Vines of Mendoza Blog

By Jenn Kingen Kush & Mike Kush

During a time in our life when we were expected to settle down, my husband and I did the opposite and have never looked back. We left our established professional careers in Chicago 18 months ago to follow our hearts and life passions of wine and travel.
We decided to “chase harvest” in both the northern and southern hemispheres as a way to maximize our winemaking experience and exposure. It has been an amazing journey including sojourns to Alderbrook Winery in Sonoma, Kim Crawford in Marlborough, New Zealand and Niepoort Wines in Portugal’s Douro Valley.
Our travels recently brought us to Mendoza, Argentina where, after visiting in 2002 and last June, we discovered The Vines of Mendoza. After visiting so many wine regions in the world, we were amazed by the experience and professionalism of this unique, world-class organization and were eager to make Mendoza an official part of our globe-trotting apprenticeship.
We were thrilled earlier this year to learn that my husband had secured a cosecha (harvest) position at Viña Cobos with renowned winemaker Paul Hobbs, and that I would be doing an internship here at The Vines.
Recently, I visited the Private Vineyard Estates in the Uco Valley with several owners and prospective owners and, I was completely awestruck at the majestic splendor and the snow-capped Andes towering over these amazing new vineyards.
The vast and rugged panorama has an instantly recognizable sense of tranquility that differentiates it from other wine growing regions. Maybe it is the dramatic mountains, the high altitude or the feeling that you have stepped directly into a gaucho culture, but there is something indefinable that makes the Uco Valley full of discovery and potential. It was inspirational for me to hear the personal stories of the private owners who are impassioned to make their dreams come true here.
I also had the pleasure of meeting the distinguished Santiago Achával, consulting winemaker to the Private Vineyard Estates, and hearing his personal story that started here in Mendoza years ago. This encounter made me appreciate even more the power that wine has to unite people.
As the vines here begin to turn red and gold, our time to leave is unfortunately near. Where our wine-related pursuits will take us next is still to be discovered, but we certainly know Mendoza will be a part of our future, just as it will be for those planting their Private Vineyards in the Uco Valley.

Jenn Kingen Kush & Mike Kush
Harvest Chasers

Jenn & Mike at Uco Valley, Mendoza
If you would like more information about a Private Vineyard Estates, please visit our website: www.vinesofmendoza.com/private_vineyard/ or email us at privatevineyards@vinesofmendoza.com.

Every month, Mendoza art museums and galleries debut their new permanent and temporary exhibitions. Here are two local art exhibits you don’t want to miss. Both special exhibits are on display through the end of July.

FADER

Fader Museum will be showing Fernando Fader´s complete collection featuring more than a 1,000 pieces of this French-Argentine painter.
Visits to the museum: Tuesdays through Fridays from 8:30 am. to 6pm. Saturdays and Sundays from 2pm. to 7pm.
Address: Martín 3651 Mayor Drummmond, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza.
Telephone: 496022.

ECA Gallery

“La Mujer de la Escultra” is the special memorial exhibit at the ECA gallery. The exhibit will showcase famous local artists such as : S. Dragotta, A. Burlando, S. Bruccoleri,V. Herrera,V. Maggis, C. Ramírez, R. Rosas, S. Rosas, C. Marquet etc. “La Mujer en la Escultura” exhibition is in honor of the memory of Beatriz Capra and Eliana Molinelli.

Opening: 5/2 , 8pm. Free entrance. Mondays through Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. and 4pm to 9pm. Sundays from 4pm. to 9pm.
Address: 9 de julio y Gutiérrez, Mendoza Downtown.
Telephone: 4290117.

Fader Museum

Fader

Fader

Eliana Molinelli

It is very common to hold wine dinners in California and I experienced my first one with Rob Lawson with his Pavi Wines (Rob’s personal wine brand). It was held at a very nice restaurant, where the chef paired the wines with interesting dishes.

Rob was a showman, totally surprising me and the rest of the guests, presenting every wine with a particular story about it. The Pavi brand name itself is the name of his wife. Her family, following a family tradition, named her Pavi, which is a combination of the first two letters of each of the parents names, hence her mothers name Vima and her fathers namePaul: she is Pavi!!! Unfortunately Pavi and Rob couldn’t follow this tradition with their daughters, as it would have to be Ropa or Paro. Not the best names for the cute girls they have.

The wines were all stars, starting with the Pinot Grigio from Napa and also included wines of the same varietals but which were directly imported from Venice (Italy). It was interesting to taste them together because you noticed the difference of the terroir. We tasted the “Dolcetto” next and I fell in love with it. It is a very nice wine for meat (I might take some bottles, it would be perfect for an asado!!!), with strawberry marmalade, cassis, vanilla notes and sweet tannins and long finish. My favorite!

It was a nice dinner we all enjoyed it very much. People went to bed smiling …

Since starting The Vines of Mendoza a couple years ago, there hasn’t been much time for our committed founders to catch their individual or collective breath. They’ve put everything they are into establishing The Vines of Mendoza. And, now that we have our legs under us a bit better, they seized a much-deserved opportunity to head to Europe this summer (winter here in Mendoza so not a bad time to get away) for a bit of sightseeing, relaxing and, of course (ever the entrepreneurs) work.

Michael headed out at the end of May, first bound for London with a stopover in New York City for some work-related meetings. In London he attended the preeminent London Wine Fair where Argentine wines and bodegas were very well represented. Then it was onto Amsterdam , where he noted there was an Argentine restaurant on almost every corner! A bit of an exaggeration maybe, but there’s no denying that Argentine cuisine is finding itself at home in Amsterdam. This week he’s enjoying a bit of legitimate rest, sightseeing and dining about in Barcelona where he’s recently been joined by Pablo, our Argentine cofounder.

The London Wine fair

After spending the weekend together in San Sebastian, in the heart of Spain’s Basque Country, they will travel next week to Vinexpo, the leading international wine expostion in Bordeaux, France, where they will catch up with our third cofounder, Dave. Together, the three of them will be making the most of their debut visits to this granddaddy of all wine events which attracts people from all walks of the wine industry from around the globe. Argentina is expected to make a very strong showing with many bodegas pouring their finest Malbecs, Torrontés and other emblematic varietals for the attendees.

Argentine Parrilla in Amsterdam

After a quick refueling stop in Paris (and one last croissant), Michael will be back home in Mendoza in a couple weeks. Dave and Pablo will stay on in Europe a bit longer.

As Michael said on a recent (work-related) call, despite his time away going by very quickly, this trip is twice as long as any vacation he’s ever taken before. He also said he’s really looking forward to a good steak with a big glass of Malbec when he gets back to Mendoza! And, we’re looking forward to his return - rejuvenated, revved up and ready for what’s next.

One of the great parts of the Vines of Mendoza Private Vineyards business is getting out on the property to see where vines will be growing in just a few short months. Usually these trips are centered around getting a new owner of a private vineyard acquainted with their new piece of property and it is always a good excuse to Asado (like you need an excuse in Mendoza to Asado) and drink fine Argentine wine.

In a number of instances when we have been on the property we have rented horses and toured the property on horseback. Though I am not much of horse person (the gauchos were laughing so hard at my riding that I was worried for their safety) the chance to ride in the shadows of the Andes across pristine ground that will soon be covered with Malbec (as well as Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and other varietals) is just too much to pass up. And, the event consistently lives up to its billing.

And, to top it all off we spend a good afternoon sitting in the sun cooking fine Argentine beef (and pork, and chicken, and chorizo….) over wood coals. Between the riding and the eating the day is among the best on record. And, so a number of staff spent yesterday eating beef and drinking Gimenez Rilli Torrontes and Malbec.

But, back to the topic at hand - gauchos are not tall. The reason I mention this is that many of the Vines staff are tall (in a relative sense - we don’t have any NBA players on the staff). David, one of the founders, is one of the taller staff members. The gauchos who own the horses average about 5 feet 7 inches - David is probably closer to 6 feet 4 inches. So, when David gets on a horse that has been bred to fit gauchos you get a pretty funny picture. Not the kind of funny picture that Andre the Giant would be riding one of these horses, but pretty funny anyway.

Our only hope is that David doesn’t catch his feet between the legs of the horse - think of the pain that would cause the horse!