ARGENTINA through my lens (episode #8) - 🍷 Wine Degustation in Mendoza...This is All I Remember After It! 📸

Hi Steemians!

Millions of words have been written about wine over centuries but to express how important the nectar of the gods is for me, I like to quote an expert of the matter and one of the greatest poet of all times:

"No poem was ever written by a drinker of water"
Homer, Greek epic poet, (Eighth Century BC)

Wine played a crucial role in Ancient Greek society, to the point that the most important decisions - like starting a war with Persia - were taken under the advise of an allegedly very drunk priestess called Pythia, the oracle of Delphi! Well, don't quote me on that. It seems that she could be even high on methane, due to some emissions from underneath the rocks on which the temple of Delphi was built...

Surely the mysterious cult of Dionysus, the god of wine, was central and when introduced into Rome, the so-called bacchanalia were held in secret and attended by women only. Many kinds of crimes and political conspiracies were supposed to be planned. Once again, in the Ancient world, wine could influence arts, politics and religious belief.

Wine was even prescribed as a medicine by first professional doctor Hippocrates, and the comedian Eubulus from Athens has a wise recommendation for you all:

Three bowls do I mix for the temperate: one to health, which they empty first; the second to love and pleasure; the third to sleep. When this bowl is drunk up, wise guests go home. The fourth bowl is ours no longer, but belongs to violence; the fifth to uproar; the sixth to drunken revel; the seventh to black eyes; the eighth is the policeman's; the ninth belongs to biliousness; and the tenth to madness and the hurling of furniture.

Now, wine has a long tradition in Mediterranean countries, but in recent times the competition for the production of the best wines in the world opens up to countries which did not produce quality wine until few decades ago, like Australia, New Zealand and yes, my beloved Argentina!

Only after the devaluation of the national peso in 2002, the Argentinian wine market began to flourish and to be found in some luxurious European restaurants and enotecas. Today, it does not have anymore the reputation of being just cheap. Some special Argentinian selections are the best in the world and win more and more prices.

Here I am, on the way to one of the finest vineyard of the region, in company of Virginia and her two kids. Virginia is hosting me in her Airbnb flat share and we became friends straight away. She is taking me for a degustation tour to his father Giorgio Gieco, with the promise of getting me drunk. But first, we stop by the river.

Down the valley, in between the first Andes, under a plumbeous sky, we played 'the little explorers'. How could I know that few minutes later I would be drawing in a cascade of wine?

This wild corner of Mendoza province looks like an adventure park, and precarious bridges like these gives you a little shiver down your spine.

Allright, he is Giorgio Gieco and his wife Cristina, and you can order their wine here !! You should order now a box of their special selection, if you want to approach Argentinian wine for the first time. The Mendoza province produces more than 60% of the Argentine wine and is the source of an even higher percentage of the total exports. The Gieco Family have made a great use of their fertile land to reach a top quality.

The Gieco family has Italian heritage and they even have the statue of Romolo e Remo sucking from la Lupa Capitolina in their wide bright living room. I am welcomed like a son who has just come back from a Europe trip. On a wine manual, they search for a quote and they insist I read it. It is a quote from Italian director Federico Fellini.

On the table, I am surprise to see so many bottles of wine, in chronological order. I am about to taste each of them, from 2013 until today's. Mr. Gieco explains me how to taste a wine starting from its smell, its look, and finally its flavour. After few minutes, I was able to recognise the type of wood of the different barrels that contain it. Wine ageing in oak takes on a vanilla, caramel, or even nutty flavor. Giorgio tells me that there are few winemakers, however, who use wood let their wine fermentate in wood barrels. Cement tanks is the trend now.

Stainless steel tanks are usually temperature-controlled, which makes the winemaking process somewhat automated. In traditional wooden vats, there’s a risk of imparting unwanted flavours to the wine. It offers the best of both worlds. On the one hand, it provides a slow, naturally porous environment in which the wine can develop. On the other hand, it can result in cleaner, purer flavours.

The Gieco family comes from several generations of big land owners and being a land owner in Argentina means that you generally own shit tons of lands! With prime minister Macri, they have been benefited largely by his liberal policies. Taxes are lower to incentivate business and Argentinian economy seems to grow after a long time from a mere financial point of view.

Life is different for those who do not own much, because the price of row materials, oil and transports have been raised as a consequence of the above mentioned liberal policies.

More political posts to follow shortly here..

Thanks to the amazing hospitality of the Gieco family, and my brilliant idea of ignoring the spit bucket, I am still a bit drunk while writing this post and I feel like sharing the last quote:

I like best the wine drunk at the cost of others.
Diogenes the Cynic, Greek Philosopher, (c. 412-323 BC)

Drink rensponsably...

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¡Hasta luego!

Alessandro & Elena