In Mendoza’s world of food and wine, the operative color is red.
The formula is simple. You chase A-list steaks with internationally recognized red wines. Even the desserts are crimson-colored – at Bistro M, one of the superior restaurants in the area, you can choose between Malbec-influenced ice cream, sorbet and cake or Patagonian red fruit soup with ice cream.
It all revolves around the wineries, or bodegas, that have exploded in this region the past five years to number more than 600. Plenty are happy to give free tours, though it helps to call ahead to make sure.
For a foundation on the vinicultural history of the region, a good starting point is in the town of Maipú at La Rural, which has a small museum charting the evolution of the technology of separating and fermenting the juice from the grape.
For scenery, it’s hard to beat Luján’s Bodega Norton, whose lovely vines provide the foreground to the stunning Andes. The wine also is strong, with Norton having placed high on past Wine Spectator’s top 10 lists for Argentine wines and for best values.
In Maipú, Familia Zuccardi has a unique draw – nearly suffocate customers with good food and drink. For about $17, the winery offers a lunch that starts with three of the bodega’s olive oils, as well as three types of tapenades. An above-average salad follows.
But it’s foolish to fill up on bread when there are plates and plates of meat from the vineyard’s grill still on the way, as well as dessert. And it all comes with four glasses of wine, each complementing a different course.
Vegetarians already may have guessed Mendoza, and Argentina in general, is not the first place they may want to visit, unless they aren’t hard and fast about their dietary code. For everyone else, this country is nothing short of a red meat free-for-all.
To get a full sense of the gluttony, one affordable option is a small chain called El Patio de Jesús María, which has a location in Godoy Cruz. For about $8, they start you off with an empanada (a beef pie), a plate of French fries with scrambled egg and a salad.
Then comes the pain – steak, steak, steak and steak, along with pork, veal, goat, sausage, blood sausage, a mixed kabob and even achuras, or entrails. It just keeps coming until you say so. The only way to take in more red meat would be intravenously.
At the other end of the spectrum, head to the Park Hyatt in the city of Mendoza’s central square, Plaza Independencia. Bistro M is pricey by the area’s standards, but not by American ones. You can get a great piece of beef such as the Angus sirloin, or bife de chorizo, with salad, dessert and wine (the restaurant has 2,500 bottles) for under $25.
There seems to be a parrilla, or grill, for every man, woman and child in town. On the rare night when we didn’t feel like meat, we found adequate pizza all over the city. I also ate a perfectly tender piece of chicken at Mamá Felisa, just off Plaza Independencia.
Other bodegas of note in the region include Catena Zapata, Lurton, Terrazas de los Andes and Chandon, which specializes in an Argentine variation on champagne.
A lifetime of eating and drinking this way might be hard to take, but it’s certainly fun for a couple of days.
