Mendoza wine tasting in a vintage car

Most vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina’s famous wine-producing region, offer wine tasting and winery tours. Mendoza’s climate is sunny and dry for most of the year, with a marked difference between day and night temperatures, creating near-perfect conditions for wine production. Consequently, there are plenty of winery tours to choose from but they can tend to blur into one another in a long, boozy line up of bottles and barrels.

Familia Zuccardi does things a little differently from the other vineyards. Argentina’s largest family run and owned winemakers offers the opportunity to learn about and taste wine from the eccentric comfort and sophistication of a vintage car. As far as I’m concerned, a hot and dry climate might be fantastic for wine, but the thought of wilting my way around a vineyard on foot does not appeal. Add a quirky set of wheels into the mix though, and there’s no keeping me away from those vines!

Winery tour

Before setting off to explore the vineyards, I was taken on a brief but informative tour of the winery. The English-speaking guide, Matt, talked me through the various stages of wine production, including sparkling wine, and the ethos behind the company. Familia Zuccardi is a relatively new winemaker, and prides itself on its modern, innovative approach. Alberto J Zuccardi, a civil engineer, started growing vines to prove his irrigation techniques to other families. He was the first winemaker to use an underground water supply instead of meltwater and to flood the vines in spring rather than using the usual sprinkler system. His technique proved successful and the resulting abundance of grapes prompted the winemaking that has brought passion and employment to three generations of the Zuccardi family. Every year Familia Zuccardi grows around 35 experimental grapes in addition to the 30-odd established varieties. It is also branching out into olive oil production.

While Familia Zuccardi lacks a traditional wine cellar (the underground water system makes it impossible) and uses modern winemaking technology, it still places great importance on “the human touch”; all picking, and the sorting of the grapes for the premium lines, is done by hand.

Classic car tour and tasting

Time for the main event. I clambered into a green 1937 Ford Fordoor, complete with its original interior. There are 20 vintage cars to chose from, including a 1929 Ford A Roadster, 1932 Studebaker, 1930 Ford A Cabriolet, 1924 Ford  T and a1909 Star. The most popular is the sporty 1929 Ford A Baquet.

Driving through the beautifully kept vineyards with the snow-capped Andes on the horizon was an exquisite experience. The vineyards are delightful; roses, used to indicate the presence of pests as well as look pretty, decorate every corner and rustic tins, used to produce smoke to warm the vines in spring, are scattered throughout.

Even more exquisite was pulling up alongside a table underneath the vines laid with a chequered tablecloth, ice bucket, glinting wine glasses and a bottle of Zuccardi’s premium line Chardonnay Viognier. Here, my guide taught me how to taste white wine properly, without any swill-and-spit snobbery, and explained how the wine had been made. A short vintage car ride later and we repeated the process with red wine, comparing a Zuccardi Serie A Bonarda from 2006 to a 2008 Serie A Malbec.

In an added quirk, I were also treated to an olive oil tasting. Olive oil tasting involves warming the oil in a glass in your hands, swishing, sniffing the aroma and finally drinking it, allowing it to swill over your tongue. The youngest Zuccardi son is in charge of olive oil production and has produced three very successful lines: the fresh Arauco, earthy Frantoio, and the dryer, spicier Manzanilla.

Lunch in the Casa del Vistante

Appetite whetted by wine and olive oil, I finished the tour in Casa del Visitante, the vineyard’s restaurant. Opened in 2004, the restaurant recently won a prestigious Gold Prize for Best Winery Restaurant at the Great Wine Capitals Committee of Mendoza: needless to say, it serves up a delicious lunch. The menu changes seasonally, but will never threaten to leave you unsatisfied. I started with a selection of breads, flavoured butters and a pork terrine, followed by three freshly made empanadas and then, in typically Argentine fashion, moved on to a main course that consisted of no fewer than six different meats from the asado: chicken, sausage, blood sausage, beef ribs, pork and steak, plus grilled vegetables and salad. Belly unsurprisingly bursting, I couldn’t refuse the desert of pumpkin ice cream with fig, peach coulis and caramel flan, and a taste of Familia Zuccardi’s pride and joy, the Malamado dessert wine.