Mendoza Wine Tours / Wineries Open to the Public
 

I will be in Mendoza in about a month.

I am staying in Lujan de Cuyo, ~ 20 km south of the town of Mendoza.

I would like to take at least 2 days worth of wine tours'; and possibly luncheon at one or two wineries.

If not wine tours, would like to know which wineries are open to the public without a reservation, and which ones are "must visit" wineries.

I have not found enough information for me to make a "good" decision, so I am asking you folks what your opinions are.

I thank you in advance.

any suggestions??

Due to the overwhelming lack of responses....

I've been going to www.google.com/ar and putting "english" at the end of my searches. It mostly works, so far. However, the pricing seems a tad high. My favorite one is one company's super premium tour for "only" $400 US per day per person.

I live fairly close to Napa and Sonoma, and the Argentine prices are actually sticker shock compared to the outrageous prices already charged in those two valleys.

I don't know where you're staying (we were at Finca Adaglisa) in the suburbs too, our travel agent in BA had arranged both our day tours to the wineries and Andes and we had pre-paid everything (no breakdown of costs).

The reception at the hotel would have been happy to arrange the day tours for us too. Don't know what they charged, but you might want to check with them, or wait until you get there. I can't imagine it should be more than $200 for the day with lunch (which is the highlight of the wine tour)!

I'm staying at Casa Glabenias.

The Casa has been giving me some local sites to look at. I currently have 3-4 RFQs out. There are some wineries that I would like to see.

I'm looking mostly in the Lujan de Cuyo area, as there is a plethora of quality wineries.

Drdawggy would never forgive me if I didn't go to Luigi Bosca.

After having seen what tour companies charge, and what you get for that charge, I have decided to do my own wine tour. Almost all wineries accept reservations, some even have lunch available.

I was going to rent a car anyway, so why would I want to pay someone to drive me 5km?

In Drdawwgy's honor, I've queried Luigi Bosca first.

I've also requested lunch at Bodega Terrazas de los Andes, which is owned by Moet et Chandon.

Alas, I have never been to the Luigi Bosca winery, the source of the nectar I admire...I will expect a full report, Rasta.




(p.s. There are wines that cost much more that I would probably drink if I were wealthier...but Bosca wines represent good value....and the taste is amazingly consistent over various vintages, especially the D.O.C. )....

Drdawggy,

It's confirmed, 10:30 March 25 at Luigi Bosca.

It also looks like lunches at Terrazas de los Andes, Bodega Ruca Malen and Bodegas Nieto Y Senetiner.

I'll make that a triple YUMMMM!!

So,

Thinking that paying $200 a day to have someone ferry us from one winery to the next, and seeing that, in the Lujan de Cuyo traveling is just about like Highway 29 in Napa; one road up and down, we (me) said I probably could do the same for less moola.

Here's what I did. Because we thought we needed an auto anyway for our time in Mendoza, I have arranged to rent a car. Holds 5 persons an all of our luggage for about gross $85 a day.

I thought US$ 135-200+ pp per day, was a tad too high for wine tours in Lujan de Cuyo, expecially if I had a rent-a-car already.

It took me 2+ days to arrange the following:

Wednesday, March 25. Pulenta Estate Winery followed by Luigi Bosca, with lunch at La Bourgogne after a tour of Vistalba:

Thursday, Bodega Catena Zapata, followed by Bodega Norton (only winery I could find that was open to the public all day) and lunch at Bodega Ruca Malen. Lunch cost was US$ 35 pp including wine.

Friday: Bodega Nieto y Senetiner, followed by lunch at Terrazas de Los Andes with tour and lunch for US$ 33 including wine et al.

Stagger to the airport for flight home.

This works for both me and my traveling companions.

At La Bourgogne, I would recommend asking for an outside table. We rented a car while in Mendoza and toured for 3 days independently. Easy to do,and with the extra day we were able to get to Valle de Uco. Smart to end your touring days with lunch...you will find that touring after lunch is impossible! Love Mendoza.