After our very quiet day yesterday we were keen to be up early and get ready for our day at the vineyards. We skipped breakfast and walked to the other side of town, to the bus stop on Calle Rioja. In stark contrast to yesterday, the city was buzzing with people and a lot more of the shops were open. It didn't take long for the 173 bus to come and take us to Maipu.

We thought the fare was going to be 3.50 pesos each but it was 4.50 as we were traveling further afield, as a result we didn't have enough credit on the card for the return journey. The bus drove through a busy industrial area on the eastern side of Mendoza before turning off into the main road leading to Maipu. With the help of a map we managed to get off the bus in right place and found Mr Hugo's Bicycle Rental. It looked closed though, the giveaway being the locked gates at the front of the property. We rung the bell regardless and then realised we arrived a little before their official opening hour.

They let us in and talked us through what places we could visit, the cost and the opening hours. While this was happening, David was mesmerised by their playful puppy. Puppy might be the wrong word, it might have been a 'cub', as in wolf cub. It was the size of medium sized adult dog, but behaved like a 6-8 week old. It was 'playing' with a cat (according to the owners) as if it was a stuffed toy. The cat was dragged backwards, on its ass, by the scruff of the neck before being shaken violently, the way dogs do. The cat didn't seem to mind too much though but the owner put it up a tree all the same.

With all the paperwork signed and map in hand, Mr Hugo himself gave us our bikes for the day and checked tires were okay. So off we went in search of our first glass of wine of the day.

We decided to visit Bodega La Rural first to make sure we had time for it because it closed for siesta. For 70 pesos, about $10, we could get a guided tour in Spanish and decided to do it anyway. The amount would be deducted from any purchase, but we wouldn't be buying. Whilst Maria would understand everything, David would pick up bits and pieces. Little did we know we would be accompanied by about 30 young school kids.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were still grown using traditional methods on 40 year old vines, which are all supported and watered in the old fashion way. After having a look out over the vineyard, we visited the actual area where wine is made nowadays. It's not quite as traditional with its modern pressing machine that uses an inflatable thing inside to get the last bit of juice out of the grapes. The fermentation tanks were all metal. Cheaper wines are refined in cement tanks that may have wood in for flavor. For better wines the barrels for aging were mostly made with American Oak although French Oak is used for the most expensive wine.

The museum was jam packed with all the old winery manufacturing tools; from grape pressing troughs made from cow hides to the special bottles and their filling machines. In colonial times, grapes were pressed against the animal skin with the liquid draining out through the tail. The liquid was then fermented in big ceramic containers tied to wall with leather cords in case of earthquakes before being moved into smaller ones to refine. They were then buried in ground to keep them at the right temperature. The early wines were generally sweet and mostly used by church.

As time progressed, baskets were introduced for collecting grapes and they would be cut from the vines with scissors. The ceramic containers were replaced with wooden barrels. Wine used to be sold only in barrels before glass bottles, the first glass containers were big, between 5 and 15 liters, which was a bit too big for personal use especially when it had to finished in couple of days or it would go bad. This winery started using squat, flat bottles of about 1 litre - the San Felipe wine continues to be sold in the distinctive bottle.

After the museum, we walked down into the tasting room. The kids got to take a few photos and were then ushered back out. It was time for some tasting. We tasted two of the museum wines that are only sold in the bodega, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Malbec. They were okay but not easy to drink on their own, they would be better with food.
We left the bodega and cycled another 300m further up the road and visited an olive tasting place called Entre Olivos. Inside we discovered it wasn't just about olives. For 30 pesos (about $5) you were able to taste a whole array of oils, balsamic vinegar, tapanades, jams, chocolates and naturally flavor infused vodka liqueurs. All very tasty, and some bizarre liqueurs like the 'Picante' made without any chili but with black and white pepper instead.

We had only been to two places and time seemed to be slipping away so we quickly headed back to the main road and headed south to the Mevi vineyard for lunch. We had been given deal voucher with the cycle hire that would get us two pasta dishes and bottle of wine for 140 pesos. It was a warm day so we sat out on the terrace with nice views of the mountains beyond all the vines in front of us. Being a warm day, and having chosen a four cheese sauce for the pasta, we decided on a bottle of white wine. We had never heard of the grape before but decided to try Torrentinos, which turned out to be pretty good and well matched to our food. As we were leaving the vineyard, there were two little owls by the side of the road and we managed a quick photo or two before they flew of to the safety of the vines.

Back up the same side road, we stopped off to visit Tempus Alba, which had self guided tour of their facilities. It was quite unique and nice, especially because it was free. We did however pay 35 pesos each for their wine tasting. By sharing, we were able to get six pretty big glasses of wine. All of their wines were very good and especially their Cabernet Sauvignon. They had a beautiful terrace with really comfortable couches in the shade overlooking the vines. The Cab Sav was so good that David couldn't resist having a full glass, and full it was too. Maria settled for a coffee and fortunately that was good espresso too. There was a compromise though, we wouldn't have enough time to head further south to Di Tommaso, but we like Tempus Alba too much to move on too quickly.

Our plan, now that we were skipping Di Tommaso, was to go straight to Trapiche, but when we got to the gate they informed us they would be closing and last group had already started the tour. To us it seemed a bit early to be closing but no point in arguing. At that point, 2 tourist policemen on motorbikes came by and asked where we were heading. We explained we wanted to go into the wine tasting, but were told it was closed for the day. They then told us to follow them for another tasting room up the road. We were cycling between the police motorbikes in convoy and arrived at Tierra de Lobo.

Tierra de Lobo is a place run by German guy who creates wine/grape based spirits/liqueurs. For 50 pesos we were able to taste six different products. They were all quite good and some stronger than others, the 43% pisco had a definite kick to it. As we got chatting, he threw in some extra tastings for free. We ended up buying lemon infused drink that is similar to Lemoncello. It needs to be drunk back in Chile though because it can't be stored more than a couple of days once opened.

When we returned our bikes back to Mr Hugo, he was waiting with a refreshing lemonade for us. He also had a bottle of wine, made by his friend, for us to take home with us. The puppy (wolf cub) came to play with us while we drank our lemonade, it had a chew on Maria's leg and David's hand.

The bus stop was not too far away and the bus came quite quickly, but we didn't have enough credit on the card. Through the day we hadn't found anywhere to top the credit up so David just offered the driver 5 pesos cash, which he didn't accept. We had no coins either that we could put in the machine so David played dumb and ended up traveling for free.

It had been a long day and a long time since lunch and to avoid any lengthy wait for food we settled for McDonalds. It was ****.