Mendoza, Argentina is the largest wine producer in Latin America. The region is far west of Buenos Aires, set against the towering presence of Aconcagua (the tallest mountain in the Americas, and the Western and Southern Hemispheres) and a short distance from the Chilean border.

The region is famous for its quality and abundance of malbec wine. This grape, one of the six traditional Bordeuax grapes, has seen its prominence decline in France, but skyrocket in Argentina.

Visiting Mendoza has always been high on my list, and this trip didn't disappoint. The area is lovely, with its majestic backdrop and a climate evoking that of California. This blog post is primarily about the wine. Check out our Americas blog for more info and stories about our whole experience.

There is a wine bar in the heart of central Mendoza called the Vines of Mendoza (creative!). Their claim to fame is that they collect the best wines of the region for sampling and purchase. This is mostly geared toward those tourists who don't have time to visit many wineries themselves, and I was skeptical of their quality.

My initial doubt was misplaced, because VoM really does have an impressively good wine offering. We started by sampling four glasses, which quickly evolved into a full-on tasting and the decision to buy 12 bottles.

Side Story: In Cafayate, we purchased seven bottles of wine with the intent that we would ship six home, along with six we were to acquire in Mendoza. We couldn't have been more naïve. Shipping wine from outside the U.S. is nearly impossible. We investigated all our options upon arriving in Mendoza. The UPS clerk laughed us out of his office. Not even possible. The DHL guy was very helpful, but it would cost $500 per dozen or $350 for six because they have a special (costly) relationship with a licensed alcohol distributor.

We were out of options and fearing the worst. Once we reached VoM, we had an idea. They would ship our six wines home for $220, and if we bought 12 bottles from them, shipping only costs $1. The deal seems to-good-to-be-true, but it's legitimate.

So began our wine tasting odyssey. We quickly struck up a friendship with Justin and Kate, two Americans from D.C. sitting next to us. Julia from VoM gave us the royal treatment, even opening up new bottles just so we could give them a try. It was such a fun, social experience. Hats off to Vines of Mendoza for not just living up to, but exceeding their reputation. We made some tough decisions, and settled upon these bottles (including a few multiple purchases):

Bressia Monteagrelo Syrah 2008

Bressia Monteagrelo Cab Franc 2009

Cuvelier Los Andes Grand Vin Blend 2007

Cuvelier Los Andes Colección Blend 2008

Enamore Blend 2009

Lindaflor La Violeta Malbec 2007

Lindaflor Malbec 2008

Gran Lorca Poético Petit Verdot 2008

Gauchezco Plata Malbec 2009

Bonomo y Montiel Malbec 2012

Gran Malbec de Angeles 2009

By far, our favorite wines were the Gran Malbec de Angeles and the Lindaflor La Violeta. They were simply incredible malbecs. I'm not sure which of these you can find in the U.S., but if you can find them, they will be worth any price.

After spending two days in the city of Mendoza, we headed out to the town of Maipú, about 30 minutes south. There are three major valleys in the area: Maipú, Uco, and Lujan de Cuyo. Maipú is the most frequently visited and easily accessible. We rode the light rail (yay transit!) to the edge of town and walked to the center.

We booked four nights at a vineyard guesthouse called Posada de Cavieres and highly recommend it. It was peaceful and idyllic, and the Belgian owner Hans is incredibly hospitable. (Read more in the other post.)

We arrived at Cavieres on harvest day and were lucky enough to watch the farm hands methodically and rapidly collect the grapes.

In Maipú, we decided to scale back our tasting schedule. Mendoza is not nearly as easy to navigate as Cafayate without a car. We also wanted to relax more, and the pool at Cavieres was irresistible.

Luckily Hans kept a full stable of mountain bikes for his guests' use.

On the first day, we rode 10 minutes up the road to Tempus Alba for lunch. Their rooftop deck was comfortable and modern. The food was very good, although overpriced. The wine was not as impressive. Their Cabernet Sauvignon was actually their best, and the rest were mediocre.

Following Tempus Alba, we decided to ride our bikes up to Bodega La Rural. It was a far ride - like 8 km - and we paid for it in sweat and sore bottoms. La Rural is one of the older and larger wine producers of the Maipú region. Their labels include San Felipe, Rutini, and Trumpeter (in ascending order of quality). We sampled a Rutini sauvignon blanc and malbec, which were both pretty good. We later bought a bottle of Trumpeter malbec in Buenos Aires, and enjoyed that too. La Rural exports to the states, and if you can find a bottle less than $40, it's worth the money to try it. (The Trumpeter cost $15 here in a grocery store, and that is a moderately high price for wine.)

La Rural also has a wine museum. We didn't pay for the tour, but still got to see some interesting old winemaking equipment near the cavernous tasting room.

The next day, we rode 2 km down to Carinae. This winery is owned by a couple of French ex-pats, and I must say their wine is excellent. We paid for a full tasting of their offerings, which span the whole spectrum of grapes grown in Mendoza. Their "Carinae Prestige" blend (malbec, cabernet, syrah) is their top offering, and is one of the best I tasted in Mendoza. We purchased a bottle of their "Octans" blend for dinner that night and were also happy with the purchase. Luckily, Carinae exports to the U.S., so keep your eye open for it.

We were only able to get to three vineyards in the two days we allocated to bodega hopping in Maipú. Lindsay's bicycle tire popped right after Carinae, so we had to walk back to Posada Cavieres and called it a day. However, because of our prodigious sampling at Vines of Mendoza and our strong desire for rest and relaxation, we were perfectly content only visiting three wineries. Again, if you want to visit more in the Mendoza region, we strongly advise renting a car.

Finally, I wanted to note one more winery that we did not visit. For our anniversary dinner, we ate at the Terruno Restaurant at the Club Tapiz winery. The meal was excellent (lamb ravioli and filet), and we enjoyed a bottle of Benegas Malbec 2011. This malbec was excellent. We also enjoyed a bottle of the Benegas Finca Libertad blend (cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot) with our dinner at Don Julio in Buenos Aires. Based on these two wines, this has become one of my favorite Mendoza wineries. AND it appears you can buy it through Total Wine in the U.S. We highly recommend trying it.

When researching our visit to Salta, Argentina, we learned about that region's wine area - Cafayate. It is located 200 km south of the city of Salta - about a 4 hour bus ride away.

We spent three days in Cafayate, and another post on our "Americas" blog is dedicated to reviews on the town, but I wanted to make a specific post with a review of the wineries we visited and the wines we tasted.

The most interesting and convenient factor is that many winemakers have their bodega (a.k.a. cellar door, wine shop, winery, etc.) located near the central part of town. They grow their grapes in vineyards outside of town, but truck in the harvest to make and age the wine in town. This is a unique but nice change from typical wine regions where the cellar door is located on the vineyard property. It makes doing 3+ tastings a day very easy since you can walk between them. It also makes it convenient to visit Cafayate without a rental car.

Cafayate is Argentina's second largest wine region, but is typically overshadowed internationally, and even domestically, by Mendoza. The star grape of Cafayate is the torrontes, a white grape with a range of tastes. Cheaper versions resemble a cheap pinot grigio, but higher quality torrontes tastes like a good sauvignon blanc, although less citrusy. The region is not known for vino tinto, which is what we prefer. Malbec doesn't do very well there, but tannat and bonarda do. Everything from syrah to cabernat sauvignon to merlot grow there, but tannat stands out. Interestingly, the wines have a very high alcohol content (most >14%) due to the hotter, drier conditions that produce more sugars in the grape.

We loved our experience in Cafayate and highly recommend it. Below you'll find a review of the wineries we visited.

Nanni - This is the first winemaker we visited. They are one of the older brands and make organic wines. The premises includes a nice secluded courtyard and a tasting room. They have a restaurant with great online reviews but didn't have the chance to eat there. We bought a tannat reserva and reserve blend. Tannat is a grape that is originally European, but has taken well to certain regions of South America. It is similar to malbec or syrah in body and taste. The tannat was quite good, but Nanni's malbec was terrible and too acidic. The bodega staff was nice, and this is an overall decent place just a few blocks from the center of town. - RECOMMENDED

El Transito - This bodega is down the street from Nanni, and is modern and luxiurious in its appearance. They offer a free tasting, which is rare, but only two wines are open at a time. This is a frequent occurence in Cafayate. You generally aren't able to sample their full range of wines, only what they "have open" that day. They had a very mediocre Malbec, and an unremarkable blend of their marquee label. It was a nice building and atmosphere but we were totally unimpressed by wine. (We were told they open different wines on different days, so we returned the next day to find the same two wines for tasting. We turned around and walked out.) - NOT RECOMMENDED

Salvador Figueroa - This bodega had a great oak aged malbec, which we bought. The other "open" wine was an unoaked malbec, which was pretty mediocre. It's a very small bodega, and our tasting was hosted by winemaker/janitor, after he finished sweeping the floors. The wine was recommended by our waiter at Restaurant Terruno the previous night, and we're glad we visited. They have super-small production and is a wine you won't find outside of that region. - RECOMMENDED

Vasija Secreto (a.k.a. La Banda) - This bodega is a short walk outside of town. The tasting fee was waived because we bought wine. We purchased a $7 bottle of torrontes reserva, which was the best we had tasted up to that point. It is a nice estate with a well-ranked restaurant, but we visited late in the day between tasting and dinner hours. The tasting staff was friendly and patient. - RECOMMENDED

Jose Mournier (a.k.a. Finca Las Nubes) - This winery was perhaps the most spectaular setting for a vineyard. The name means Estate of the Clouds, and it is fitting for its location nestled among the mountains. It's reached by walking 4 km (1 hour 15 min) west of town. Expensive tasting, but they offered three wines - torrontes, rosado, and a malbec. They buy most of their grapes from other growers because their finca (estate) is small. We enjoyed a very good torrontes for lunch with a nice cheese/meat/olive plate (picada). We didn't care for the strong acidic rosado of malbec/cab sav. We bought a bottle of their marquee label malbec/cab blend, which is all grown on small estate. The wine is decent, but the visit is worth it alone. Simply stunning, and our favorite overall experience. - RECOMMENDED

El Porvenir - Hands-down the best wine we tasted in Cafayate. It was also the most expensive tasting at 50 pesos (about $5.75) per person, but we got to sample four wines, including an incredible dessert torrontes. The bodega is located centrally in town and is organized around a nice hidden courtyard. The winery tour was thorough and informative, although we didn't find out until the end of the tasting that the woman spoke very good English. I struggled the whole time to translate what she was saying. We bought two bottles of a fantastic cheap cab franc blend and a bottle of malbec rosado to enjoy that day for lunch. It is not a huge production winery, but they do export to Miami through Graziano Imports, so you can find where they sell it in Florida. It's not the best wine in the world, but it is very good quality, the best in Cafayate, and one of the few that exports to the States. - RECOMMENDED

Domingo Hermanos - This was the worst bodega we visited. They are probably the largest volume producer of locally-consumed wine (for instance, they make jugged wine). The production facility is huge and operating at all hours of the day. A highlight was that we got to watch the grape crushing and bottling processes. We tasted two reds and a white and didn't care for any of them. Even their upper brand labels were poor quality. - NOT RECOMMENDED