Mendoza Province in Argentina almost as big as the state of Idaho.  It’s located on the western side of Argentina, at the base of the Andes Mountains bordering Chile.  From Buenos Aires, it’s directly west to Mendoza Province, whose capitol city is Mendoza City.  The region has rich soil that produces grapes to make wine that rivals that of Sonoma and Napa Valley.  Vintners are able to produce wine at a fraction of the cost of wine in those places, and Mendoza Province has taken off as a new wine destination.

In fact, lots of experimental wineries have sprung up in the past decade, and it’s a very exciting place to be if you love wine.  It’s also a great place to be for hiking, with the Andes right there.  Mendoza City boasts slick hotels, lively restaurants and bars, and wine menus everywhere offering hundreds of different wines.

Mendoza City is close to several wine regions in Argentina:

• Valle de Uco
• Chacras de Coria
• Lujan de Cuyo

There are over a thousand different wineries in the Mendoza region!  If you want to sample lots of them, there’s a place in Mendoza City where you can sample them: it’s called a tasting room, and it’s near Plaza Independencia.  They have almost 100 local wines youc an sample, plus you can book Argentina wine tours there too.  It’s called Vines of Mendoza.

The wineries of Mendoza are spread over large swathes of terrain, sometimes on dirt roads.  You need an appointment for most of them, too.  Book a tour or hire a guide, that’s good advice.