Wine is grown in Argentina along the length of the Andean foothills. Mendoza is probably the most famous spot - here the climate is ideal : warm, sunny days and cold nights give the grapes a rich flavour. The magical ingredient, though, is the water carried here in the original irrigation canals made by pre-Incan cultures which still carry pure, mineral rich, snow melt from the Andes, compensating for the low rainfall. We visited this bodega called La Rural where we saw an amazing display of implements for winemaking dating back to pre-Colombian times - skin of an entire cow where grapes were trodden in the belly and juice flowed out of the tail. All the big storage casks were made of French and American oak but now they use stainless steel as well. Argentina exports its wines worldwide, the most famous being Malbec, but its Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and the white Torrontes and Chardonnay are pretty good, too.
Monday 21 February 2011
Mendoza Winery
Wine is grown in Argentina along the length of the Andean foothills. Mendoza is probably the most famous spot - here the climate is ideal : warm, sunny days and cold nights give the grapes a rich flavour. The magical ingredient, though, is the water carried here in the original irrigation canals made by pre-Incan cultures which still carry pure, mineral rich, snow melt from the Andes, compensating for the low rainfall. We visited this bodega called La Rural where we saw an amazing display of implements for winemaking dating back to pre-Colombian times - skin of an entire cow where grapes were trodden in the belly and juice flowed out of the tail. All the big storage casks were made of French and American oak but now they use stainless steel as well. Argentina exports its wines worldwide, the most famous being Malbec, but its Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and the white Torrontes and Chardonnay are pretty good, too.
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