This holiday season, we’ve come up with a way to help you survive any family gathering and
liven up the company party.

Count down to the new year with 31 of our favorite wines – one for each day of December.
(Because you’re our good friends, you get to start early!) Through December 31, all of these selections
are available to you at 30% off our retail prices, with a minimum purchase of 6 bottles. Mix it up!
Simply apply promotional code “31Wines.” Or really get in the spirit and
buy all 31 wines together for $399!*

Click here to for details and to purchase NOW

(And if you want to spoil yourself with a personal wine-shopper this season, don’t hesitate
to ask for recommendations.)

Enjoy, and happy holidays from all of us in Mendoza.

Cheers,
The Vines of Mendoza

*This sampler is not available in Fl, MI, CT, IL, and MO. Please contact us for substitutions.**Please remember that our prices do not include shipping.
***For guaranteed delivery by December 25, please place your order by Monday, December 8. (Except Arizona)
****To ship gifts to multiple addresses please be sure to contact us so that we can place your order for you manually.

Not all wines are available for shipping to all states.
(A note to our customers in Canada and Europe: As our online store does not allow us to process orders outside of the
United States, please submit your order to us via email. Please note that additional duties will be charged upon
delivery of the wine.)

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This week we’ve given you lots of news about happenings in Mendoza and at The Vines. The following links will help you stay up to date with the rest of the wine world!

This weeks wine links:

• Talk about growth! Susana Balbo believes that Argentina will soon be exporting 10% of the world’s wine.

• Some news from Francois Lurton, our next door neighbor in the Uco Valley!

• Delicious, inexpensive wine from Argentina! (from www.dailypress.com)

• A real definition of Organic Wine.

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Every Thursday is a pleasure with a new lineup of different Argentine wines. A group of us meet, a mixture of Argentines and Americans with different palates, to decide which wines we like and would be willing to include in our Acequia Wine Club line up and Vines of Mendoza Tasting Room. Mariana, our sommelier, does an amazing job of creating different line ups of similar wines with different price points with increasing intensity and complexity, making our job easier by deciding simply which wines we feel are up to par for The Vines.

Today we tasted 10 different wines ranging in a cost price from $3.33 to $20. We have to take into account not only the wines characteristics now, but also in the future as we are looking for wines to export next spring. The process is long and cumbersome with the different governmental regulations, which is why our online store is the best place to find these small production wines.  Today there were a few highlights and it is often interesting to listen to the different characteristics that come out of the tastings and the discussions that ensue. You should probably steer clear of those wines that smell like mushroom soup, formaldehyde, reduced cherry cola but there were also wines with a fresh burst of cherry jolly rancher, mulled cider spices, and fresh crushed black fruit.

One discussion entailed the difference between cacao and cocoa and how each should be utilized in describing a wine, and interestingly enought it seems there is also a cultural aspect to the difference, with the Argentines associating cocoa with Nesquick, who knew??
The array of different varietals is one of the most interesting parts of tasting Argentine wines. Today we tasted 3 Syrahs, 3 Cabernets, and 4 Malbecs.  We are a pretty selective crew, yet are all distinctive in our tastes and are always surprised when we have complete agreement for a wine (a must buy then). There was one standout in the bunch today, the Montecinco 2005. Watch for this wine next spring when it should be absolutely amazing! Until next week and a new batch of lovely Argentine Wines. (Its a bit like Argentine Idol for wines.)

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by Mariana Onofri

We are back!! Winemaker’s nights are back!

Winemaker’s is one of the most special events we carry out every Wednesday from 7pm to 9am at The Vines of Mendoza Tasting Room. Local wineries are invited to come over and present their wines to a varied and exclusive public of wine lovers. Oenologists and owners have the chance to talk about their history, convictions, goals and dreams! And we have the chance to get to know more and more about this fascinating industry.

After our winter event recess, we came back with VIÑAS DE LUJAN. Carlos Liberal, owner and a person with a vast knowledge, and Mariano Vignone, winemaker of Matura Group, shared with us their passion and experience. VIÑAS DE LUJAN is a small family project that started over 20 years ago. They started growing vines and not long ago they decided to begin in this great challenge of making their own wine.

Their vineyard is located in the foothills of the Andes in Ugarteche and Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo. These areas are known as primary zones for fine grapes. There is an outstanding combination of soil, great thermal amplitude, scarce rainfall and a perfect sunlight.

Carlos introduced us their two lines of wines: LAS LOICAS and INSTINTO.

LAS LOICAS is a special line of wine since it is made from organic grapes. The work done in their vineyards complies with all the techniques and procedures required by official regulations of organic production and of the OIA ( Organización Internacional Agropecuaria), European Norms, IFOAM and NOP norms. They certify the products since they control all the grape growing and wine production processes in order to guarantee the sustainability of the production along time without the use of any chemical product.

In this line we tasted:

LAS LOICAS MALBEC 2007, being released in a couple of months. This is a classic malbec, easy to drink and really pleasant!

LAS LOICAS RESERVA MALBEC 2007, this wine will be released in 8 months after the bottle aging is over. Although this wine was bottled not long ago, it has a really nice roundness that talk very well of polyphenols’ ripeness.

We are happy to be featuring LAS LOICAS RESERVAS CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2006 in our Autumn Acequia Wine Club. Visit our page www.vinesofmendoza.com

As I mentioned it before we tasted two wines from their line INSTINTOS, made from their vineyard located in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo.

INSTINTO MALBEC RESERVA 2006, a wine already in the market and currently being exported to USA and Europe. Nice nose expression and color intensity with a great balance between the oak and fruit concentration.

INSTINTO CABERNET SAUVIGNON RESERVA 2006, a nice cab with a lot of ripe black fruit and an interesting spice influence.

We really had a very appealing evening!!

If you are in Mendoza… don’t miss our next winemaker’s night! Ricominciare will be presenting for the first time their wines in Mendoza!!!

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