Mendoza is Argentina’s most important wine producing area, comparable to the Napa Valley in California. It is an arid region to the east of the Andes Mountains, first inhabited by the native Huarpes people, who created an extensive network of irrigation canals for agricultural production. The Inca empire conquered the Huarpes and expanded the irrigation system, and when the Spanish supplanted the Inca they further developed the irrigation canals, which they called acequias.

The acechias carry water from impoundments in the Andes foothills out into the dry flat plains to the east, where 300 days of sunshine yearly creates ideal conditions for all sorts of crops. In addition to grapes, Mendoza produces olives for oil and eating, and fruits and nuts.

After our fishing on the Limay River, we flew back to Buenos Aires for a night and then flew out the next day for Mendoza, where we had booked an AirBnB called Casona Medrano. Our host Marta shared the history of the beautiful house with us ; it was built by her husband 50 years ago, and he used many of the same materials and techniques to build the house that he used in his business building wineries in the region, including vaulted brick ceilings and thick masonry walls. In the yard is a pool, a large wood fired oven and a grill.

The pool enticed us on our arrival in 100 degree F heat, but the next two days were uncharacteristically cool and wet, so we didn’t get to use it until our last day in Mendoza. Instead we visited wineries, rode horses and toured the city of Mendoza.

We had a wonderful lunch at Antigal winery that included a tasting of four different wines. Our favorites were the Malbec and the Chardonnay, and the owner of the Antigal restaurant spent quite a bit of time with us explaining both the menu and the wine.

The horseback ride into the foothills of the Andes was incredible, and taught me one thing that I will always remember – I am not a horseman. Sore does not begin to describe the pain I experienced after riding for three hours. Apparently there are some muscles in our bodies that we did not learn in medical school.

After the riding was over we finally got to jump in the pool at Casona Medrano. It felt great ! Tomorrow we are off to El Calafate to begin our drive through Patagonia.