🇦🇷 Day 4 in Mendoza: Saving the Very Best for Last 🍷

And so, we come to the fourth and final day of wine tastings in Mendoza. And to say we hated to see the trip come to a close would be an understatement! But our home in Venice 🏝️ was calling, so we valiantly departed the hotel for the final three wineries on our list.

But before we get to the wine, our night at Auberge du Vin was a bit quieter than these wine lovers were used to, so we decided to return to Mendoza City at the end of the day instead of staying our final night there. It would make it easy to get to the airport the next day, and give us the opportunity to see a bit of the city. I was sad to leave my 3-legged friend, Patatas 🐶, but even he wasn’t bringing enough excitement to keep us there another night!

So when our guide, Dom, picked us up, we were anxiously awaiting his arrival with our 🧳 suitcases 🧳 in hand! Thankfully he was one great guide, and was happy to take us back to Mendoza when he went at the end of the day. We all got a bit of a laugh at our early departure from the hotel. Who would have thought that these two wine lovers would find a place too quiet even for us!?!? (Well, to be honest, he kind of did when he dropped us off the day before, but 🤷🏻‍♀️)

However, before we head back to Mendoza, we had three amazing – and really special – wineries to visit.

Now, while we picked the wineries, Dom did the legwork of scheduling and setting up most of the visits. And wow did he deliver. So we started the day at Zorzal, in the Gualtallary region. 

A Singing Winemaker: Zorzal

Zorzal was a special pick due to its size (70 hectares), and some of its unique wines. And while it is not family owned, it started out that way and is still very much run like a family run winery. And as of 2025, they now make their wine only from grapes grown on this vineyard which isn’t that common. A quick search on my friend Google tells me that less than 5% of wineries in the world are 100% estate grown. There is our first clue that Zorzal is unique.

As we pulled up, it was clear this wasn’t a winery focused on being the Disneyland of wine like so many wineries seem to be. It was beautiful in a natural and welcoming way. Was the winery an architectural marvel to be written about in a magazine? Nope. And I love this because it typically means that they’re serious about making wine and wine is the priority. Zorzal proved that was true, but the winery was lovely in a come-on-in and let’s be serious about wine kind of way.

We were first met by the official four legged gato 🐈‍⬛ greeter, and then by our host, Emiliano. He welcomed us warmly and invited us to sit outside with him for a few minutes. While this is somewhat uncommon, I loved it. It was just like arriving at a friend’s and sitting down for a chat on the patio.

This is how we began learning about Zorzal and its history. It was originally founded by the Michelini brothers back in 2008, and is now backed by a group of 7 Canadian and Chilean investors. Emiliano shared a bit about the property itself, and as always, I was enthralled with how the land held such a prominent role in their lives – having been land owned by their great-great-(maybe another great) grandfather, and also how it was connected to many of the team working the vineyard today. That connection is real and I think you can taste the love of that particular land in their wine.

Water rights came up again here, and Emiliano believes that while Gualtallary has plenty of unplanted land (it comprises 21000 hectares, but only 3000 are currently planted with vines), it will likely never see significant expansion of vineyards because there are no more water rights to be had. And that is a bit of a travesty as wine from this area is absolutely magical. You can taste the terroir in the wines from this region, and both my partner in wine and I believe you could pick a wine from Zorzal out of a blind lineup. THIS is what we love about wine….and we absolutely nailed it on our final day of the trip.

After touring the winery, we were ready for the tasting. And when I told you I fan-girl on winemakers, I nearly passed out when we were told that Dom had arranged to have Nicolas (Nico) Carletti, one of the two winemakers at Zorzal, join us for our tasting! 

This was even more meaningful as I know he was extremely busy preparing for harvest, which would start in just a few weeks. In fact, Nico shared that he would be out in the fields tasting (and then testing) some of the grapes later that day to check on sugar, pH, etc, to prepare for harvest.

I was a bit starstruck, and even my partner in wine didn’t have as much to say as usual! But we sat down for a tasting of their top tier wines.

We had the pleasure of sharing these four amazing wines with Nico, Emiliano, and Dom:

• 2022 La Reina
• 2023 Perfiado
• 2021 El Barba
• 2021 Piantao

And WOW. To say that I am still thinking about these wines would be the truth. They were that good. Each wine had a special story, and having the winemaker sit with us during the tasting took this to the next level. 

Ultimately, my favorite was the Piantao, which is 85% Cab Franc, and 15% Malbec. (Now do you understand why it was my fave? ) But that wasn’t all. Piantao is a lyric in a popular tango ballad, and not only did we have the opportunity to drink this with Nico, he also SANG a few bars of the song (in the MOST amazing voice! He definitely has a back up gig if he chooses to stop making wine).

I’ve said it before that wine is about more than just the wine for us. It’s the whole story, and Zorzal delivered. We have some en route as I type, and I expect we’ll be life-long fans. 

And Dom nearly had to drag us out so that Nico could get back to his harvest planning, and so that we could make it to our next tasting at Bemberg.

Our Second Visit of the Day: Bemberg

From Zorzal, we headed to Bemberg, which was a larger winery in all aspects – from land (92 hectares) to buildings, to production. We arrived later than expected, but our host, Dana, was all smiles as she greeted us in the lot. This was a beautiful winery, and we loved her energy and enthusiasm for Bemberg from the moment we met her.

We started our tour with a glass of their 2022 La Linterna Chardonnay. It was lovely and had aromas of tropical fruits – perfect to sip while learning about the winery.

And what a winery. It was a work of art in and of itself. As with several of the other wineries we visited, Bemberg had strategically placed windows throughout the vineyard to capitalize on the view. Four days in and I’m still not tired of this view! As you know, I’m a beach girl 🏖️, but the Andes….there is just something about them! 🏔️

After touring the tanks and barrel room, we enjoyed a glass of the 2020 La Linterna Finca el Tomillo Malbec before we moved to the tasting room. And what a room it was! We both prefer the smaller wineries, but I can absolutely appreciate the beauty of a place like this.

We wrapped up our tasting with:

• 2020 La Linterna Malbec Finca la Yesca
• 2020 La Linterna Finca Las Mercedes Cabernet Sauvignon

It was a lovely tasting with Dana, but Dom kept us on track! We had to get to the one restaurant that EVERYONE recommended – Ruda Cocina! (and seriously – everyone did. I think we even had someone in Chile tell us to go there!)

A Memorable Lunch at Ruda Cocina

Spoiler alert: Ruda was worth it! Interestingly, Ruda was located on the opposite side of the Tupungato Winelands from the previous night’s hotel (Auberge du Vin). So it was an equally dusty ride from the main road out to the restaurant – just in the opposite direction.

But whoa. What a location, and what a view. This was the busiest of all the restaurants we’d been to so far in Argentina, so it was clearly a popular pick, despite the road and the somewhat overcast day!

Dom had worked his magic here as well, and coordinated a series of small plates that just started arriving. We love to eat like this – tapas of amazing food. The staff was excllent, including the somm, although I regrettably cannot remember his name! Based on the food, my partner in wine selected the 2023 Chateau Subsónico Rosé (made with Torrontes) with the somm’s assistance, and it was the perfect accompaniment.

Sitting out on the hill with a view out across the “winelands” while the sky played a bit grouchy was oddly relaxing. And then enjoying the amazing dishes – hummus, tortitas, THE BROCCOLI (get the broccoli!), and then wrapping it up with coffee for me and dessert for my partner in wine and Dom.

But alas, we couldn’t linger there all day, as the most exciting of all of our visits was next!

Per Se Vines: The Absolute Best Way to End our Trip

So let’s rewind back to prior to our visit. My partner in wine is WSET level 2 certified and is working on his level 3, so there is usually a reason why we visit a particular winery.

Leading up to our visit, he focused in on one winery in Argentina that he just HAD to visit. So much so that he made the drive to Miami to purchase their wines – Miami is the closest place to Venice where one can actually purchase their wines. If you’re not Florida-familiar, that’s about a 3.5 hour drive each way. 🚗

And so as I dug into it, and discussed with Dom, I found that they don’t formally offer tours or tastings. But….🥁…we managed to coordinate a visit!

Per Se Vines is a true passion project, born from the friendship and expertise of Edy del Pópolo and David Bonomi. Now it’s becoming a family affair with the addition of Santiago del Pópolo, and even David’s daughter. This “labor of love” skips the typical winery playbook to focus entirely on some of Gualtallary’s most extreme vines and making the absolute best wines without worrying about investors or mass markets. 

And Edy and David have the experience to make it happen. Both have worked at some of Mendoza’s most famous wineries, and are renowned in their own rights. Edy is considered one of the most important viticulturalists in the world, and David has been named the Winemaker of the Year by Tim Atkin in 2020, and ranked a top ten winemaker by Decanter.

Can you imagine this star struck wine lover and my partner in wine actually having the opportunity to meet them, visit their winery, and sit across the table from them???? 🤩

THIS was the highlight of our trip. I will not do this visit justice in words, but I will forever remember standing on the grounds of the monastery where they grow their wines, learning about how they began their project, talking about the vines, and absorbing the honor it was to be invited to visit. 

The vines of Per Se are nestled within the “Monasterio” estate, a high-altitude site in Gualtallary named for the Monastery of the Cristo Olvidado that overlooks the property. This adds an almost spiritual sense when you’re standing on the land. Hearing directly from Edy about  how they partner with the monastery was really beautiful.

And wouldn’t you know it? THIS was also the visit that drained every battery we owned, so we really got to focus on the conversation in the tasting; we got to savor the wines that they are so proud of, and we got to commit this to memory the old fashioned way. 

Everything happens for a reason, and I’m sure that is why we were forced to be “in that moment”…talking about their wines, hearing their history, and being grateful for it. Not focused on snapping photos.

We savored the following while sitting around the table with them in their winery’s kitchen:

• 2024 Inseparable
• 2023 Volare
• 2023 Jubileus
• 2023 La Craie

These wines had a true sense of place. Again, I think you could pick these wines in a blind tasting and know where they were from (and therefore who made them) – and I don’t believe that about many wines. My palate isn’t that refined, so when I say that, they are truly something special (and I hate to use that word special (again), but they were!) You could taste the terroir AND the passion behind them.

And all I can say is if you have the opportunity to enjoy any of their wines, please do. This fan-girl may never recover….and that doesn’t even begin to describe my partner in wine’s sentiment.

So with this – the most memorable visit of a VERY memorable trip – I will close out our South American wine tour. Thank you for reading, and for the team at Per Se, ¡Mil gracias por hacernos vivir un momento inolvidable!

We’re now back in Venice and will be sharing some of our local faves very soon. And if you’re interested in more details, like the list of wineries we visited, where we stayed, who our guides were, comment below and I’ll send you the details. ¡Chao for now!