y family and I had a wonderful whirlwind trip to Mendoza. I traveled to Mendoza with my husband and two sons (4 months and 22 months). We were there for two nights and hit the ground running. We stayed at the wonderful Finca Adalgisa and had an amazing visit. The small boutique hotel is a working winery and it was lovely to relax at the pool amongst the grape vines. They are also very helpful in arranging tours, etc. The staff is friendly, attentive and speaks great English. You are invited to enjoy a bottle of their wine and a cheese plate with your stay and it is a wonderful spot to enjoy the sunset.

So- the first day I had a driver Marcelo- organized by Finca. He picked us up at the airport and took us to three wineries that I researched. He was a great driver and even happened to have a dvd player installed which my son enjoyed. I had wanted smaller boutique wineries and wanted to get the most out of my trip. When you go to wineries in Lucan de Coyo - they are all very close together. Probably, the longest drive is 15- 20 minutes apart. If you wanted to go to four wineries in a day- you can easily do that in this area. Another winery I heard good things about was Chacras de Coria which would be a nice addition.

The first stop was Achaval Ferrar. I heard the wine was top notch here and I was excited to try it. The winery was in a beautiful setting overlooking the Andes and they were very family oriented. They brought my son his own juice and had a big container of corks for him to play with- which was nice for us. The wine was good and if you buy a bottle (starting at $188 pesos) the tasting is free. Next we were off to Ruca Malen for lunch. As many have reported, this was a great lunch and very inexpensive with the wine paring. I didn't think the wines were that wonderful but it was worth it for the lunch. If you take the tour that goes straight into lunch- they tell you to just grab a table. Rush and grab one with a view as everyone will be doing the same. We ended up in the main building - there were only a few tables outside. Lastly, we went to Benegas Lynch. I really liked this tour as the building is an old building (soon to be a historic site) and real family run business. The winemaker made his money in banking and came back to the business and actually lives on site. His daughter was running around. It was a very nice tour and tasting as we were there with just one other couple. This was one of my favorite wineries. Benegas also exports to a few places in the US so you can find it when home- without having to carry it. After this long day, we checked into Finca Adalgisa and relaxed by the pool. Once the boys were in bed, they were kind enough to deliver a great cheese plate, delicious grilled vegetable plate and meat plate to the room.

The second day my husband and I did a rafting trip through Rios Andinos. Carolina from the hotel watched my boys at a rate of $10 US per hour and was very sweet. I'd highly recommend her. Rios Andinos was a surprisingly professional outfit and spent much time going through safety precautions as there were class 4 & 5 rapids. We were told that it would be class 5 & 6 in the next 10 days & they'd have to close up. While some have complained that the trip was too short- the rafting itself was tiring (I'm in pretty good shape) and I thought it was enough. It was quite exhilarating and the best rafting I've done. The guides seemed in command. The half day trip doesn't get back till late in the day- you have to wait around at the pool for a few hours before they will take you back. We wanted to get back to the boys - so we hired a taxi for $160 pesos to take us back right after. We attempted to get lunch in Chacras de Coria- a short walk from the hotel (bikes are even available for a quicker trip in). We didn't get into town until just before 3 and EVERYTHING is closed. We only found one small place open. All shops are closed for siesta so make sure you go early or wait until later. As others have noted, there is great gelato in the little shopping center that does remain open all day.
We relaxed by the pool and then enjoyed our bottle of wine and cheese at the winery at Finca. We only wish we had gone there both nights.

For the last day, we had a late flight back to BA. LAN has a flight at 20:20 p.m. so we knew we could get a full day in. We wanted to go to the Uco Valley. We felt that with the kids, another three wineries would be too much, so we cut it down to two. I had been emailing with a driver "julio eduardo viton alvarez" <julioevitonAThotmail.com> and he was quite a bit cheaper than the other drivers. Since we were just going to two places, I thought it would be fine. I learned the hard way that you get what you pay for! The hotel suggested that we leave at 11:30 a.m. but he told me noon would be fine. Initially he quoted me a price to include 3 wineries and I was surprised it wasn't less to go to just 2 - as it was a few hours less of time- but that wasn't an issue for me. I just wanted to go to O'Fournier for lunch & a tour & Andeluna.

I was very surprised when I got a call that he would be 15 minutes late as I knew we were going to be tight on time Then, he showed up a half hour late and had to stop for gas. I asked him if this was going to be a problem- he said in the Uco Valley it wasn't an issue.

We didn't arrive for our 1:30 appointment until after 2 p.m. but the lunch was long and we couldn't get out of there until close to 4 (don't pay for lunch by credit card- it took 20 mins!) and at that time Julio told us that Andeluna said we would be too late (contradicting what he told me earlier). He never said I even needed to be back at the car at a certain point. I was very upset. We didn't even have time to do a tour at O'Fournier and I told him I wanted to go on another tasting. It was ridiculous that we were only going to one place in a day. He took us to another winery Cavas de Don Arturo in Lucan de Cuyo that was fine- but nothing special. The wines are very inexpensive here - starting at $18 pesos and there were a lot of big tourist groups. They export 5 million bottles a year to the US so you may see this brand at home.

I was extremely disappointed with the day. If we hadn't lost the time in the morning when the driver was late & had left when I thought we needed to- it would have been fine. When we were picked up - Julio's excuse was that there were problems w/picking up another client at the airport- which caused his delay- but he should have blocked the time for me as initially we were going the whole day. We were paying him the daily rate anyway. I was very disappointed. I learned the hard way that you get what you pay for! FYI- it is really about an hour and a half from Chacras de Coria to O'Fournier. Andeluna is 45 minutes from there. Initially, I was going to add La Azul or Clos de Siete as my third wineries. I've heard all are great. O'Fournier lunch was really wonderful. I liked it even more than Ruca Malen. I have heard Andeluna has a nice lunch as well.

All in all- a great trip. If you have the time, I'd recommend doing the long day trip to the Andes. I heard it's spectacular. Don't attempt driving to the wineries in the Uco Valley. Salentien seems right off the highway but O'Fournier was several unmarked turns off the main road on a gravel road. I heard the drive to Andeluna was similar.

Also, for this time of year, you didn't really need to book your tours in advance. I feared it would be a problem- but it wasn't. The hotel can just pick wineries for you as well. Enjoy!

Thank you for this informative and interesting narrative of your Mendoza visit, julieod. You are providing, in addition to a great TR, useful information for couples traveling to Arg. with babies.

Continue having a wonderful adventure,

~Marnie

Great report! Did you talk to anyone who had done the day trip to the Andes? This is what I'd like to do. I don't drink and so I'm not at all interested in seeing the wineries. ( I know, everyone gasp!) . I want to see the surrounding mountain scenery.

Is there rafting for beginners? I've never done it, and would like to try.

Thanks Marnie- I try to provide info I haven't been able to find or things I'd like to know since much is already covered by you experts

Kodi- it is beautiful out there. I am gasping at your not drinking- but more wine for me. We wished we had more time (and no kids) to explore the mountains as we love to hike.

I've only been rafting once or twice a long time ago and my husband had never been. No experience is necessary. While most of the people in our group were in their 20s and 30s there were older ages as well. Rios Andinos & Argentina Rafting do other activities as well- half/or full day horseback riding or biking. You can do two things in a day- we would have given that a try.

If you are going to do things more in the mountains and not do the wine trails- you may be more interested in staying further out in Poterillos or Upsalata. We saw some cute cabins right on the river that we went by while rafting. The guides said they are nice and not that expensive. Someone on here may know the name of I'm sure if you got in touch w/Rios Andinos they could tell you the name.

There are tours to the Andes- where you can do some hiking. There is another mountain tour - the high mountain tour that takes you to Puente del Inca & the Red Mountains. They are very long days- leaving early in the morning and getting back late at night. If you put in mountain tour & mendoza into google- it pulls up some tours. Someone recently posted on tripadvisor about an inexpensive tour they found walking in town in Mendoza. Your hotel may be able to point you to a good company. There's so much to do outdoors there- you'll love it!

So glad to hear you liked Finca Adalgisa, we stayed there many years ago and still look back with fond memories. We loved the wine/cheese building, it was perfect for a place to go after those three hour lunches.

We did a day trip to the Andes, it is spectacular with really good hiking, so if you don't drink, it's a good alternative to the wineries. There's also horseback riding.

We enjoyed our three hour lunch at Altos, had one of those picture perfect clear days where we sat and drank and ate for hours, thought this was heaven

Julie and owlwoman, thank you so much for the information. I appreciate it. Julie, my accommodations are already booked and paid for.. but the cabins sound great.
After leaving Mendoza, I'm staying in the area, further south, so will be able to experience the outdoors.

I've never gone rafting, and it's something I'd really like to try. It's good to hear your husband was a newby at it.

I will also be taking the bus from Santiago to Mendoza and don't know how high the mountain pass is.

Julieod,

Thanks for your trip report as we are just planning a side trip out of B A to do that. I have rafted in Costa Rica but the river was quite gentle when I was there. It will be hotter in AR when we arrive in January so will Mendoza be hotter or cooler than B A? I am still looking for accommodation. I like B & B's and small inns. Any recommendations? Thanks for all the winery recommendations.

MsLizzy, I've been checking the temps everyday, and it seems that Mendoza is hotter than BA.

According to the weather network that I've been checking, the next few days in BA will be 29,27,27
and In Mendoza it will be 33,34,25, 32. Oopps a cool day in there!

I can't recommend my B&b as I haven't seen it yet!

After having spent 2+ weeks in Argentina, I woud not whirlwind Mendoza. There is actually much to see and do.

If I had it to do over again, I would have eliminated the "dude ranches" for more time in Mendoza area.

My personal opinion, as well as my wife's, is that the dude ranche we went to was a bloody rip off. Cheap wine and we had raviolis for Sunday dinner.

Staying at Casa Glebineniaa (sp?) was perfect as the owner was more than accomodatinngl

There are many winery/restaurants to eat at as well a local restaurants, dependng on your whim.

Nest time, I thing I should spend 2 weeks there.

Just back from our three day trip to Mendoza. Our B&B, La Escondida organized our wine/olive day trip for us as to our specifications and hired a driver for us. The lunch was extra. We were picked up by Roberto at 9:30 in the morning and he is a very professional, accomodating and gracious guide and host. We requested the Zaccardi winery as we heard good things and also that they make the famous Fuzion wine. On our way we got into a discussion of the spanish names of fruit and roberto pulled over at a large store that sold all things 'fruit' dried, canned etc. and we got a wonderful lesson. His english is not great but he spent time to understand and be understood and help with our pronumciation. We drove on to zaccardi's and had a great tour there, went on to lunch in Maipu at Casa de Campo, that he recommended. Great food at a great price and even had rabbit on the menu. From there we went on to an olive farm with a tour and lastly went to La Rural winery. We came in half way through the English tour but it was not as great as Zaccardi. They do however have an extensive museum about the history of wine making in the region. After each stop Roberto presented us with a small souvenier gift which so surprised us. I thoroughly enjoyed our day even considering it was 39.5C or over 100F. The car was new with good airconditioning which makes a huge difference in that kind of heat. He cost us 150pesos each plus lunch which was considerably less than other tour companies.

We also took an Andes tour which we were very happy with. I organized it through Viator, online before I left Canada