On Friday, we finished our internship after working three weeks straight, only four days of less than 12 hours. After working a half day, we celebrated the close of our time at Viña Cobos by having the usual Friday "asado" lunch together, except we had lomita sandwiches because the rain cancelled our BBQ. The team was very generous and gave us all amazing wine to bring back, a baseball hat and an incredible Viña Cobos asado knife with our name inscribed on each. Then after that, they let us have a tasting. At first we thought we were just going to try a few of their lower end wines, but each time we finished a flight, Pablo would bring more glasses. All the while we were joking with him about trying Cobos, their premium wine. Once we finished trying all the wines up through Braemare Vineyard Designation, Pablo brought two more glasses for each, along with a bottle of Cobos Malbec and Cobos Voltourno. We were completely floored. The wines were amazing. It was an unbelievable way to close our time there.
Off on vacation to Uco Valley, Cafayate, and Salta. More to come.
- Martin & Kate
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Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Grapes, grapes, grapes
Yes, we know we've been lacking on the blog posts. This week we've been on the night shift which means working normally 15 hours. It's become a completely natural amount of time to work. And it isn't too bad when we get to look at this from the top of the tanks while doing pump overs.
We are having fun and enjoying the Argentinean culture in the cellar.
Here are a few more snap shots.
Pump overs...
Draining and pressing a tank...
Cleaning tapones in the barrel room...
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
We are having fun and enjoying the Argentinean culture in the cellar.
Here are a few more snap shots.
Pump overs...
Draining and pressing a tank...
Cleaning tapones in the barrel room...
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Argentina
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Harvest
We have been receiving fruit, spending lots of time on the sorting table and doing what seems like endless pump overs (although we aren't even at the peak yet). But some of our favorite memories of the "cosecha" have been out in the vineyard harvesting.
Pickers are paid by the bin with a token used to collect payment at the end of the day. Each token is stamped with the vineyard's name. After our short hours harvesting, we managed to get a few tokens.
This flag signifies the next available row to be picked.
Perhaps the best part of harvesting is the view.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Pickers are paid by the bin with a token used to collect payment at the end of the day. Each token is stamped with the vineyard's name. After our short hours harvesting, we managed to get a few tokens.
This flag signifies the next available row to be picked.
Perhaps the best part of harvesting is the view.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Argentina
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
First Vintage
Martin spent a day in the vineyard with Juan Igancio, one of the agronomists, taking grape samples from different parcels for crop estimation. Being the resourceful guy he is... Martin has asked if he could have the sample grapes once they were done using them for analyses. The first day of this, Martin received a few bag loads of Malbec grapes. He brought them home, hand-destemmed them and loaded them into tank #1 (a 5L water jug and later known as "Michi" in honor of the house cat). He cold soaked them for three days while adding grapes from Juan Ignacio's daily counts.
In addition to the Michi Malbec, finding ourselves with a surplus of grapes, Martin and fellow housemate, Hannah, decided to make two different rosé wines... One that was macerated with its skins for two hours and the other for about ten minutes.
After the cold soak, Martin asked one of the winemakers if he could have some yeast for his wines. That night, he inoculated his three tanks... Embarking on his first winemaking journey.
He directed to all housemate that we needed to assist with daily pump overs, which included any middle of the night bathroom breaks.
After a few days, Martin took Michi, SB and Spelino (the tanks) to the winery analyses. Michi was done! The others were halfway through fermentation.
That night, Martin excitedly pressed and bottled (so good that it doesn't require any aging) his first wine. He got a total of four bottles that are awaiting a special moment. Perhaps a Sunday night Argentinean family dinner.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
In addition to the Michi Malbec, finding ourselves with a surplus of grapes, Martin and fellow housemate, Hannah, decided to make two different rosé wines... One that was macerated with its skins for two hours and the other for about ten minutes.
After the cold soak, Martin asked one of the winemakers if he could have some yeast for his wines. That night, he inoculated his three tanks... Embarking on his first winemaking journey.
He directed to all housemate that we needed to assist with daily pump overs, which included any middle of the night bathroom breaks.
After a few days, Martin took Michi, SB and Spelino (the tanks) to the winery analyses. Michi was done! The others were halfway through fermentation.
That night, Martin excitedly pressed and bottled (so good that it doesn't require any aging) his first wine. He got a total of four bottles that are awaiting a special moment. Perhaps a Sunday night Argentinean family dinner.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Week Dos
Sunday started with a celebration for Kate's 25th birthday! Mimosas and french toast for breakfast. Then we went "white" water rafting (actually brown due to tiny grains of silt). After, we stopped at our favorite local brewery, Jerome's... We tried some new beers and enjoyed their homemade sausages, but the best part is still their incredible house mustard. We also hung out at our landlord's typical Sunday asado- the men played guitars, sang in honor of the host, enjoyed some beer, and of course some dancing.
Later in the evening we cut a dulce de leché cake in Kate's honor.
This week, we finally received grapes (Petit Verdot and Malbec). That has kept all of us fairly busy, plus makes work more exciting.
Scott and Bill (Kate's uncles) were traveling for pleasure to Argentina and planned a trip to Mendoza before they knew we were coming. They arrived on Wednesday and we had a delicious dinner with them in Mendoza, although totally surreal to see them here. Friday night, after a long day of crushing, they picked us up and had another amazing dinner at a nearby winery/hotel. On Saturday, the four of us went into Mendoza and explored the craft stands in the Plaza Independencia and even made a few purchases. Most artisans are making their goods right there in the park, mostly typically jewelry. We enjoyed a coffee, then went to lunch at the Park Hyatt and sat outside overlooking the Plaza Independencia. Although we haven't been down here long, it was very refreshing to see family (but difficult once they left). Their flight was that evening, so we said goodbye and then the two of us wandered the city and its plazas.
We stopped at Vines of Mendoza, a wine bar, where we tried a wine flight blind and then guessed the varieties. Got 4 out of 5 right! We shopped at another wine shop and later met up with the other interns to celebrate Hannah's birthday and St. Patrick's Day.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Later in the evening we cut a dulce de leché cake in Kate's honor.
This week, we finally received grapes (Petit Verdot and Malbec). That has kept all of us fairly busy, plus makes work more exciting.
Scott and Bill (Kate's uncles) were traveling for pleasure to Argentina and planned a trip to Mendoza before they knew we were coming. They arrived on Wednesday and we had a delicious dinner with them in Mendoza, although totally surreal to see them here. Friday night, after a long day of crushing, they picked us up and had another amazing dinner at a nearby winery/hotel. On Saturday, the four of us went into Mendoza and explored the craft stands in the Plaza Independencia and even made a few purchases. Most artisans are making their goods right there in the park, mostly typically jewelry. We enjoyed a coffee, then went to lunch at the Park Hyatt and sat outside overlooking the Plaza Independencia. Although we haven't been down here long, it was very refreshing to see family (but difficult once they left). Their flight was that evening, so we said goodbye and then the two of us wandered the city and its plazas.
We stopped at Vines of Mendoza, a wine bar, where we tried a wine flight blind and then guessed the varieties. Got 4 out of 5 right! We shopped at another wine shop and later met up with the other interns to celebrate Hannah's birthday and St. Patrick's Day.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, March 12, 2012
Our First Week
On our first Friday in Mendoza, the winery invited us to an asado (Argentinian BBQ) which they do every week. Delicious meat! We met the employees and owners. Everyone was exceptionally welcoming and excited to have us join them for the harvest.
We toured the winery...
and met our sweet ride... Fiat Uno.
That night we (all of us 5 interns) drove into Mendoza city (about 20 minutes north) for the Festival de la Vendimia. It's a harvest parade where the queens from each town of Mendoza rode on extravagant floats down the main street. Lots of people crowding the streets and little girls wearing crowns.
On Saturday, we decided to take a hike together as a bonding experience. We drove an hour into the Andes to a town called Potrerillos.
We hiked for an hour and a half and then quenched our thirst at a nearby brewery, Jerome's.
We shared some delicious homemade sausages, lot of fries and tasty craft beer. They have some pretty amazing homemade mustard!
That night we explored the nightlife in the city of Mendoza with the highlight being a wine bar, Vines of Mendoza, where we tasted flights of Malbec wines.
The two of us and Hannah started bright and early on Monday. Our shift was 6am-6pm. Tony and Evan volunteered for the night shift 6pm-6am shift. All the Chardonnay was received before we arrived, so the first week consisted of cleaning, racking, topping and more cleaning. Nevertheless it has been very interesting to see their procedures and impressive attention to detail.
We lucked out and all the interns were given Friday off, but of course we couldn't miss the asado! so we brought some brownies to share. In the intern house, Friday is now simply referred to as "asado"... A highlight to our week.
More to come soon!
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
We toured the winery...
and met our sweet ride... Fiat Uno.
That night we (all of us 5 interns) drove into Mendoza city (about 20 minutes north) for the Festival de la Vendimia. It's a harvest parade where the queens from each town of Mendoza rode on extravagant floats down the main street. Lots of people crowding the streets and little girls wearing crowns.
On Saturday, we decided to take a hike together as a bonding experience. We drove an hour into the Andes to a town called Potrerillos.
We hiked for an hour and a half and then quenched our thirst at a nearby brewery, Jerome's.
We shared some delicious homemade sausages, lot of fries and tasty craft beer. They have some pretty amazing homemade mustard!
That night we explored the nightlife in the city of Mendoza with the highlight being a wine bar, Vines of Mendoza, where we tasted flights of Malbec wines.
The two of us and Hannah started bright and early on Monday. Our shift was 6am-6pm. Tony and Evan volunteered for the night shift 6pm-6am shift. All the Chardonnay was received before we arrived, so the first week consisted of cleaning, racking, topping and more cleaning. Nevertheless it has been very interesting to see their procedures and impressive attention to detail.
We lucked out and all the interns were given Friday off, but of course we couldn't miss the asado! so we brought some brownies to share. In the intern house, Friday is now simply referred to as "asado"... A highlight to our week.
More to come soon!
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Unnamed Rd,Mendoza,
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Mendoza, Our New Home
On March 1st, our alarm went off at 4:15am. We, sleepily, got everything together and Vicky and Sebastian drove us to the airport. Our flight departed at 7:10am, and we landed in Buenos Aires two hours later. With four hours until our next flight, we decided to walk outside a little. It was slightly sprinkling, but we strolled along the river's edge. It was so big and vast, we first thought it was the ocean.
We walked for awhile and stood near the runway watching planes take off and land.
Eventually we went back inside, shared a pizza for lunch and around 1:30pm, boarded our plane. These were some of the views looking down on BA.
Landed in Mendoza where we were picked up by a cab driver that Viña Cobos sent. He drove us 30 minutes from the city to our new home for the next two months.
We met two other interns, Evan and Hannah, both Californians. The place is small but cozy. We have a nice outdoor area and a pool that we share with the landlords. Check out the view.
We went to the local grocery store and made dinner.
One of Hannah's friends invited us to what we thought would be a casual tasting with other interns. We brought a few grocery store bottle of wine and cheese, crackers and questionable salami. When we arrived, it turned out to be an industry tasting with winemakers, managers and PR representatives. Let's just say our wine, nor the salami, were people's favorites. We did meet lots of interesting people. One guy who works for a small winery, Pequeña Bodega, which is owned by his family. He was very welcoming and invited us to have an asada (Argentinian BBQ) with him. We definitely hope to visit.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
We walked for awhile and stood near the runway watching planes take off and land.
Eventually we went back inside, shared a pizza for lunch and around 1:30pm, boarded our plane. These were some of the views looking down on BA.
Landed in Mendoza where we were picked up by a cab driver that Viña Cobos sent. He drove us 30 minutes from the city to our new home for the next two months.
We met two other interns, Evan and Hannah, both Californians. The place is small but cozy. We have a nice outdoor area and a pool that we share with the landlords. Check out the view.
We went to the local grocery store and made dinner.
One of Hannah's friends invited us to what we thought would be a casual tasting with other interns. We brought a few grocery store bottle of wine and cheese, crackers and questionable salami. When we arrived, it turned out to be an industry tasting with winemakers, managers and PR representatives. Let's just say our wine, nor the salami, were people's favorites. We did meet lots of interesting people. One guy who works for a small winery, Pequeña Bodega, which is owned by his family. He was very welcoming and invited us to have an asada (Argentinian BBQ) with him. We definitely hope to visit.
- Martin & Kate
BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Unnamed Rd,Mendoza,
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