Mendoza, Land of the Malbec

Wrapped up my stay in beautiful Mendoza cramming in as many winery experiences as possible. This varied from having an outstanding lunch tasting surrounded by vineyards to biking to a few wineries on the Ruta de Vino. Argentina is really making a statement on the world map with their wines, but especially their Malbec version. On the first day, I rented an old beater bike and rode along the Ruta de Vino, aka Wine Road.  It was pretty nice for the first mile until the bike path ran out and I'm sharing the road with crazy Argentine truck drivers. After a few tastings of wine, it didn't seem so bad. A very scenic ride for the most part (first pix). One of the highlights was visiting an winery opened by some Italian immigrants in 1864. A beautiful winery (second pix) with some great old buildings, still be run by the great, great granddaughter.  The last highlight was the food/wine tasting in the vineyard. Five courses paired with five wines, all incredible. Now I know how the 1% lives (and I like it)!