Of Lambs, Loos, and Liquid Gold — A Week in Mendoza
Our second night at the free campsite in Luján was completely destroyed by the wind. Arriving in the middle of the night, it tore through the campground. We lost our bucket completely, as well as most of our sleep. Feeling rather tired, we weren’t really in the best mood to be socialising, but time ticks on and we needed to get moving. We packed up and headed out on the final stint to Mendoza – another four hours' drive across nothingness.
Finally, we arrived at Abigail and Richie’s house after spending way too long trying to find a bottle of wine. We pulled up in their ongoing campsite project. They had done a lot since our last visit in December. The majority of the plum trees were gone, the property was now fenced, and they had built proper irrigation channels so you didn’t have to drive through a narrow but deep ditch anymore.
The pièce de résistance, however, was the new toilet block. When we’d arrived before, it had been nothing more than a concrete pad. Now it had two fully functioning loos that had only just been hooked up that day. We were to be the first guests to try them! There was also a large celebratory barbecue going on. Richie’s enormous whole lamb sat on a massive grilling rack over a new firepit while he constantly tended to it.
We met another couple who were their friends, along with another man responsible for the planning. In true Latin American fashion, he was coming in to draw up plans for the finished buildings to submit for planning permission after they were already built.
The night-time temperature dropped rapidly, so we spent our evening gathered around the fire. Everyone except the freak vegetarian (me) enjoyed the enormous lamb. I, meanwhile, had a chunk of tofu, some cheese, bread, and spring onions cooked over the fire. I suppose it’s down to personal preference which of those sounds more appealing to you! Richie certainly couldn’t get his head around it, but now that I felt we knew them a little better, I didn’t feel the need to eat meat just to keep someone else happy.
The next day we didn’t get up to much. Abigail had to work, even though it was the weekend, and Richie was dealing with a sudden plumbing disaster in the house. That meant we didn’t sit down together again until the evening. Then we made ourselves a big roast dinner – of course, once all the English people get together…
The next day I spent faffing around with the engine. We were particularly keen to have it running well as we’d be doing some very high-altitude driving soon, and as we’d pulled up to the shop the day before, it had started behaving very erratically at idle. After a while, I traced the problem to the fuel pressure regulator hose, which was loose. With this reattached, I adjusted the fuel pressures and finally got our fuel trims back in range. We still had a bit of an odd over-revving problem, but that wasn’t an issue that worried me all that much.
After a day spent messing around with mechanics, we got to do something much better in the evening: it was time for Cheese Man.
While I won’t say that we drove to Mendoza purely for the cheese, it has got to be right up there as a contributing factor. I was nearly as excited about buying cheese as I was about revisiting our friends. This guy is incredible – it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve never found anyone who sells cheese this good across two entire continents. His prices are also on par with the cheapest, most tasteless supermarket blocks. We paid around £10/kg, which is really nothing for that quality.
After a lot of tastings, we spent around £45 on cheese and left very, very happy. A worthy investment in my mind.
As well as visiting the cheese guy, Richie took us to a local motor factors where we managed to buy some antifreeze for the engine. Since our radiator accident way back in Brazil, we had been running on pure water. The Brazilians and Paraguayans don’t put antifreeze in their cars as it never freezes up there; they use coolant, but it’s purely anti-corrosive. Back down here in the south, though, temperatures were dangerously close to zero, and when we headed into the mountains, we’d definitely need to protect our engine.
We also stopped at the supermarket to pick up some bits for dinner. They had kindly fed us for two nights, so we felt it was our turn to cook. Tonight would be Mexican tacos. It was getting late before we ate; a tired Abigail returned from work at half past nine to find Zoe still out of bed and dinner just appearing on the table. Tacos were a success, however, and Richie was happy that I was finally eating some meat – well, fish at least!
We decided we’d spend one more day. Lee went as technical support to help Richie unlock the washing machine (which was holding their current wash load hostage) and sort out his drone. I sorted out a few more bits on the van, like moving around our shock absorber air lines and repacking everything in preparation to leave the next day.
That night we cooked pizzas, taking advantage of having an oven. As we wouldn’t see Abigail or Zoe in the morning, we said our goodbyes. Their cat, Oreo, was sad to see us go – she’d taken to walking circuits around our pop-top in the morning, howling away. While she wasn’t allowed in the house and Richie was clearly not overly keen, I was so happy that they’d adopted her from the neglectful neighbours. Last time we were here, she was a starving tiny kitten; now she was much happier and distinctly on the chunky side, which was lovely to see.
Then it was time to say goodbye to Richie, too. I quickly zapped an errant handbrake cable tube back on with Richie's welder as Ruby drove up to the house, and then we headed inside to share a final beer. It had been great to see them again, and we wished them the best of luck with the campsite opening and their fight against the bureaucracy of Argentine immigration law as we waved goodbye.
On Abigail's recommendation, we had booked ourselves a tour at Laur. This company makes some of the best olive oil in the world, and for a very reasonable price of £25 for two people, you can go for a tour and tasting. We’d never been to an olive oil factory, so we thought that sounded like a great idea before heading across town to see our other friends later that day.
Our tour group was small, with just one other Russian couple. Our guide spoke English – a nice bonus. She took us first to the factory, showing us the old equipment that they used to make the oil and explaining how the olives were traditionally processed and the oil extracted. Historically, the olives were crushed up and the paste layered between woven metal discs, after which the oil was separated from the water using a centrifuge.
Nowadays, the process looks more like a laboratory. Large custom machines and electronic control panels now carry out the work.
Our guide also explained the health benefits of olive oil. The oil they make here is high in polyphenols, which are natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds. They even have an oil formulated especially to help people who suffer from ADHD or chronic inflammation; it’s so high in polyphenols that it carries medicinal benefits. She told us that regular oil only retains these properties for the first year unopened and three months once opened. While it won’t cause you any harm after that, you lose those health benefits. Here is also their award winning oil.
Laur doesn’t just make olive oil; they also make balsamic vinegar. They are one of only three production sites outside Italy that hold up to the strict standards of the Consorzio del Aceto Balsamico di Modena. They are also the only place in the Southern Hemisphere to hold this title. It goes without saying that their balsamic vinegar is INCREDIBLE. I’d never really thought about it much before, but as with most products made 'properly' without a bunch of colourings or sweeteners, there’s quite a lengthy process.
Traditional balsamic vinegar takes 15 years to make. There is an Italian tradition where the process starts with the birth of a baby girl. The family celebrates by buying a 'battery' of five barrels in decreasing sizes and filling them with vinegar (made from must – mushed-up and fermented grapes that give a basic vinegar base). Over the next 15 years, the vinegar moves between barrels, picking up different characteristics from each wood type. New must is only ever added to the largest barrel, and every year a portion is taken from the smallest barrel. Because the final barrel is small, the wood-to-vinegar ratio is high, so it evaporates more, yielding that sweet, sticky balsamic. The small barrel is topped up from the next largest, and so on down the line. Once the girl grows up and is ready to marry, she takes all her barrels with her as part of her dowry.
Laur makes a classic Italian balsamic as well as smoked (in image on the right above you can see them smoking a batch of vinegar outside) and spicy varieties. We hoped they wouldn’t be too expensive because they sounded amazing!
After our tour, we headed inside for a tasting. They have an entire bar of oils and vinegars, which our guide explained to us. Then we were given a glass of wine and a small cheeseboard. Up at the bar, we were free to try each oil independently, along with the vinegars. At the table, we were given a taste of their award-winning oil, valued at $100 a bottle. Conveniently, my favourite wasn’t the expensive one, and once we’d finished up, we headed to the shop to see how much everything cost.
We were pleasantly surprised by the price. A 500ml bottle of oil was only about £8 – the same price as the cheapest olive oil you could buy in the supermarket back home. The amazing balsamic was only £3.50 a bottle, so we had to snap a couple up.
After a pleasant afternoon, we decided we’d pop to the supermarket before heading round to our other friends' house. Ruby, however, had other plans. Back in the car park, a wet outline in the shape of our radiator was visible on the floor. For no apparent reason, two hoses that had never leaked decided to start dripping. Luckily, we hadn’t lost too much of our new antifreeze, so I pinched up the hose clamps, and we set off.
The next three days were spent at Carlos and Rosa’s. As always, there was a lot of food, a lot of wine, and good conversation. In contrast to the summer, we sat around the fire in the evening. Rosa cooked enough food to feed an army, and Carlos made sure our glasses were never empty. They were happy to hear that maybe we would settle in Brazil – if it was Brazil, they said, they’d be able to come and visit us! So this time when we left, we hoped it wouldn’t be the last time we saw them. They are the most generous and kind people, repeatedly welcoming us into their home and expecting absolutely nothing in return.
After over a week in Mendoza, we were both sad and excited to leave. It was time to head for the mountains.
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