Our final full day in Mendoza seemed to come round all too quickly and we had something different in store. With a late start of 11.30am, we had the chance to see the Mendoza Harvest Festival parade in full swing as it passed close by our hotel. Incredible floats, horses, parades, drumming……it was a wonderful cacophony of sound.
We duly headed south for 20 minutes to the smart suburb of Chacras de Coria and Bodega l’Orange. This is a venture set up by winemaker Joanna Foster, the wife of Ernesto Catena. They have converted the original house into a small 12,000 litre capacity winery with a small restaurant. It is a very tranquil place and we hosted by another winemaker Suellen and Paula and Almendra.
We sat and tasted outside an amazing selection of natural and orange wines which confounded the cynics and transformed our opinions of this style of wine. Chardonnay/Viognier, Criollo, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon were paired with a variety of small dishes and then bigger dishes as we experienced an amazing selection of wines and flavours. We also had the chance to look at the micro winery, visit the herb garden and see the tortoises.
It was a truly magical experience.
We popped back to the hotel for a brief rest and then it was back out to Bodegas Kaiken – part of the Montes group in Chile. This is a much bigger winery – I have been selling their wines for a number of years along with a range from Montes. It is a very impressive winery with a beautiful outdoor restaurant set amongst the vines. Very elegant and stylish – as you would expect of a Francis Mallman operation.
We had a fascinating tasting of three Malbecs from different soil types and different parts of Mendoza – this really rammed home the point that terroir is just as important here as anywhere else. A quick tour of the winery and it was time to dine.
The cuisine was superb – little salads, empanadas, rib eye beef, roasted aubergine and dessert.
A top class final dinner and a fitting end to our tour.
