I did two trips to the valley of Lujan de Cuyo. One for trying an educational tasting in the winery Dolium. Where the owner is aside you and teach you how to improve your tasting methods. The other one for discovering among the best of the valley through classical tastings.
An educational tasting in winery Dolium
The transport
If the public bus of Mendoza can take you to Lujan de Cuyo, for getting Southern you need another bus. There are actually two buses from Cata International that do the job.
Bus 803
This bus goes directly from the terminal to Lujan de Cuyo center and next to Agrelo city. In between, the bus takes the road 40. After Agrelo, it goes to the South while keeping on the road 15. At this time, you can drop in front of the winery Dolium. Since the bus takes most of the time the high speed, you can reach the winery in 50 mins. The price is 15AR$.
Bus 850
I took this one for my way back on the road in front of the winery. This one continues to Lujan de Cuyo center while staying on the road 15. Thus, it is interesting for reaching other wineries between Lujan de Cuyo and Agrelo. Next, the bus continues on small roads to the Mendoza terminal. Hence, it takes around 1h30 for doing the journey to the winery Dolium. Longer, the price is also bigger, 21AR$.
The tasting offers
All the tastings are only focusing on red wines.
Premium offer
The premium tour is the basic one, includes 4 flights of 2 wines. It is especially done for discovering influences of barreling, region and year. The price is 350AR$.
A flight is a comparison of two or more wines at the same time. Thus, you have a better reference for discovering the difference in color, smell and taste between them.
Top vertical tour
The upper tasting called Top Vertical Tour includes the first one and adds 6 wines of different years of the reserve level. I chose this one as it allowed me to train at the beginning and next to practice on the reserve line. The 600AR$ are quite a lot compared to other tastings elsewhere but the quality of the service and the 12 wines are worth doing it.
For sure, you use a spittoon in this tasting. Else you won’t be able to taste in a good way all way long.
Master Tasting Tour
Another tasting is possible that includes the Grand reserve line on top of the two other tastings. I didn’t choose this one since I couldn’t afford to it: 1200AR$.
Improving your tasting skills
I am not going to do a class here. I will just introduce the topics of the tasting for you so that you can have an overview of it. As a remind, I did the top vertical tour.
Prepare a good mouthful
After an introduction to the winery and the methods of work, you start the tasting. The first step was totally new for me. It is about the mouthful, more precisely the size and the manner to move it.
Instead of using wine, you only practice with water. This is good for keeping something neutral in your month and being able to practice many times.
I discovered two things. Firstly, that my mouthful was too small and that saliva has overtaken the wine too quickly. Secondly, I was too much focusing on the tongue and thus I forgot to move the wine to the palate and side of the mouth.
Understand the wine
After the preparation for tasting wine, let’s taste wine. The first part consisted of 3 flights for understanding the wine characteristics:
- Two rosés
- Two red wines
- Two red wines from Reserva line
The owner insisted on taking all the time I needed to practice. After each flight, I explained first my impressions. Next, he told me the features of each wine. The purpose is to understand the impact of the maceration, wood and year in the color, smell and taste.
Study the reserve line
Once the practice over, you have a set of 5 red wines from the Reserva line. Only the year changed, from 2016 for the youngest one to 2010 for the oldest one. The interesting point of those wines is that they are not all from a bottle. Let me explain. The youngest one was extracted from the steel tank, whereas the two following one from the barrels. Finally the two last wines were from the bottles. Just as being the winemaker.
During this session, you use again the knowledge learned before. The color is changing from a purple to a tile red. As regards to the taste, you start on fresh fruit that changes to jam fruit and finally even a woody touch for the oldest one. My favorites were the youngest one and the oldest one although everything opposes them.
I finished with a nice surprised, I tried my first red wine late harvest. This kind of wine is one of my favorite as it is sweet in a delightful way. The wine composed with Malbec (70%) and Syrah (30%) from 2012 was wonderful. In the mouth, I felt a duel between the powerful nature of the red wine and the sweetness of a crystallized blackcurrant fruit. A great end !
Practicing in other wineries
I visited also other wineries in the valley of Lujan de Cuyo. The next two wineries I present are close to each other and reachable with the Mendoza public bus in around 1h15.
Lagarde
A great winery that proposes a tour of the winery followed with a tasting or a dinner. I chose the premium tasting including 1 white wine, 2 red wines, 1 late harvest white and one Blanc de Noir.
Blanc de Noir is a from Champagne expression. It tells the sparkling wine is made with champagne-type and only red grapes.
For 340AR$, I really enjoyed the highly varied tasting. On top of that, during the visit, I got the chance to see the bottling of the champagne-type wine.
Carmelo Patti
As this winery is close to the previous one, I walked to reach it. The family winery is smaller and based on traditional methods. Carmello Patti, the owner, proves that it is possible to do great wine without the last technology. He is focusing on producing red wines.
The visit includes a nice tour of the winery. Due to the traditional methods, the visit differs from most of the other wineries even if the main process is the same. You continue with a tasting of 3 red wines. During the tasting, Carmelo explains information about his state of mind and also great tips for selecting a long-term bottle. I the tasting is free, be aware that it is only in Spanish.
Other ideas
My discovery of wine Medoza region stops here. I continue my journey even if I would have loved to stay more for continuing discovering the secret of the Mendoza wine. I just let you some other ideas I got.
A tour in the last valley Uco
Another valley that counts great wineries is located Southern of Lujan de Cuyo. Grapes grows in higher altitude, the result is interesting to discover. The region while further is difficult to access with public transport.
Put yourself in winemaker shoes
An activity that only some wineries propose. First, you taste some one-grape wines. Next, the winemaker teaches you the secret of making a blend. Finally, you do your own one. I heard that in Lujan de Cuyo Chandon and Vistalba wineries do it. You need to reserve and to be a group. Ask for more details. It is also available in Chilean region.
Other wineries in valley Lujan de Cuyo
- Clos de Chacras
- Tapiz
- Achaval-Ferrer
- Ruca Malen