Mendoza Day 3 - Bodegas Andeluna & Salentein

Mendoza is very well known for their wine. Malbec is their specialty since it really only grows well in Mendoza. There are many regions within Mendoza. Today we visited the Valle de Uco (or the Uco Valley - said to be the next Napa Valley, or Napa 30 years ago). We visited two Bodegas and a great little place for lunch. Bodega is what they call wineries here and vineyards are fincas. We started with Andeluna, which ended up being our favorite bodega, tour and also had some of our favorite wine there. You have to make reservations at all the Bodegas here. You can't just drive up, like Napa. There is a security gate and guard that let you in if you have a reservation. We didn't like that at first, but it made for a nicer experience once you were there - more up close & personal.

It was, unfortunately, more cloudy than usual, so the Andes weren't showing as much in the background. We came back a little later to get a little bit better shots as the clouds cleared some, but it was a little too bright then. So, it was definitely more amazing and beautiful than the pictures show.

The son of the Mr. Lay (from Frito Lay) is part owner of this Bodega along with one of the most experienced winemakers in Mendoza. The name, Andeluna, comes from Andes and moon.

we could've sat here all day

The vineyards were beautiful with the Andes as a backdrop

A big load of grapes that were just harvested. It was fun to see this part. Either they don't show this part in Napa, or we've just never been during the harvest.

the de-stemmer

picking out the bad grapes, etc. before being de-stemmed

now for the tasting

Like I said, we really enjoyed this Bodega. The whole experience. The place was beautiful and so peaceful. We hung out with the chef for a while, too, which was neat. We wanted to come back for a cooking class with him, but couldn't make it work.

For the tasting, we shared the reserve tasting. We really liked all we tasted, but their blend – 'Passionado’ was really good.

We had a delicious 3-course lunch down the way from Andeluna at Tupengato Divino.

We were the only ones there and had great service, atmosphere, and food!

Doug and I each had the filet

And the kids had chicken with potato flan

the kids loved this irrigation canal

They grew all their own produce in gardens on site.

our views during lunch

our next visit was to Salentein

We were not nearly as impressed with the tour or tasting at Salentein. They only gave a tasting of a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Noir. Neither was very good. The experience at Andeluna was hard to beat, but we didn’t think this came close.