While in Mendoza for Vendimia (the celebration of the harvesting of the grapes to make the wine), I chartered a private tour of three bodegas (wineries) in the Uco Valley region of Mendoza - one of the most picturesque with breathtaking views of the Andes mountains.
I went to three bodegas - Salentein, The Vines of Mendoza and O.Fournier, with a delicious lunch served at O.Fournier. In each of the three wineries, I was given a tour of the facilities, detailing how intricate the process is in making each variety of wine. This was followed by a tasting of several of their vintage wines. By the time I made it to the third winery, my head was already spinning from how much I tasted.
What was a real treat was that, while at The Vines of Mendoza, I ran into Francis Mallmann (see the picture above with him) having lunch there at Siete Fuegos, one of his restaurants. Mallmann is South America's most famous chef and is one of the top 10 chefs in the world. I had just had dinner at his Mendoza restaurant, 1884 Francis Mallmann (which is one of the top 50 restaurants in the world), the night before and told him about my experience. He even invited me to sit down with him and his wife for a drink, but I was running late for the next winery.
I arrived at O.Fournier and was amazed with the quality of the food and wine pairing. We (I was on the tour with two friends) were given an appetizer, main course (I chose the beef of course) and dessert, along with four different wines to match each course. There was a table of 10 people next to us and at the end as we were leaving, one of them came over and spoke to me. He introduced himself as Manuel O.Fournier - the owner of the winery and of two other wineries in Spain and in Chile. We had a great conversation and it was an honor meeting him. In fact, O.Fournier's restaurant was rated one of the top 10 restaurants located in a winery globally several years ago.
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