Having finished up an amazing lunch at Ruca Malen, we realized that we had 90 minutes before our next scheduled winery appointment. Our driver Miguel wanted us to take advantage of this opportunity, so he called his friends at Bodega Carmine Granata, his favorite winery, to see if they could fit us in for what would become our 4th bodega visit of the day. Luckily for us, the stars were aligned.
Winery Museum at the Bodega
Now That's What I Call a Wine Barrel!
The winery (which was previously an olive press) has a small museum of old machines which can be toured. Unfortunately, we were pressed for time (sorry about the pun), so we missed the museum. However, we did get to see some of the old olive press artifacts that were on the estate. One of the most interesting items was the cable car turnaround on the driveway for carts bringing the olives in to the facility for pressing.
Cable Car Turnaround
Antique Olive Presses
Pyramid of Jugs
Miguel and My Dad
Velo Spa Wine Press
The bodega was named after Carmine Granata, the founder of the firm, who was born in Italy in 1897 and immigrated to Argentina in 1922. This entrepreneur started the bodega in 1930. Today, Carmine's descendants continue his pioneering work, producing fine quality wines and introducing modern winemaking techniques.
Inside the Winery
The bodega is known for its quality wine and the way they incorporate technology in both the winery and in its vineyards. The vines are forty to eighty years old and trained on low trellises and irrigated with carefully controlled melted snow water. All of this results in some great wines (especially their Malbec wines), which are not often exported. Obviously, we had to buy a few bottles to bring back home!
The Winemaker's Tools
The Science of Enology
Our Tour Guide
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