February 27, 2008

Latin America | Argentina | Mendoza

Mendoza’s Grape Expectations

By Mark Jolly

A preview of Argentina’s famed wine festival plus our favorite picks for the best vineyard-hotels.

view map

With Brazil in economic ascendancy, Argentina may have gotten used to eating humble pie these days. But, at least for the first week of March, the country gets to bust out the red with some vintage Argentine swagger. Starting Saturday, Mendoza hosts its annual Vendimia Wine Festival — a 72-year-old celebration that kicks off with the “blessing of the grapes” (yes, they take it very seriously). You can also expect no end of concerts, dance shows and gaucho pageants, as well as the crowning of the “Queen of the Wines” — Mendoza’s answer to Miss World, which, this being Argentina, attracts around 200,000 spectators.

Kissing the border of Chile, along the cordillera of the Andes, Mendoza is home to the highest mountain in the Americas and some of the best skiing in the Southern Cone — not to mention the world’s fifth-largest wine production. For a ringside seat to this year’s festival, stay at the Park Hyatt Mendoza, just across from the main plaza (where many of the festivities are held). Or, to experience one of the area’s famed vineyard-turned-hotels, you can choose between Finca Adalgisa (a stylishly restored manor house with new stone villas); Carlos Pulenta (also home to Mendoza’s swankiest restaurant, La Bourgogne); and the new Bodega Antucura (ultra-secluded and ultra-exclusive). Of course, you could always just buy your own wine villa, and — under the guidance of a top winemaker from Achaval Ferrer — grow, harvest and bottle your very own Malbec.