The Godiks and Penns in Mendoza: Part 2 – Familia Zuccardi, Estancia San Pablo and Vino Patricia

On Friday, the Godiks arrived. Zeev, Patsy, Greg and Jack (Georgina, their oldest, remained in London to work) stayed in a beautiful hotel close to the finca called Cavas Wine Lodge where guests are placed in small adobe houses interspersed throughout a vineyard (sorry, no pictures).

The next day, they came to the finca, where we had a relaxing lunch. Jack is an Argentine at heart and seems to love everything about the country -- the polo (which he is learning to play in London), the mate (an Argentine tea ritual - more about this later), the animals etc. You can see how he would easily fit into the lifestyle here on the finca with Pascual, Maria and the animals. In the afternoon, he went on a horse ride, and the rest of us relaxed, preparing for our busy week of "playing" ahead.

The next day, Zeev and Patsy arranged for us to have lunch and spend the afternoon with their friends the Zuccardis at Familia Zuccardi bodega. Julie, Mark, Annabel and Rebecca had previously met Julia Zuccardi, the daughter of Jose Zuccardi, the owner, when they went to visit the bodega a few months ago. Julia is lovely, warm and welcoming, and the rest of the family is the same. We ate a delicious, huge lunch in their beautiful garden outside of the restaurant. The olive harvest is coming up in May, and along with wines, the Zuccardis sell olive oils. Several of us went to see the new state-of-the-art olive press while others went to look at the new baby kittens that had just been born to one the bodega's cats.

On Monday, we drove the 1 ½ hours back up to the Uco Valley to spend the day with Walter, a gaucho, and his family. Walter and his wife own a large cattle ranch in the foothills of the Andes Mountains called Estancia San Pablo (http://estanciasanpablo.com.ar/). Getting to San Pablo is an adventure in itself. Much of the drive to the Estancia is on dirt road and, once there, one has to cross a precarious, broken bridge in the car. “You’ve got to be kidding!” was Mark’s response (and Jack said “We watched you cross the bridge and your tires barely made it over the slats” – we were in 2 cars). But, it was all worth it.
Walter is a true gaucho (multi-generation) and is committed to raising his two young children in the gaucho tradition of living off the land. Almost everything they eat is either grown or raised on their property. When old enough, their children will ride their horses to attend a small school (20 children in all, grades K-6) down the road. Their now 4 year old has had, and has been riding, her own horse since she was 1 ½ years old. Patsy, Zeev and their children have been to Estancia San Pablo several times.

As with many Argentines we've met, Walter and his family had many animals on the property - dogs, cats, horses and cattle (of course) and to the delight of us all, a newly adopted baby llama. They had taken the baby llama in when her parents had been hit by a car. Walter had bottle fed her, and now, predictably, she wouldn’t let Walter out of her sight (even inside the house). Walter's wife prepared an amazing asado for us (all of the food from their land): homemade empanadas, marinated eggplant and tomatoes, goat (a regional specialty), steak, trout, salad...it was a feast. After lunch, they saddled up the horses and we went for a long ride through the mountains. It was breathtaking - we crossed small rivers and road up into the hills. At one point we stopped to visit a cave in the side of the mountain and drink the water which ran down from the Andes. It was sweet and delicious. After 2 1/2 hours, the kids were ready to keep on going, and the adults were ready to keel over (Patsy and Julie were hobbling around for days). Needless to say, we all slept well that night.

The next day was fairly relaxed. That night, the Godiks, Pops and Julie went out for a very laid-back meal to one of Julie and Mark's favorite little restaurants called El Palenque (The Hitching Post). Pops was leaving the next day and it was the perfect end to his visit.

The Godiks stayed for a couple more days, and, unfortunately, Pops missed, by one, our visit to Zeev and Patsy's wine maker, Mauricio Lorca, where Vino Patricia (named after Patsy) is being made. It was so exciting. We saw the barrels and the cement tanks where Vino Patricia from this year and last year's harvest is fermenting. And then we had the wine tasting. How wonderful it was to taste the wine from the grapes growing in the finca....and it was delicious! By September, Gauchos will be selling two Vino Patricia Malbecs from last year's harvest. We all felt so proud and happy (see the picture of Patsy tasting her wine).

It was a wonderful visit. At the end, Patsy and Julie did get a little time together which was lovely, but is never enough. After they left, Julie, in particular, felt sad already missing her family and knowing that this was the beginning of the end of our time in Mendoza.

The Godiks and Penns in Mendoza: Part 1 – San Rafael and the Uco Valley

Julie’s father, John, better known as Pops and her cousin, Patsy, and her family, arrived from California and London respectively for a much anticipated visit. Patsy and her husband, Zeev (their last name is Godik, own the finca and will be selling the wine that they produce from the grapes grown there in their restaurants in Europe. Their restaurants, called Gauchos, specialize in Argentine fare (the food and wine are delicious, by the way, so if you are ever in London….), and the Godiks come to Argentina frequently and know it well. This is the Penn side of the family (Patsy’s mother, Joan, and Julie’s dad are sister and brother), and Patsy and Julie, before they both moved from South Africa and then when they came back for annual visits, grew up together in Cape Town.

Pops arrived first laden down with books from the girls. On his first day, we took him into Mendoza and introduced him to the wonders of trying to conduct business in Argentina, spending 2 hours in Citibank changing travelers checks (Pops said, “I thought you were exaggerating when you said it would take 2 hours”). We decided that that was the last time we would do that, and spent the rest of his time focused purely on hedonistic activities (which, of course, in Mendoza always involves visits to vineyards).

Our first visit to a winery was to a wonderful little bodega called Clos de Chacras, which is located 15 minutes away from our finca. The vineyard is small, about 13 hectors, and they produce only a few thousand bottles a year, and it is an old vineyard which is good (the best growing years for grapes are when the vines are between 85 -135 years old, according to Zeev). We planned to have lunch at their restaurant and then do the wine tour. The restaurant was lovely, small and warm, and the owner was there with her infant granddaughter making it even more cozy and homey. Pops and Julie decided to go all out and do the 6 course meal with wine pairings. The food was great and the wines were delicious. After the meal, we went on the wine tour. They happened to be bottling wines when we were there which was interesting. Because it is a small winery, they hand apply all their labels. At Clos de Chacras they use the older methods to produce the wine. They have caverns underground with concrete tanks and they store the bottles of wine next to the tanks. After the tour, we bought a couple bottles of wine and Pops purchased a Close de Chacras cap, which he wore constantly for the rest of his stay.

The next day we left for our trip to the Uco Valley, San Rafael and Valle Grande. San Rafael was recommended to us by our Argentine friends, Natalia and Mariano, and many Mendocino’s vacation there with their families because there are so many fun, outdoorsy things to do. The Uco Valley is another famous area for wines and is on the way to San Rafael. The Valley is at a higher elevation than Lujan, where we live, and is very dry, making for good grape growing conditions. We made reservations to visit a very good winery called O. Fournier. Patsy introduced Julie to the owners of O. Fournier, Jose and Nadia Ortega, and they have helped us immensely in getting acclimated to Argentina. O. Fournier is unlike any other winery. When you approach it, it looks like a spaceship has landed in the middle of the vineyard. The restaurant and bodega are ultra-modern. The restaurant is enclosed in glass with a stunning view of the Andes. Again, we opted for the multi-course lunch with wine pairings. The Ortega’s are Spanish and O. Fournier specializes in Tempranillo wines, a traditionally Spanish wine, and blends. The Ortegas designed their bodega to make optimal use of gravity and other natural phenomena. The initial de-stemming and crushing of the grapes takes place on the roof. There are tanks built into the floor and the juice, which eventually becomes wine, is passed down and the fermentation process, in the oak barrels and vats, occurs underground. The bottom floor is where the wine is bottled and stored. It also doubles as a modern art museum.

In the late afternoon, we drove the extra 1 ½ hours to Valle Grande, where we had rented a cabana for the night on the banks of the Rio Atuel. We arrived after dark but woke up early to make sure we could participate in the activities. We had many options: white water rafting, horseback riding, zip lining, hiking….we opted for white water rafting and were glad we did. The river was a level 2, perfect for us. Pops was a trooper, we had a great guide who made our ride as bouncy as possible and then threw Julie in the water (Mark and Rebecca had already taken the plunge; Pops and Annabel remained in the boat to engage in rescue procedures, if necessary). The scenery was magnificent; we were in the middle of Canon Atuel, a mini-version of our Grand Cannon but with water, and behind us were the magnificent Andes mountains.
On the way home, we stopped in San Rafael for a meal at a local restaurant, La Gringa. (We were the only gringos in the place.) Pops said it was one of the best steaks he ate, and then we drove back the 2 ½ hours to Mendoza.

Polo match

We were invited to a polo match by our friend Susana who works at Familia Zuccardi. Zuccardi was one of the sponsors and their newly-formed team was playing in the tournament. Polo is a popular sport in Argentina but is played more frequently in Buenos Aires than in Mendoza (in fact, this was Susana's --- a native Argentine's--- first polo match). Of course, when our American friends heard about it, they all also wanted to go. So on Sunday, a big group of Americans and Argentines descended on the polo fields to watch the tournament.

It was an interesting experience. Polo is a sport, like in the States, that is enjoyed be the elite. In fact, there was much discussion among us women about whether or not we should go and buy hats just for the for this event (much bantering went on about Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman). In the end we borrowed hats and got dressed up. The event was sponsored by those you would expect, makers of fine wines and spirits, and by those you scratched your head about, male hair replacement clinics. (Funny story with that: The men in the group, all in their early 40's, were thrilled when two pretty-young-things approached them with brochures only to find pictures of smiling men with toupees. Outraged, they came up with many ideas for brochures they could hand back to those girls. Julie kept one of the brochures for posterity's sake).

Oh, yeah, and then there was the game. The horses and riders were amazing, but there were two issues: we had no idea who was playing, because there was no announcer, and we had no idea who was winning, because there was no scoreboard. But, it was beautiful to watch in between drinking our samples of wine and fancy drinks.

Harvest and Phil

On March 11th-13th la finca, Vina Patricia, had harvest day! This was a big day to all of those who worked at the finca.There were about 20 workers picking grapes, but they weren't the only ones! The Brazaitis/Penn family also participated in the harvest by picking grapes and putting them in to buckets. Phil a man from London came on March 21st to come and taste the wine and determine when the wine is ready. Phil will be staying on the finca inside one of the 2 houses that is like right next to the gatekeepers house. Patsy and her husband, Zeev (the owners of the finca) and their children were going to participate in the harvest but unfortunatuly Facundo, the agronomist, thought the harvest would be later then it was so Patsy, Zeev and their children are coming at the end of the month with Annabel and Rebecca's grandfather, Pops. We plan to do much with them!!!

Las Candelas y Buenos Aires

Annabel and Rebecca started school at Las Candelas the last week of February. After Rebecca’s rather traumatic first day, we’ve decided to keep her home and continue to home-school her. Annabel is doing well given her scant understanding of Spanish. In the morning, she has language arts and math. The morning teachers and administrative staff don’t speak any English, so Annabel is having a truly immersive experience. The afternoon (which begins after siesta, from 2:00 – 5:00pm) is devoted to English. About half the students stay for the English portion of the day; the rest go home at 1:15 pm. After a few days of staying for English, which consisted of her writing stories involving cats and hats, we decided to have her come home instead. There seemed to be more productive things to do with her time like after-school activities or home-schooling. With English in the afternoon, the school day is long, and Annabel is happy to be with us in the afternoon.

After checking back with the authorities to see if our passports were recovered (what a shocker – they weren’t!), we decided to make the trip to Buenos Aires to ‘visit’ the US Embassy and tour the City. We took the overnight bus, much to Mark’s delight, which was actually quite comfortable (although I don’t know if we’d like to repeat it again anytime soon). We splurged and went 1st class for the 14 hour trip which meant we had fully reclining seats. We had heard from friends that we should bring eye-covers for the girls as they play videos all night (our friends Becky and Jeff were delighted that they and their kids were entertained with ‘Saw 2’ which they got to watch not once but 3 times in immediate succession. Needless to say, their 9 and 7 year olds had nightmares for a few nights following). We, luckily, had reserved our trip with ‘the best’ bus company so we got an Emily Watson movie - again, much to Mark’s delight- which was relatively tame and only shown once.

We arrived in Buenos Aires on Thursday morning and were picked up by Hernan, the man who manages our finca and who lives in Buenos Aires. He had arranged for an apartment for us for the 5 days we would be in the city. We discovered that many Argentines and ‘in-the-know’ foreigners rent vacation apartments instead of going to hotels. For us it was perfect as we have a pretty severe cereal addiction, and hotels are hard places to keep milk fresh. We were staying in the theatre district which closely resembled 42nd Street in New York pre-Rudolph Giuliani and his ‘let’s pull in Disney and clean up this dump’ campaign. Becca asked whether there were other kids living in our apartment building at about the same time I was wondering how many of the apartments were subleased by the hour, to which, of course, we responded “no, I don’t think so, honey.” The good thing about our apartment was that we had access to a few key subway routes which took us to many wonderful places in the City.

The day of our arrival, we immediately went to the US Embassy to take care of our passports. The people in the embassy were remarkably compassionate and efficient. We went for lunch in a lovely area called Palermo Viejo which has beautiful tree –lined streets, and reminds me of certain parts of London. In the afternoon we went to Plaza de Mayo to see the Casa Rosada, the ‘Pink House’ and the office of ‘La Presidenta’, and the city’s main cathedral, the Catedral Metropolitana. Over the next few days we visited most of the city’s neighborhoods. We came back to Palermo to go to the botanical gardens which is famous not only for its beautiful gardens, but its feral cats (now you know the real motivation). The kids were introduced to Eva Peron – we went to the Eva Peron museum and the Cementerio de Ricoleta where she and other famous Argentines are buried. One evening, Mark went to see an Argentine musical on the life of Evita entitled Eva: El Gran Musical Argentino. The museum and musical were decidedly one-sided, but very interesting. Probably our favorite part of the city was San Telmo, one of the oldest barrios with cobblestone streets and charming, old low-story colonial buildings. The barrio is like the Village and is now famous for its antiques market, galleries and beautiful little shops. On our last day, we went to the waterfront area and walked over the Puerto Madero bridge. The biggest disappointment of the trip? La Boca, a supposed working-class section of the city whose main street might as well have been called Tourist Trap Way. We sat down to an expensive, and mediocre, meal, and fended off hawkers who wanted to know where we were from.

Overall, the trip was a great success. We, however, missed the cat, dogs and birds, as well as the relative quiet, and were happy to return to the finca and Mendoza.

Wineries, New Friends and Grandma She-She

We've had an eventful few weeks.


We've started to make friends. We have lovely neighbors who have been very helpful and welcoming. Natalia and Mariano live across the street and have 3 children: 2 girls named Martina and Felicita who are 11 and 8 and a little boy named Valentin who is 4. Natalia is an English teacher in a bi-lingual school near to us (not the school that Annabel and Rebecca will be attending) and Mariano sells materials to the farmers in the region. Even though their children speak little English and Annabel and Rebecca speak little Spanish, they all get along very well. They've come over to swim and have tea with us, and we have gone to them for lunch and play dates. We've also met an American couple from Jackson, Wyoming, who have moved here for a year to "take a break." Their children, Jack and Georgia, who are Annabel and Rebecca's ages will be going to Las Candelas school with our girls starting tomorrow. They, too, are really nice.



Grandma She-She came to visit us this week. Unfortunately, her introduction to Argentina wasn't the best. As she and Mark were driving from the airport, their right rear tire popped. A young Argentine man, standing on the side of the street, volunteered to help them. They weren't quite trusting of this good Samaritan--and, as it turned out, they had cause to be suspicious. As the "Good Samaritan" was helping with the tire, his accomplice snaked up in a car, pulled a couple of bags out of Mark and Sheila's car, and drove off. The young Argentine split soon thereafter -- about three minutes before it dawned on Mark and Sheila that they'd been duped by the Argentine underworld. (And, yes, this criminal duo caused the flat tire, most likely with a knife.) Losses: a new laptop computer, a camera, and three passports (Mark's, Annabel's, and Rebecca's, which were in Mark's backpack).

Mark and Grandma She-She, soon joined by Julie, Annabel, and Rebecca, spent the next several hours in a police station. On the way to use the bathroom with Grandma She-She, Annabel and Rebecca saw several people behind bars. One, a woman, waved at them. Nothing like putting a face to Annabel and Rebecca's occasional volunteer work for the Appalachian Prison Book Project.

As Julie and Mark keep reminding themselves, It's all part of the experience. This isn't, alas, Disney World, although on certain evenings, with the snow-capped Andes Mountains in the distance and the last of the sunlight shining on the willow trees in our yard, it does seem magical.

The rest of Grandma She-She's visit was, thankfully, considerably bettter. She showered Annabel and Rebecca with Webkinz and other gifts. We had a great time with her at the house, going into Chacras for meals and hanging out at cafes, and visiting vineyards. As always, she was up for anything and everything.

Everyone misses her already.

We've visited a couple wineries recently: one big one called Familia Zuccardi which has thousands of hectors of vines and makes thousands of bottles a year, and one with Grandma She She which is almost a boutique vineyard. At the Familia Zuccardi vineyard, we went on a extensive tour. We saw how the grapes were harvested, the machines they use to separate the grapes from the rest of the plant and crush them to make wine. We then saw the oak barrels they use to store the wines during the fermentation process and the finished product. We had the opportunity to taste wine at different stages of the fermentation process and then had a wine tasting. This was followed by a delicious traditional Argentine meal at their amazing restaurant. Needless to say, Mark and Julie needed a siesta after we returned home.



The second winery, Finca & Bodega Vistalba, we visited is owned by one of the old Argentine wine families. It is a relatively new finca that has less than 100 hectors of land and produces only a few bottles of wine a year (all of which are exported). The bodega itself was exquisite. The building looked more like a museum than a working finca. The tour was followed by a wine tasting and Grandma She She bought several bottles of Malbec to bring back to the States.


Julie, Annabel and Rebecca had their final Spanish class on Thursday (see picture above of our maestra, Senorita Analia). The children start their school tomorrow. We've purchased uniforms and school supplies. It is a long day -- they start at 8:00 am and end at 5:00pm with a 2 hour siesta in the middle. Everyone is excited.

Uspallata

This weekend we went to Uspallata, which is a small town at the base of the Andes mountains. (There is a beer named after the Andes mountains because the Andes mountains are so famous) When we were there, we found a little kitten and named him Tiger Junior because it looked like Tiger, our cat in Mendoza. He was a sweet cat and didn't scratch. He managed to get inside a little ice cream shop, and they shooed him away with a newspaper. He was hungry, so we fed him ham, cheese and bread that we bought at a gas station. He immediately gobbled up all the food. We thought about taking him home, but he might belong to someone or, if he didn't, he probably wouldn't want to go on a car ride that lasted 2 hours.

Not only did we find a cat, but we went horseback riding. Rebecca rode a creamy colored horse, Annabel rode a brown horse, Julie rode a white horse, Mark rode a white horse with brown spots, and the guide rode a beautiful brown horse. We were followed by a pack of dogs that we think were protecting us from other dogs. On either side of us were lots of trees. One kind of tree was called los alamos. They protect crops from the wind. We saw cows and horses with big ears, and we think that they were half horse and half donkey. We got to trot on the horse ride. Rebecca especially liked trotting and said her horse was the best because it did whatever she said.

On the way there and home, there was a beautiful view. On one side, there was a lake that was a lovely blue color. On the other side, there were mountains, and mountains, and mountains.

Spanish classes and Chacras de Coria

We've had a really great 10 days. Julie, Annabel and Rebecca have started taking Spanish classes two days a week at an international school in downtown Mendoza, and are starting to speak a little bit of Spanish. Our teacher, Senorita Analia, is very patient with us, and we have been taking copious notes.



Last weekend, we discovered the little town of Chacras de Coria, which borders our own town of Lujan de Cuyo. It, too, is surrounded by fincas and has adorable stores and restaurants. About a week ago, we went for a delicious meal with Hernan to a restaurant called El Palenque (The Hitching Post). We went back over the weekend to go to a crafts fair in the town square. Annabel and Rebecca rode ponies, and Rebecca claimed it was the highlight of the weekend.



Our own little house seems to be the best entertainment of all for the girls. We swim every day and play water balloons and soccer on the lawn. We have adopted the finca's cat and re-named him Tigre. In the past, we think that he has subsisted on mice and voles. We've taken to feeding him chicken and fish, and he now doesn't want to leave our side. Rebecca has started helping Pascual, the groundskeeper, take care of the parrots. Lalo, the blue and yellow parrot, dances when he is being fed. Maria, Pascual's wife, introduced Julie and the girls to the owners of the finca next door, Richard and Graciella. They have a horse -- Mark says its a mule --to which the girls feed vegetable scraps . Annabel and Julie have started taking morning walks around the vineyard, and Mark has figured out an ingenious way to get exercise in our tiny swimming pool by tying a rope around his waist so that he swims in place. The girls have discovered that Argentinians make delicious ice cream, and we go to the heladeria three times a week for Mousse de Limon and Cafe ice cream. Mark and Julie are thoroughly enjoying the Malbec wines and are cycling through the different ones from the area.



We are continuing to homeschool the girls, and we think they may have done more schoolwork than their friends in Morgantown, who we hear have had many snow days (we keep getting the email notifications). We're hoping to make a trip to the mountains soon and are beginning to plan for our trip to Buenes Aires at the end of the month.

Getting settled in Argentina

We have been in Argentina for just over a week. We arrived in Mendoza with 5 big suitcases (1 didn't make it from Santiago, but was later delivered) filled with everything from clothes, to batteries, ample sunscreen and lots and lots of books. Mendoza is beautiful. It looks a lot like Cape Town, South Africa, with the huge Andes Mountains serving as a backdrop to its dry but fruitful terrain. Mendoza is famous for its wine. Vineyards line the highway on either side as you drive in from the airport.

We are staying in a lovely two bedroom house on the finca. The finca is actually in the town of Lujan de Cuyo, which is about 10 minutes from downtown Mendoza. There are two parrots and four parakeets that live in a cage outside the front door of the house. They sleep when it is dark and wake at dawn, which is usually around 6:00 a.m. As the agronomist said, "The house is very peaceful...except for the parrots." One of the parrots speaks Spanish and greets everyone with an Hola, morning, noon and night. He also insults the groundskeeper calling him loco. They are an endless source of entertainment for us. We eat, work, and, of course, play outside. Mark, Annabel and Rebecca like to swim in the pool , and Julie likes to paint under the weeping willow trees.

The vineyard is adjacent to the house. It is 10 hectares of Malbec grape vines. The grapes are a deep purple and are very sweet. They will be ready for harvest in the fall (spring in the U.S.). We are all excited for the harvest. Annabel and Rebecca like walking through the vineyard and taking pictures.

Our first week was spent getting organized: arranging for a car, internet and phone service. We've gone into Mendoza practically every day and have enjoyed eating at restaurants, connecting at internet cafes, and just generally exploring. On Saturday, we went to Mendoza's big city park called Parque San Martin named after the Argentine general who helped free the Argentines from Spanish rule. We walked through the rose garden and had the opportunity to hear an Argentine rock band play covers from AC/DC. Next weekend we hope to go to the Mendoza zoo.

As the only Spanish speaker, Mark has had the daunting task of having to speak for us all. Julie, Annabel and Rebecca have signed up for Spanish classes which start next week. So, hopefully, within a few weeks, we will all be able to communicate. The Argentinians have been very welcoming, warm and helpful. The agronomist and manager of the finca have shown us where to go, what to do, arranged for internet service, helped us secure a car....without them, we would have had to rely on the parrots. And we're not sure yet whether they are friend or foe.