If you’ve ever been down here during the Winter you probably know that it ALMOST never snows in the city but today, SURPRISE! When we woke up this morning the view was white!
Check out Fernando Sosa’s amazing pictures!!! Thanks Fernando!
I’m off to make some snow angels! haha!
Rosedal
Parque General San Martin Gates
Winter Pics by Fernando Sosa http://picasaweb.google.com/fjsosa/MendozaUnderSnow#slideshow/5494121275229997474
Yesterday was both a momentous and emotional day for The Vines of Mendoza team and Private Vineyard Estate owners. We harvested our first red grapes of the 2010 harvest and even more importantly the first in our new bodega. The last four years seem to have flown by and to see the machines in action processing the grapes was to realize all of our dreams, all of the hard work that has gone into the project and the team that has made it all happen. There were several owners on hand to witness the harvest and we were all overcome by the potential of what we have in store for all of our Private Vineyard Estate owners.
We harvested by hand, 1,100 kilos of Merlot at 25.5 degrees brix. Gustavo, the red wine winemaker for Mondavi, here visiting his friend Wandyr, whose Merlot we processed today, was impressed by the Merlot, telling me that they can’t get the flavor, sugar and mature seed development in California as we have achieved with our Merlot in the Uco Valley. Santiago Achaval, our consulting winemaker, was also on hand and was very happy with how the grapes are maturing and even got in on the action, sorting grapes with the team!
Congratulations to everyone on an amazing beginning to the 2010 Cosecha!
Vendimia has descended on Mendoza- full of color, festivities, food and of course ubiquitous Argentine wine! It is an amazing time of year with festivals in the plazas, music, dancing and everyone in good spirits. This also marks the first year that a train has run from Buenos Aires to Mendoza in 16 years! 400 passengers loaded up to make the run and enjoy the Vendimia festivities!
From the perspective of a North American, I am always giddy with delight by the cultural differences and how much I love Vendimia. For example:
In the parades, each float, hence each queen, represents a different fruit/vegetable/wine which they throw into the crowds during the Via Blanca and Carusel parades through the streets of Mendoza. Imagine flying melons!
The queens seeming obsession with blue makeup, and possibly 80′s metal band hairstyles
You should definitely not miss the billboards of each of the regions queens- classic Olan Mills pin up girls
The plaza festivals- full of music, food, and fun
The Vendimia festival- a perfect excuse for 3 days of fireworks, not to mention the Vendimia show itself.
This year they have already crowned the queen from the Santa Rosa Province, the lovely reina, or queen, below. It is a bit like the Miss America pagent for those familiar with the roles and selection process. For more information check out this article in Spanish from Diario Los Andes.
Now comes the hard part- the real grape harvest!
El proyecto vitivinícola inmobiliario del Valle de Uco está listo para producir 50.000 botellas en el 2010. Elaborarán en la bodega que inaugurarán en marzo.
El 2010 parece ser un gran año para The Vines of Mendoza y su proyecto de real state Private Vineyard Estates. No sólo se aprestan a inaugurar su propia bodega, sino que planifican vinificar por primera vez y, en unos meses, comenzar a construir las primeras 20 habitaciones de su hotel de lujo.
Las cosecha 2010 se hará sobre las 45 hectáreas cultivadas con Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc y Torrontés plantadas en setiembre y octubre de 2007. Pero en tres años el crecimiento de la superficie cultivada ha sido enorme: el total actual alcanza las 130 hectáreas para los 70 propietarios.
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I have no idea how many photos I took at the vineyard in 2009 — probably close to 10,000. I kept 2.478 and these are my favorite 10.
And most importantly, this is the group of people who made it all happen.
We spent most of the holiday weekend at the vineyard with friends and owners out at the vineyard. We enjoyed several asados, some great wines and of course views like the below when I woke up on Christmas morning. And if you look closely, you can see Uco running through the vines at the front of the photo and our winery under construction at the far right hand side of the photo.
I thought they were excellent. Just the right amount of sugar and ginger. Plus the presentation was very nice… -Pete R. (An excited taster)
Christmas is almost here! For this reason all the girls from The Vines team decided to get together and prepare one of the most traditional American recipes, the gingerbread man!
The cookies turned out to be delicious, however, one thing to keep in mind for next time is: a hot oven added to a 95 F degree room temperature will make it super hard for the dough to have the right consistency! Try it yourselves!
Ingredients
Cookies
* 3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature, softened)
* 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
* 1 Tbsp ground ginger
* 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
* Optional raisins, chocolate chips, candy pieces, frosting
Royal Icing
* 1 egg white
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
Method
1 In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
2 In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.) Divide dough in thirds; wrap each third in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll-out, work in a little more flour.
3 Heat oven to 350°. Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to cut out the cookies. Use either a cookie cutter or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes. Press raisins, chocolate chips, or candy pieces in the center of each cookie if desired for “buttons”.
4 Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Bake until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired. Makes 16 5-inch long cookies.
Royal Icing
The traditional way to make Royal Icing is to beat egg whites and lemon juice together, adding the powdered sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. With modern concerns about salmonella from raw eggs, you can either use powdered egg whites or heat the egg whites first to kill any bacteria. With the heating method, mix the egg white and lemon juice with a third of the sugar, heat in a microwave until the mixture’s temperature is 160°F. Then remove from microwave, and beat in the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Using the powdered egg whites method, combine 1 Tbsp egg white powder with 2 Tbsp water. Proceed as you would otherwise.
If the icing is too runny, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency. Fill a piping bag with the icing to pipe out into different shapes. (Or use a plastic sandwich bag, with the tip of one corner of the bag cut off.) Keep the icing covered while you work with it or it will dry out.
The walls are almost done…next stop the roof! Harvest in less than three months..going to be tight, be we will be open and making wine in 2010!
Living and working here in Mendoza, we have a lot to be thankful for…I woke up to this view on Thanksgiving morning, for example:
We are grateful to our families, friends, Private Vineyard Estate owners, investors, wine club members, Tasting Room guests and all the fabulous winemakers in Mendoza. And today one of the things we are most thankful for is the amazing team at the Vines. We couldn’t ask for a more talented, committed, passionate and fun group of people.
So we closed the offices and the tasting room and all headed out to the vineyard. We planted some vines, drank some wine (and fernet) and ate turkey on the parilla. And even danced and swam in the ice cold reservoir.
As usual, sunrise is a treat at the vineyard (even after a Cab Franc taste off followed by a few Fernet’s next to the fire. We have some potential vineyard owners in from Kentucky and we had a blast.
We came across this little guy out here on Friday…
