Hey, hey! How are you doing, wine lovers? I’m great, reporting back from the land of wine, sun and mountains. It’s been an amazing trip so far… I’m so happy!
Right now, I’m drinking coffee in a café getting back up to speed with everything. As you know, I’ve been visiting wineries in Maipú, which is an authentic wine lover’s paradise and you can’t do it all in a day. So I went back!
We strapped on our seat belts (by the way, you should always have a designated driver or a taxi ready to get you home safely) for Part 2 of our tour of the wineries in Maipú: La Nicky feat Juli y Tomás.
Wineries in Maipú: Part Two
Agostino: the roots of Mendoza
On the recommendation of several friends, our adventure started in Barrancas, to the east of Maipú, where we visited Agostino, a beautiful boutique winery.
It was founded in 2003 by the four Agostino siblings who decided to move back from Canada after 30 years away and put down roots in their homeland. They also own the Telteca brand and Alfa Crux in the Uco Valley.
The Agostino vineyard is 2780 feet above sea level and has 300 hectares under vine with a production capacity of 3 million liters. 70% of their output is exported.
I loved the place. The fountains and trees there have a unique style that makes you feel like you’re in a palace out of “Game of Thrones”. There’s also a very modern cellar connected to the family home.
And that’s not all: it has an art gallery, a restaurant that pairs Italian cuisine with house wines – the kitchen is run by the Irish chef Edward Holloway – and bicycle and horse rides.
Anyone wanting to stay can do so in the family home. It has a pool, an organic vegetable garden and space for up to six people.
And of course, you’ll be wanting some recommendations. Here are some of Agostino’s must-try wines: from the FAMILIA line, try the white blend of Semillón and Sauvignon Blanc, which is a Bordelais wonder, and then there’s their LEGADO Malbec: a cellar red I bought to give my dad when I get home because he likes intense, classical wines.
Antigal: the history and future of Maipú
On the suggestion of a sommelier friend of mine, we decided to seek out a winery we weren’t familiar with but that she said everyone would be talking about soon: Antigal. So we set the GPS and when we got there we found that it dates back to 1897!
Of course, it’s been restored in recent years although it’s still one of the oldest wineries in the Department of Russell. Today, Antigal is one of the more modern, sustainable wineries in Maipú, with some lovely outstanding attractions such as an amazing cellar.
Here, Myriam Gomez makes wines with grapes from the surrounding vineyards and a couple of others owned by the house in Tupungato, Uco Valley.
Her most representative wines are the ONE line which since 2007 has enjoyed success in different markets across the world, mainly the United States, where their Malbec won an award at the Sommeliers Choice Awards.
It’s easy to get to Antigal, it’s right next to Ruta 60 and offers an amazing visitor experience on which you can enjoy a picnic in the vineyard, lunches and even learn how to make asado. Of course, all the visits include a tour of the vineyards, the winery and a tasting in the cellar.
While we were there, we learned that they’d soon be opening a restaurant that promises to be one of the most important gastronomic hotspots in Mendoza, so if you’re looking for a good meal, listen out for news about Antigal!
Trivento: ecology and distinction
Our adventure among the wineries in Maipú – and it’ll be continuing soon – ended for the moment with a visit to Trivento. A modern, sophisticated, welcoming estate with very friendly service, it’s one of the most important wineries in Argentina.
Founded in 1996 by the Chilean company Concha y Toro, its name means “three winds” and refers to the Polar, Zonda and Sudestada, each a prevailing wind that blows at different times across Mendoza. Fascinating.
Today, Trivento has 1657 hectares of vineyards in Maipú, Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley and since 2013 has been Argentina’s bestselling winery in Europe, producing two million bottles a year.
One aspect that I loved was their commitment to sustainability and protecting the environment, which are central to everything they do, as I learned from the oenologist Magdalena Viani when we bumped into her. She told us a bunch of things, for instance that Trivento has a solar generator with 918 panels, which provides the electricity for 10% of the wines they make in Maipú.
If you’d like to learn more about this particular winery in Maipú, you can take a web tour on their site. And if that piques your curiosity, look out for one of their Malbecs, especially those made by the oenologist Germán Di Césare like the Golden Reserve or, if you really want to get in somebody’s good books, try giving them a bottle of EOLO, a Malbec made from a unique hundred year old vineyard in Luján de Cuyo.
Well, that’s the end of my report on my second trip to Maipú. Now I’m going to log off to read The Invention of Morel, a wonderful book, Juli gave me that she says inspired the writers of “Lost”. I loved that series, but I didn’t know that.
See you soon, wine lovers!
