I was so excited to go wine tasting in Mendoza, but with over 1,000 wineries in the region to choose from, it was quite hard to whittle them down to the top couple. Unlike some other wine regions, you have to have reservations to be allowed in. Wine lunches seem more of a thing there, so you either have to book a lunch with a wine pairing or a winery tour with a tasting. After much research, I landed on Bodega Renacer for lunch, and then Bodega Norton later in the afternoon. I couldn’t wait!
Chuck hired a driver for the day thru the Cabify app so we didn’t have to deal with any of the driving and directions.
Our first stop was Bodega Renacer in Luján de Cuyo about 30 minutes south of Mendoza. This place was unreal! Absolutely gorgeous setting with incredible views of the Andes.
We got there early so we had some time to wander around and take pictures. They even gave us a welcome glass of champagne that was delicious!
For our wine lunch, I opted for the 3 course meal with the 3 course Icon pairing, while Chuck chose the 2 course lunch with the 3 course Specialties wine pairing.
Course 1:
Course 2 consisted of steak with some butter or something torched over it. Absolutely delicious!
Course 3 was a chocolate dessert that was so fun and tasty!
And all the wines were so good. Some of my all time favorites. I pondered bringing home some bottles, but didn’t want to risk them in our luggage.
Early in our meal, 2 ducks showed up so we had these little guys wandering around begging for scraps the whole meal.
After lunch, it was time to head to Bodega Norton where we had a tasting and tour set up for 3pm. I knew Bodega Norton was a huge winery, but still the grounds looked nice and I was hoping that we’d get a chance to do our tasting or hang out while taking in the views. I was wrong on both accounts. So while the outdoor part of the tour was nice, the tasting was in their wine cave. And then there didn’t seem to be any way to stay after and enjoy the views. Plus we didn’t care for any of the wines, so overall it was a let down from our previous place.
Still, the grounds we saw on the tour were very nice:
More of the tour and the grounds:
Eventually we went down to their wine cave which had bottles from every year going back 50 years or so. And this is where we did our tasting.
After our tasting was over, it was time to head back to Mendoza.
I would absolutely go back to Mendoza and Bodega Renacer in particular, but would also love trying other wineries in the region.
