Coquimbito, Mendoza vineyards. Tempus alba and Mevi

The first Argentinian vineyards we cycled to as part of our time in Tikay killa (see previous blog) were Mevi and Tempus alba. Both these vineyards have very modern, picturesque tasting areas that double as restaurants boasting views of the vines with the background of the Andes.

We visited Mevi first and opted for a selection of reserve wines (quite often there are several tasting menus you can try at various price points) which were very drinkable. Although as it was only just past midday drinking strong reds on an empty stomach was a little interesting at first (although we soon warmed to the task).

We were served a 2010 Syrah (too young) and a 2011 Malbec (far too young) both of which would have been good in a year or two. The pick of the wines was (by far) a
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva. This is from mevi's Barricas del Plata range, the Reserva naming indicates it has been aged in oak, in this particular case for 12 months.

It was a very dark wine deep red and my notes suggest it smelt strong of booze at first but once opened up had hints of fresh cherries.

When drunk it was soft on the palette (not acidic at all) with hints of cherries, chocolate and perhaps a little touch of violet. The oak had given it a lingering slightly smoky finish which was very pleasant

I must have been hungry by this point as my notes said it would be good with a good strong cheddar or Sunday lunch!

The second vineyard was Tempus alba, which had some matched wine tasting with its food and allowed you to order and have a tasting glass with each course. Never people to skip food and matched wines we set about empanadas and a very good 2009 Malbec, followed by a steak and another very good 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon (similar to the Mevi one but with slightly more acidity on the palette.)

The star wine of our tasting was their Pleno (blend) from 2007, which was a predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with some Malbec and Syrah.
The Pleno is a deep red but still slightly translucent, it smells of red fruits, with hints of leather and oak.
It was great to drink, complete on the palette, not acidic and not too rich.

As you drink it there are hints of vanilla among strawberries and as you would expect there is a smooth finish with slightest whiff smoke that leaves you wanting more.

It is perfectly drinkable all by itself (good for "Big Dave" as my fiancee put it, mainly because she wanted a "Cougar Town" reference in the blog) but i think it would also be great with any red meat or cheese.

Will definitely keep an eye out for it in the UK but I can't imagine it will be anything like the same price.

Then for the sake of research we ordered dessert with, as you would expect, a dessert wine accompaniment. This took the form of a pear poached in wine. This was truly excellent, a great dessert for a hot afternoon, served chilled with some ice cream, a biscuit and a small cup of the wine reduction it was poached in.

Despite the fact that we had now had a substantial amount of wine and it was not yet 3pm I did manage to make notes on the dessert wine, which was a sweet Malbec.

This was served slightly chilled and was really dark, almost black, in colour. The overwhelming theme was cherries, the wine itself was not too sweet, perfect wine for someone without a sweet tooth or a good introductions to dessert wine.

It was smooth drinking with a nose of vanilla and red fruits, pleasant and light on the palette with a long finish with hint of tobacco.

After all that wine the 5km journey home was a touch wobbly on bikes, but we made it just about in 1 piece.

Tikaykilla and the Coquimbito, Mendoza wineries

As our first stop in Argentina we settled on Mendoza, set with the spectacular backdrop of the Andes and laced with vineyards.

This is the expensive passage of our trip and accommodation in the vineyards around the city is exclusive and not cheap. We did manage to find one place in Coquimbito which was cheaper than the rest despite boasting excellent reviews on trip advisor, this was called Tikaykilla (http://www.tikaykilla.com.ar/en/index.htm). It is well located, a short taxi or bus from central Mendoza and gives you an excellent starting point if you want to explore some of Mendoza's vineyards. It also has Francesco, the owner, whose knowledge of the area and the wines as well as his happy to please attitude certainly contributed to our enjoyment of our stay in the region.

The local region around the lodge is becoming more and more geared up (excuse the pun) for cycling tours with parts of the main street boasting cycle lanes (with more being built) the police also keep a close we on the traffic so while you are cycling, even on the main roads after a vino or two, you never feel in too much danger, as, certainly towards the end of the day the drivers assume you are drunk and give you plenty of room.

The terrain is also almost completely flat so riding around is not too much of a problem even for the less physically fit of us (Although when the temperature is over 35 it does seem like hard work).

You should also note that the maps which are given out with the bike are not to scale (which we found when we tried to walk one day) and gaps between place (and the distances on signs) frequently say the same distance to your destination for kilometre after kilometre!

Bike hire was 35 pesos (5 pounds) a day and included several discounts for vineyards and restaurants as well as a (not very) stylish helmet.

As with Chile you are expected to pay to taste the produce but this is usually only 30 or 40 pesos (4 to 6 pounds) for 3 or 4 glasses of wine.

There are around 10 vineyards in the area who have tasting and tours, I will cover a few in my next couple of blogs (along with some of my favourite wines). There are also several olive oil producers (you can do a tasting there too) and a boutique brewery called 'beer garden' whose larger style beer I would definitely recommend on a hot day.

Finally it wouldn't be a food blog without mentioning the local cuisine. We had a couple of excellent meals from "casa de campo" which is a family run place near the accommodation who have a lunchtime restaurant where they serve excellent veal (pictured) and an evening restaurant where they do steak (of course) and an Argentine barbecue (meat selection or "death by meat" as it quickly became during the 5 courses of pork and beef). We also had a great beef sandwich overlooking the lake in the main park in Mendoza.

It was not all awesomeness though as my fiancée had what she described as "the worst pastas she'd ever tasted" from one roadside restaurant during our cycling tour from a restaurant which shall remain nameless.

I would definitely recommend a week or two in the area if you are fond of red wine and steak.