3 Ways To Produce Your Own Wine in Mendoza
Wine lovers from all over the world come to Mendoza with the dream of making their own wine. But how does one exactly do that?
The trail of a wine-lover visiting Mendoza always ends at the same destination! A wine-lover travels to the beautiful city of Mendoza, visits its picturesque vineyards, tastes its authentic wines, and then he/she is left with a lingering thought: ‘How can I make my own wine?’
Well, Mendoza took note of this several years ago, and today we are going to go through three of the most popular ways to get your own wines with different level of involvement in the production.
Casa de Uco
Placed in the area of Los Chacayes, in Uco Valley, Casa de Uco offers the possibility to make your own wine from beginning to end, from choosing the grape variety and vineyard, to develop the design of your brand and label.
“Vineyard owners have the opportunity of crafting exceptional wines without being an expert in the field, under the guidance of our Winemaking Team, led by the world-renowned Alberto Antonini, our Head Winemaker and Viticulturist”, they explain.
You can choose plots from 0.25 to 5 full hectares which are managed by agronomists that carry out the farming plan that is determined by the team.
Casa de Uco’s proposal includes guidance and support throughout the whole process of elaboration and design of the wine. It also has a beautiful hotel to stay when you are visiting your vineyards.
“At Casa de Uco Vineyard & Wine Resort we invite our guests to live and breath wine culture, in an unbeatable setting at the foothills of the Andes Mountains. The essence of the hotel, an impressive structure inspired by the geography of the land and its natural surroundings, strives to provide the utmost level of comfort, while still blending with the mountains, vineyards, and clear blue skies”, they say.
Vines of Mendoza vineyards
In 2005, Pablo Gimenez Riili and Michael Evans recognized the world-class potential of Mendoza’s Uco Valley and invested in 250 acres of land. Their purpose: to bring the dream of owning a vineyard and making your very own premium quality wine to reality. In 2010 they made their very first harvest and since then more than 150 wine-lovers have turned into winemakers. Making wine in The Vines means to take part in the harvest, bottling, and deciding the design of the label.
“Owners from all over the globe produce wine at The Vines of Mendoza. With most from the United States and Brazil, we also have other owners from Argentina, Australia, and many areas of Europe”, they explain. “330 unique wines produced per year, using 30 different varietals for our owners”.
You count on the counsel of Santiago Achaval, recognized as one of the most prestigious winemakers from Argentina by Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate. Together with him, you can participate in the blending sessions in which the composition of the wine is defined.
Additionally, they offer help with the exportation process of the final product and even online selling if you want.
The Vines of Mendoza is the home of some renown projects with independent winemakers such as Gimenez Riili, Ver Sacrum and Onofri Wines.
They also have an extraordinary Resort, and Francis Mallmann leads ‘Seven Fires’, the on-site restaurant of the place.
La Arboleda, by Finca Propia
3) Finca Propia / “Your own vineyard”
Finca Propia offers the possibility to buy a row in their vineyard called La Arboleda (The Grove), located in Tupungato, Uco Valley.
It allows the owners to visit the vineyard and do different activities that are part of the winemaking process such as pruning, crop thinning, harvesting and even tastings.
They have set very clear and defined combinations for the client to choose what fits best for him: 24 vines, 1 row, 1 vineyard.
Antonio Mas leads the winemaking area, a long-road enologist in Argentinean viticulture. Additionally, he signs the bottles next to the signature of the owner of the wine.
