Mendoza Wine Tasting with Malbec in Argentina

Mendoza Wine Tasting on a Budget was a lot for the money when I went on the wine tour for only 225 pesos (2015). I visited two wineries and one olive factory with a bus that arrived at the doorstep of the wineries. So convenient, when having a short time. I learned a lot more about wine and how to taste it properly. They harvest the wine by night, keeping all the sugar inside the grape. It gives better wine and quality. I just booked the Mendoza Wine Tasting Tour with the hostel I was staying with, with no further research. I was a bit lazy, but it delivered what I wanted: Mendoza wine tasting!

Mendoza Wine Tasting On A Budget

The Prcoess of Making Malbec Wine

Then we walked through the process with the wine, which was interesting, not so easy to remember the correct details. There is a two-barrel that makes the flavor of the wine. It is the French and the American barrel. These two barrels provide different flavors from the oak and give the wine’s character. It all depends on the wineries, how they like to have their wines and how long they stay in each barrel. The time in the barrel depends on which character they want to give the wine they are producing.

The most exciting part was, of course, tasting. We tasted three wines each place and started with the youngest wine (11 months) since it has less time in the barrel. Then we ended the tasting with the premium wine that has the longest time in the barrel, between 15-18 months. We tasted one wine that had the cost of 115 pesos in Argentina and was sold in the German market for 110 euros. Happy that I was in Argentina. Malbec is the biggest and the national grape of Argentina. It never goes wrong with having that for either Asado or Empanadas or just drinking with good friends and enjoying a good time. I miss Argentina already.

Mendoza Wine Tasting with Domiciano de Barrancas

Mendoza Wine Tasting with Pauline Travels

The Step Of Wine Tasting

When tasting, first see the color is it light is it dark (young or old wine). Then smell one time without moving the glass. Then move the glass. You will feel two different flavors, the top and the bottom notes. When you move the glass, you will see the drop from the top of the glass. If they are going fast down in the glass, it is a sign of a young wine. If it’s slow, it’s older – premium wine. Then when tasting, you have to say something like it taste like chocolate, berries, strawberry, blubbery, coffee, and more. These flavors are coming from the oak barrels.

Wine Tasting: Young & or Old Wine?

The difference between a young wine and old wine (I’m not sure if I did understand it completely, so please correct me if I’m wrong) The young wine is the one that has a bit more spicy to it, a typical grape is a shiraz for a young wine. This wine has only 2-3 years to live in the bottle before it gets bad. This is also because it has a plastic cork most of the time. They can’t be saved for a longer time. The older wine is more complex and has a long and rounder taste. It can live in the bottle for a long time, from 8-15 years it depends on the bottles and the production. And if it has a natural cork.

How Long Can You Storage Wine?

Wine shouldn’t be saved for more than 15 years in a bottle. That is the maximum time for the wine. Old wine can develop flavor in the bottle around 5-7 years. Of course, there is probably the exception.

Mendoza Wine tasting with Vistandes

I also did the wine tasting in Chile at Casillero del Diablo – Concha y Tora.