Mendoza, Argentina February 2017

Since we were in Santiago, Chile, I wanted to spend a few days in Mendoza, Argentina. I love wine, and an Argentinian Malbec is probably one of my favorites. Its a quick flight from Santiago to Mendoza (45 Min - 1 Hour), just right over the Andes mountains. Roundtrip airfare for two through SKY Airlines cost us $245 USD total. Its a small town with a population of about 115,000 people. Similar to the size of the Santa Barbara. The temperature in late February was hot, in the 90s. There are two major wine regions in Mendoza, Lujan de Cujo & Uco Valley. They are opposite of each other and its best to spend one day in each region. If I ever go back again, I will stay in the Uco Valley Region the entire time.

Accommodations:

​We stayed at the Park Hyatt Medoza Casino & Spa. The rooms were very nice and updated and we had a nice view of the city. I got to check out the Casino for a bit, there is quite a selection of games but they didn't have a Craps table and thats the only casino game I really play. The hotel gave me a voucher to play some games so I played the slots until I ran out of money.

Things To Do:

Wine tasting of course!!! I can't say enough about the experience with Mendoza Journeys. They picked us up from our hotel and drove us to several wineries in Uco Valley, they were very accommodating and would use them again and again in the future. Its about a 2 hour drive from the city center of Mendoza so be prepared to spend the entire day in Uco Valley. After watching Chef's Table on Netflix, I was dying to go to Siete Fuegos at the Vines Resort & Spa. Although very expensive, if I were to go back to Argentina, I would stay at this resort the entire time. We also visited the following wineries: Andeluna, La Azul, & Finca Sophenia. 

We also went White Water Rafting with Potrerillos Explorer. They picked us up from our hotel and we drove through Lujan de Cuyo towards the mountains. We had the BEST time. They set you up with all the gear you need and all the safety protocols. You can buy the GoPro videos and pictures at the end of your excursion. Kyle almost fell out of the raft!!!! Watch one of our rafting videos below. 

We ended our trip going to another Francis Mallmann restaurant in Mendoza called 1884 Restaurant. Its a bit hidden, so we weren't sure if we got to our destination when we got to the parking lot. You must have a reservation to enter and there are two large doors and security to get the front door of the restaurant. The food was fantastic!