If you have a bottle of Argentinian wine in the rack at home, have a look at the label...the chances are it was made in the town of Maipu, in the wine growing region of Mendoza?

Mendoza is a town and region in North East Argentina, 350km East of Santiago and 1000km West of Buenos Aires. Lying in a desert plateau at the foot of the Andes, the mix of sun and a year round average temperature of 15 degrees Celcius, along with a plentiful supply of water from the melting Andes Glaciers has contributed to a perfect environment for growing grapes. The altitude of 600-1000 metres above sea level is also considered to be the highest in the world where the malbec grape thrives. Malbec has emerged as the most important variety in Argentina followed, in planted acreage, by Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

The vineyards themselves are all located 16km away from Mendoza in the small village of Maipu. Unfortunately to my childish annoyance it is actually pronounced 'may' not 'my' 'poo!' Scattered around the village the wineries are best visited by bicycle, with many such rental agencies trying to grab the all important tourist as soon as you step off the bus. The popular Mr Hugo's was our choice, a hearty welcome handshake, quick guide to the village and a map and you are on your way. Just in case you hadn't had enough already, you are greeted on your return with a tumbler full of the red variety. Although, following tastings and new found expertise, it wasn't a grape for the real connoisseur!

Maipu wasn't quite in the style of a small French village that we were expecting. Instead of narrow quiet streets and houses oozing with rustic charm, we found a long, wide, concrete road, shuddering under the constant barrage of the heavily laden passing trucks. There was no pleasant cycle through fields of vineyards that we had imagined, and as dusty and busy as the main roads were, unfortunately they were the best option. A dutch couple who we met had ventured in search of quieter roads only to have a bag stolen by a local who quickly departed into the fields. The first question the police asked when appearing on the scene was the rather alarming common place question, 'did they have a gun?'

If you can successfully negotiate the roads, visiting many of the differing sized wineries is a fun way to spend a day. All of the vineyards offer tours such as the one we took at the small but highly renown Familia Di Tomaso winery. The family moved to Argentina from Italy 140 years ago and have been specialising in harvesting the Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes ever since. It was interesting to hear the significance of the specially imported and expensive oak barrels (£750 each) that are used to store the wine for 6 or 12 months to add flavour.

Next came the testing- a swill around the glass, quick smell and the all important remembering to breathe a mouth full of air with the wine. As we slowly savored the taste, the Dutch guy knocked it back in one and slammed his glass back down on the table, ready for the next wine.....oh, so uncouth!! Our favourite proved to be the 'preserved in oak' Malbec which clearly had extra flavour to the same wine that hadn't been barrel stored for six months. Contrary to what I had also thought about red wine, our guide told us that it is best served slightly below room temperature at 14 degrees Celsius. Seeing as that is now the only real wine knowledge I possess...don't be too surprised if I mention those little nuggets of detail if we share a glass or two in the future!

The city of Mendoza has immense pride in it's wine heritage and as the waiter in one restaurant informed us "all the wine on the menu is from Mendoza, we don't sell anything else". A comprehensive selection it is too, with all varieties of grape accounted for and ample to choose from. They don't serve any rubbish either and ranging from around £3 in the restaurants, it is easy to find a bottle to suit your pallet or indeed your wallet. You could however argue that the towns tastes are a little narrow minded as supermarkets also don't appear to sell anything non Mendozan (ranging from a £1 a bottle and the really good stuff starting at about £3). I'm sure there are some locals who aren't aware other world wines even exist!

Probably due to it's warm climate, Mendoza is a very lively city with everybody seemingly outdoors. The streets are all laid out in US style blocks, at the heart of which is Independence park. Everything is walkable from this area although the charming wide tree lined streets all look remarkably similar and as a tourist a map is certainly required. A destructive earthquake levelled the city in 1861 and houses are therefore modern and take the form of Spanish villas all with their own unique character. With the exception of a couple of hotels most buildings are no more than two storeys high.

As fun as it is to walk around, once you have literally 'lost' yourself in the streets a few times there isn't a huge amount to see or do. Perhaps this is intentional as it leaves little option than to partake in the towns obvious culture of eating, drinking and people watching, at one of the many street cafes or restaurants. The main pedestrianised street at the centre of the shopping area is not short of hospitality, nor is any street really and it isn't possible to walk more than 200yards without passing through a pavement cafe. The Aristides Villanueva street is the liveliest although it doesn't get going until at least 9pm. Trendy bar or restaurant after trendy bar or restaurant line both sides of the pavement and it is the place to be late into the night.

The large Park San Martin west of the city centre is where all the sporting action takes place with tennis, golf, open spaces for football and even a regatta lake. Clearly siesta has taken on a new meaning with an endless number of joggers of all ages and shapes pounding out the miles, under the unrelenting sun. There is also a mound which doubles as a viewpoint, 200m above the city. Here the Cerro de la Gloria monument commemorates the victorious Army of the Andes. Led by San Martin the army crossed the Andes into Chile and fought back the Spanish in 1817. It offers a great perspective on the local landscape with a pan flat plateau as far as the eye can see to the East and the mighty Andes to the West. Dotted amongst this plain barren landscape are mirage like batches of lush green trees.

Security is certainly a concern in the city as most houses, hostels etc have big gates requiring you to be buzzed in off the street. There are constant reminders to keep an eye on your belongings and to watch out for bag snatchers and pick pocketers and there are regular sightings of police patrolling the streets. However, in reality the mix of youngsters, couples and tourists give the town a very relaxed feel.

Interestingly Mendoza is all about the locals and although tourism is clearly abundant they make little effort to harness it. In general the menus are in Spanish with no English translation and few waiters or even travel shop owners can muster more than a couple of words of English. This of course led to many blank expressions and provided more proof of the need to learn at least a little conversational Spanish. There is only so far you can go with a vocabulary consisting of 'yes', 'hello', 'thanks' and the numbers 1-10!!

Our limited knowledge of world wines now has at least one specialist angle...and as result, if you are coming over for dinner in the future you can probably guess what you are likely to find filling your glass! But before we can think too much about dinner parties we need to get back on the road. Next up we take an overnight bus across the width of Argentina to the country's east coast capital city of Buenos Aires. Hopefully we won't take on the role of a good wine and age too much over the long 13 hours trip....