6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: Malbec In The Heart Of Mendoza

I would like to think the very first time I tried Malbec was in Chile in 2013... I can't quite prove it, but I also can't quite disprove it... I mean how many people can truly remember the first time they had a grape varietal? But a photo from my trip to Santiago, Chile, seems to be some sort of evidence. It became my favorite wine shortly thereafter... As the story goes, the grape was discovered by a Hungarian, harvested by the French, but later after a chaotic season in France, perfected by Argentina. It is the premier wine of Argentina, and needless to say the majority of this amazing wine comes from the Mendoza region. When I booked my trip to Antarctica in 2022, I knew of course I would also be visiting Argentina, and thus, it was mandatory to also make a trip to Mendoza. We all have our favorite wines, and after visiting Mendoza I can whole heartedly say, there is no wine experience like drinking your favorite varietal right in it's home winery.

The airport gets right to business!

A big thing for me as a budget traveler is an issue of time, I have a full time job, and side gigs at home, so this trip combined with Antarctica was already way too long, but I had to go to Mendoza! That being said, I opted for an early flight in and a late flight out, so I'd really only have one night, and two days, it's never enough, but I'm still damn happy I did it!
Budget travel and doing things on your own is great, but for wine tours, I'm pretty damn big on arranging a tour guide or group, especially if you are going to be drinking wine, you are not going to drive. I found Mendoza Wine Camp, who were not only fantastic, but the only wine tour company that gave Malbec specific tours, which is exactly what I wanted. I know Mendoza has other great wines, but for me this was all about the Malbec.
Mendoza Wine Camp also optimized my tour picking me up from the airport, I was traveling light as always so I left my small bag in the car of the tour, and we went straight to business with the tour.
We toured three vineyards sampling at least 3 Malbec's in each vineyard, and Argentina wine tours from this experience, were MUCH more generous in the pours than any other country I have ever been to for a wine tour... Really glad I wasn't driving.
Of course the great opportunity as well to be behind the scenes and talk to the wine makers, and staff about the production and creation of Malbec in Mendoza.
And at the end, you are in Argentina, why not finish with a nice big steak for lunch?
I got back to my Airbnb at 4pm or so, and decided it was time for a nap!
I went out that night, lots of great bars and restaurants, but I wouldn't say it was very lively, I will also note it was Monday night, so I had a nice cocktail on a roof top bar, and small bites later.... The steak lunch was very filling.

The Statue Of The Continents, very appropriate for me
The next day the plan was to do a self city tour, and of course down a few more Malbec's. I had originally toyed with the idea of stopping by multiple wine bars, but again, with the generous pours of the prior day, my liver asked me to take it easy on day two.
The city is nice to walk around, nice parks, cafes, great weather, museums if you have time, which I did not.

For extended stays the sky is the limit with outings to the surrounding country side and of course the Andes Mountains, but for me, it was about the Malbec, and I was very happy with it. I've enjoyed Malbec for over a decade now, and finally being able to visit it in it's greatest vineyard is an experience I will forever be grateful for.