In this post, I’ll be writing about my amazing trip to the Maipu wine region in located in Mendoza, Argentina. 

If you love wine, especially Malbec, I highly recommend reading on to learn more about some of the best wineries in Maipu!

Where is the Maipu wine region?

For anyone who doesn’t know, Mendoza is where it’s at when it comes to wine in Argentina. It’s on the most famed regions of wine and is becoming more known every year.

It is located in the Andes mountains, on the western side of Argentina. For reference to anyone familiar with Argentina’s more popular city, Mendoza on the opposite side of Buenos Aires and is about a 1.5-hour flight away.

Within Mendoza, there are three smaller regions that make up the heart of its wineries, also known as “bodegas”. Those regions are Maipu, Luján de Cuyo, and the Uco Valley.

While I’ve heard Luján and Uco are absolutely stunning and more than worthy of their own visit, in this post, I will be writing about my trip to the Maipu wine region. I’ll also share important tips for you if you want to make a visit to the region.

As a side note, I elected to go to Maipu instead of the other two regions mainly for its proximity to the city of Mendoza. I took a 25-minute Uber ride that cost roughly 1700 ARS (about USD $3.50 at the time of writing).

You can also take the 950 public bus for 70 ARS (about 20 cents). This will take an hour but leaves you directly in the main area of Maipú.

If you take the bus, don’t forget to buy a Sube card at a corner “kiosco” (convenience store). You cannot pay cash on public transportation in Mendoza.

Maipu surprised me

I won’t even pretend like it wasn’t. My trip to Maipu was all about wine.

More specifically, my intentions were to learn more about how the wineries in Maipu actually make their wine.

But I had no clue of what I was to encounter.

When you first get to the main area of Maipu, it doesn’t look like anything special. Aside from a gas station and maybe 5 or so stores in a little plaza, it looks pretty deserted.

Nevertheless, one of the stores in the plaza was Motowine, where one- or two-person electric scooters, or mopeds, are available for rent. Though the original plan was to rent a bike from Maipú bikes and use that to go from bodega to bodega, we saw the mopeds outside of the store and figured, “What the hell, why not go in and check it out?”

Am I so glad we did that…

It turns out that it was 7,000 ARS (roughly USD $14) each to rent a two-person moped for the whole day. This came out to be about double the price to rent a regular bike.

Given how relatively late we got to the Maipu wine region (around 12:00pm), along with the affordable cost of the scooters, we ditched the rental bike idea and went with the mopeds.

Outside of deciding to go to Maipu in the first place, this was probably the best decision we made that day. 

No more than 15 minutes after entering the moped shop, we were on our way to our first winery in Maipu, coasting down the main road at a cool 25 mph with the sun in our faces.

The Winery with the Best Views in Maipu: Bodega Mevi

Stunning. 

Simple. As. That.

Unfortunately, the pictures simply don’t do the views at Bodega Mevi justice. When I say they were spectacular, please believe that I am not exaggerating. 

Immediately upon driving onto the property, you’re greeted with rows of grapevines as far as the eye can see. Then, looking to the west, you lock eyes on the snow-capped mountains of the Andes that seem to go on and on through the sky. 

After parking our moped and strolling around the property to take pictures, we made our way up to the main entrance where we were greeted by Gino, the sweet elderly owner of the bodega. Gino looked each of us directly in the eyes and shook our hands, introducing himself and asking what our names are. 

After chitchatting for a brief moment and letting him know how much we love the property, we make our way to the terrace where the views of the mountains just get better and better. This was, by far, the winery with the best views in Maipu.

78-degree (F) day, without a single cloud in sight.

I was definitely in my happy place!

Okay, how about the wine at Bodega Mevi?

As I said above, I visited Maipu simply for wine, wine, and more wine. And in no way was I disappointed…

At Mevi, I had my first tasting. I tried the varietal line that was 2,200 ARS (roughly USD $4.50). The tasting included 3 glasses with options ranging from Chardonnay to Malbec.

While the wine was solid at Mevi, it was nothing to write home about. But in all honesty, the views are the real reason you visit the Mevi winery.

It was the first tasting of the day, and as much as I wanted to try different bodegas, I contemplated sitting on that comfortable outdoor couch until close, overlooking the transformation of day to night.

But, different wines and exploration of the Maipu wine region took precedence. 

With that, it was time to go to the next spot!

On to Bodega Tempus Alba

Where Bodega Mevi had views, Bodega Tempus Alba had chic, elegance, and a draw to tourists. 

As soon as you pull into the property, you notice the modern feel of the property. The building was sleek and sexy with gigantic doors. 

Walking into the front door, it’s clear that the elegant vibe is intentional. From the marble floors to the tall glass windows overlooking the steel tanks and wine barrels, Tempus Alba was really impressive.

And their wines were just as nice!

For this wine tasting (“degustación” in Spanish), I tried a Syrah, Merlot, and Tempus Alba Grand Reserve, all for the beautiful price of 1,800 ARS (just under $4 USD). The best, by far, was the Tempus Alba Grand Reserve. I even thought about getting a bottle! (For reference, the bottle costs about 3,500 ARS (roughly $7 USD)).

Looking back, I’m not sure why I didn’t…

The Best Overall Bodega in the Maipu Wine Region: Las Guapas

At this point, it was about 4:30pm and most of the wineries in Maipu were set to close soon (the vast majority close at 5:00pm). With this in mind, I jumped on the moped and jetted off to Las Guapas, which closed at 6:00pm.

I honestly wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I pulled into Las Guapas. The front sign was kind of small and was very much missing the grandeur of Mevi and Tempus Alba. 

I decided to continue on, eventually getting to the main area some 70 yards away from the entrance. When no one was there I thought that maybe I should turn around or figure something else out. 

That was when the wonderful owner, Lidía, came out and greeted us. She then instructed us to have a seat wherever we’d like.

To say this was the best, yet unexpected, tasting of the day would be an absolute understatement! Lidía was so nice and incredibly knowledgeable (she’s a sommelier originally from Buenos Aires). 

She walked us through each of the three wines and told us about the winemaking process, how to distinguish between high- and low-quality wines, and shared countless stories about the property and larger region of Mendoza.

The attention she gave us made it feel as if we had hired her for our own private tasting. I later learned from the guy at the moped shop that this is his favorite of the wineries in Maipu for that same exact reason.

The experience was so great that we ended up completely losing track of time and had to head back to the moped rental place before it closed. 

Needing to leave Las Guapas, though, went from being the worst part of an amazing day to one of the highlights.

Sunset Views in Maipú

On my way back to drop off the moped, I was greeted with AMAZING sunset views of the Andes mountains. 

I am so sad that I didn’t think to take a picture because the view was breathtaking! In retrospect, I probably didn’t take a picture because it was so mesmerizing.

Ahhh the balance between living in the moment and capturing for later! Can you relate?

The way the sun was peaking right above the mountains was something I’ll never forget. Add this to the fact that minutes before I was trying some of the best wine in one of the best wine regions in the world and was now on a moped zooming through town with the cool wind blowing on my face.

I really hope I’m doing a good job at setting the scene because I would honestly go back to the Maipu wine region just for this part, and I think you should too. Still, it won’t hurt to try some of the wines at the bodegas while you’re there!

This is Why I Travel

If travel is something you’re passionate about, you’ve probably felt this feeling before.

On that moped, I kept thinking to myself, “This is why I travel”.

All in one day, I got beautiful views, extensive knowledge of a place, and chances to connect with people over things they love (in this case it was wine). 

This is one of the best feelings, for sure. I felt it when I hiked Sintra, my first few weeks in Buenos Aires, and when I studied abroad in Sweden. 

It’s that beautifully harmonious and fulfilling emotion that comes from being in a new place and learning just how different it can be from anything you’ve ever experienced.

When was the last time you experienced that? 

Where were you? 

Set the scene in the comments below!

‘Till Next Time Travel Friends!