Mendoza Malbec Musings
#sidetrip número dos is in the books. Last week, I boarded a flybondi flight con trés of my Remote Year amigos to visit Argentina's wine country in Mendoza.
Who cares about which airline I took, why did I mention that detail, right? As a very frequent flyer I was fascinated by this airline for several reasons: Flybondi is a brand new Argentinian airline offering flights to locations like Mendoza at a much lower cost than other airlines, and it's obviously a more convenient option than taking a bus. During our flights to and from Mendoza, many of the passengers were taking a million photos, to the point where we assumed it was most people's first time on a plane or something.
Turns out, it was! Flybondi is the first ever budget airline in Argentina, so people who were previously unable to afford flying are now able to plan flights to new destinations. On our trip back, the Argentinian I was sitting next to explained that the whole country is so excited because flybondi is breaking up the airline monopoly that has long existed here. I found an article that does a better job explaining it than I will but I will say it made me appreciate Southwest and Spirit so much more (miss you @Southwest).
So, I promise I'll start talking about wine soon, but I need to tell you that the round trip flight was a mere $50 USD! It's about a one hour flight, and the other option is a 12 hour bus ride (no, just no) for the same cost or even more expensive. I highly recommend flybondi over any other alternative for domestic travel in Argentina, and no, they are not paying me to write this post... unfortunately.
Uco Valley: Well deserving of the praise as the best Mendoza wine region, and a must-see if you're in the area. We visited two wineries, Andeluna and Azul, which had beyond spectacular backdrops of the Andes Mountains. I never wanted to leave. I died and went to wine heaven. I started planning my Uco Valley wedding to the bottle of Malbec Rosé we sipped during our visit. I'll admit I hadn't been super psyched to go to Uco Valley because it's a further drive from the main city of Mendoza, and more expensive to get out there, but it was worth it for sureeee.
Other noteworthy Mendoza things:
75% of Mendoza's wine output is Malbec, and most of it is delicious. When it comes to red wine, I was a Cab or Pinot Noir drinker prior to coming to Argentina, but Mendoza Malbecs changed that. There are light, medium and heavy bodied versions for every meal/situation/palate. Next time you're buying a red, pick a Malbec from Mendoza!
Downtown Mendoza is full of great restaurants and seemingly a pretty good nightlife. We didn't dabble in the nightlife because we're old and wine tasting made us tired. However we did wander around the area after dinner and you could tell the bars were starting to ramp up for the night.
If you're an active person or non-wine drinker, wine, food and partying are not the only available activities in the area. After our Uco Valley experience our driver took us off the beaten path through the mountains over to Portrerillos, which is an artificial lake created by a dammed waterway. We only got to hang out for a little bit and take in the views, but if you commit a full day or weekend to the lake, you can go hiking, rafting, paragliding or whatever other outdoor/water activity your heart desires.
Oh and let me talk about flybondi for another second since it's my new favorite topic: PSA there are no liquid restrictions for carry ons so you can buy wine during your travels and bring it back with you, even if you don't check a bag! We realized this by accident because we had an extra bottle of the aforementioned rosé that we didn't get a chance to drink during the trip. We packed it in a carry on and had no issues at all going through security, and then por supuesto we were wishing we had gotten more!! The more you know guys, the more you know.
To all the wine lovers out there, for real reach out if you want to talk more about Mendoza (or flybondi, or anything) ... I could go on for days. <3
Who cares about which airline I took, why did I mention that detail, right? As a very frequent flyer I was fascinated by this airline for several reasons: Flybondi is a brand new Argentinian airline offering flights to locations like Mendoza at a much lower cost than other airlines, and it's obviously a more convenient option than taking a bus. During our flights to and from Mendoza, many of the passengers were taking a million photos, to the point where we assumed it was most people's first time on a plane or something.
Turns out, it was! Flybondi is the first ever budget airline in Argentina, so people who were previously unable to afford flying are now able to plan flights to new destinations. On our trip back, the Argentinian I was sitting next to explained that the whole country is so excited because flybondi is breaking up the airline monopoly that has long existed here. I found an article that does a better job explaining it than I will but I will say it made me appreciate Southwest and Spirit so much more (miss you @Southwest).
 |
| Boarding from the front and back of the plane: efficiency! photo: @RayLord |
So, I promise I'll start talking about wine soon, but I need to tell you that the round trip flight was a mere $50 USD! It's about a one hour flight, and the other option is a 12 hour bus ride (no, just no) for the same cost or even more expensive. I highly recommend flybondi over any other alternative for domestic travel in Argentina, and no, they are not paying me to write this post... unfortunately.
 |
| Yes we did taste wine on this trip |
Ok, wine time! Within Mendoza, there are three different wine regions: Lujan de Cuyo, Valle de Uco and Maipu. We had 2 full days to explore, and we'd heard that you should really only try to visit one region per day (I agree). We chose to visit Lujan de Cuyo (primarily because the Chandon bodega is there) and Uco Valley (it's widely lauded as the best of the three) #sorryMaipu. In retrospect we were very satisfied with our choices which is nothing against Maipu, we just loved everywhere we went.
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| Chandon is where it's at |
High level on Lujan de Coyo: The Chandon bodega was everything and more. We toured the vineyard and learned so much about the history of Chandon and champagne in general. At the risk of this becoming the world's longest blog post, I'll skip details, but hit me up if you want to know more or are considering a trip. We visited two more wineries in Lujan de Coyo, Alta Vista and Lagarde, where we enjoyed delicious wines and an exquisite wine pairing lunch that re-awakened our taste buds after the bland food of Buenos Aires and Córdoba.
 |
| Trout, the main course for non-meat-eaters (me) at Lagarde |
Uco Valley: Well deserving of the praise as the best Mendoza wine region, and a must-see if you're in the area. We visited two wineries, Andeluna and Azul, which had beyond spectacular backdrops of the Andes Mountains. I never wanted to leave. I died and went to wine heaven. I started planning my Uco Valley wedding to the bottle of Malbec Rosé we sipped during our visit. I'll admit I hadn't been super psyched to go to Uco Valley because it's a further drive from the main city of Mendoza, and more expensive to get out there, but it was worth it for sureeee.
 |
| Rosé fueled deep talks... also someone buy me a lifetime supply of this please |
Other noteworthy Mendoza things:
75% of Mendoza's wine output is Malbec, and most of it is delicious. When it comes to red wine, I was a Cab or Pinot Noir drinker prior to coming to Argentina, but Mendoza Malbecs changed that. There are light, medium and heavy bodied versions for every meal/situation/palate. Next time you're buying a red, pick a Malbec from Mendoza!
Downtown Mendoza is full of great restaurants and seemingly a pretty good nightlife. We didn't dabble in the nightlife because we're old and wine tasting made us tired. However we did wander around the area after dinner and you could tell the bars were starting to ramp up for the night.
If you're an active person or non-wine drinker, wine, food and partying are not the only available activities in the area. After our Uco Valley experience our driver took us off the beaten path through the mountains over to Portrerillos, which is an artificial lake created by a dammed waterway. We only got to hang out for a little bit and take in the views, but if you commit a full day or weekend to the lake, you can go hiking, rafting, paragliding or whatever other outdoor/water activity your heart desires.
Oh and let me talk about flybondi for another second since it's my new favorite topic: PSA there are no liquid restrictions for carry ons so you can buy wine during your travels and bring it back with you, even if you don't check a bag! We realized this by accident because we had an extra bottle of the aforementioned rosé that we didn't get a chance to drink during the trip. We packed it in a carry on and had no issues at all going through security, and then por supuesto we were wishing we had gotten more!! The more you know guys, the more you know.
 |
| Disclaimer: not a double date trip |
To all the wine lovers out there, for real reach out if you want to talk more about Mendoza (or flybondi, or anything) ... I could go on for days. <3
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