francesco, 1 block from the Hyatt. It is owned by Family Zuccardi.

OpusHomes-- Did you get a chance to select what wines you were going to be served at these visits or was it a standard program decided by the tour operator and winery? Did you get a list of what you were going to taste at each bodega as part of your itinerary materials? Thanks.

Gaucho

Our itinerary did not, as I recall, list what we would be tasting. When we booked, I specifically asked for a tasting only series of visits. Our rationale was that we have toured in Caves or wineries in France, Napa/Sonoma, locally as well as other obscure places many times. Time seemed to be constrained and we wanted to maximize the tasting experience. In the end, we actually toured one of the properties and saw portions of the others. Some of the tasting was set by the wineries and others were much more free form. Only the last winery had a required flight (actually a choice of a number of programs at varying prices). Other than lunch this was the only one that charged for the tastings. At three of the wineries, they dragged out a number of high end products seemingly not normally sampled.

Other than the required pre-booking, the day reminded us of a normal day in the Willamette/Yamhill Valleys here in Oregon. Low key, sample things off the "list", relaxed and friendly. Reminiscent of Napa of 30 years ago. Perhaps, in one instance, it helped to have met the owner of one of the properties at a wine tasting hosted by The Vines the evening prior. The properties themselves seemed well-tended, but not commercial with the exception of the impressive (for the most part) main house, winery-itself building.

BTW: We tasted mostly Malbecs with some Syrahs and a few blends. Some lesser whites were also sampled. We have become great fans of Argentinian Malbecs. Argentina IMHO is better than Chile in general in terms of wine quality and craft. Perhaps, it is because the wines we sampled tended to be more crafted that the more mass-produced Chileans.

Opushomes-- many thanks for taking time to write the detailed reply. I asked this because one of the drawbacks of some of these booking agencies is that one normally doesnt get the chance to select/pick what you will taste at each bodega... which may be an issue for the more serious wine aficionado. Of course, to know what you want to taste means you need to either know the wineries & the region you are touring, or else you must have done your homework on the producers and what they have in their portfolio, etc. This is something that 95% of all folks dont bother with, and from your report it seems that things worked out well for you. Glad to hear this.

Im of course partial on the right side vs. the wrong side :p of the Andes debate.... but Im glad you enjoy the wines of Argentina... ^ ^

One other thing.... Argentina is not only Malbec. You need to look at tasting blends (Malbec, Cabernet, Merlot) and also some less traditional varieties like Sangiovese or Bonarda.

Also, if you are a fan of Sparkling wines... you need to look into the higher-end methode champenoise wines made in Mendoza.