Mindy H.
Yelp
Casarena was the perfect spot for my final wine tasting experience in the Mendoza region. Casarena originated in 1937. The vineyards and winery are a century old and are now American owned. The owner fully renovated and brought new life back into the winery while keeping its historic past intact. I like how they maintained the skeleton of the old production building and recreated the space and updated it using state of the art winery technology innovations.
Caserena is one of four vineyard estates. Each estate offers different geological and geographical differences. This provides diverse growing influences for the grapes, thus yielding amazing wines of the same varietal with unique nuances and flavor profiles. On the wine tour, they showed us the different climate and soil mixes for each estate. Fascinating!
When touring the wineries of Mendoza it is necessary to book a reservation in advance. They don't take walk-ins like in the states. In Argentina from my experience, the wine culture is about providing an inclusive experience. Most tours start with a walk through the vineyards, a tour through the production facility, and then ends in a tasting room or if they have a restaurant, with a wine-paired lunch. Winery visits can at a minimum last 1 1/2 hours. It's time to slow down life here and enjoy. Take it all in. We found it ideal to visit only 2 wineries in a day as a result.
At Casarena, like the other wineries, you first need to check in with the gate guard. My limited Spanish came in very handy here. They confirm your reservation with the tasting room manager and then they allow you to pass through the gate. The guard will then direct you where to park and meet for the start of your tour. At Casarena we met with our lovely lady tour guide. She poured us a glass of Rose to enjoy outside while we waited for other members of the group. Like all the other wineries. The view of the Andes mountains behind the rows of vines is stunning. The tour was very informative. We went through the vines and production facility. We got to peek into the old wine vats that they turned into a cellar for their wine library. They let me hold one of the largest bottles that they make!! Man that bottle was heavy. Definitely took some muscle to pick that up.
After our tour, we walked to their restaurant at the back of the building for our wine-paired lunch. The restaurant is located in a beautiful modern building with all glass windows. Every table had a stunning view of the vineyard and mountains. The windows opened up onto their outdoor patio so you had an indoor-outdoor dining experience. The chef was busily cooking the meat on a BBQ right in front of us. They recently hired a new chef here, and this was their first tasting of their spring seasonal menu. It was a six-course lunch paired with wine. The food and wine here were incredible. The portions were larger than expected. The pairings were spot on. The food was artfully plated. Their wine was well structured. There wasn't anything I didn't like. We had an incredible time at Casarena. Delicious food and wine experience.
