The vineyards near Mendoza produce some of the finest wines in the world. The Malbec wine is a favorite of mine. We just preceded the wine harvest festival, Vendimia, which falls on the first Saturday of March. We were within 10 days of the harvest of the grapes at the various wineries we visited. This afforded us an opportunity to taste the delicate sweetness of the many grape types grown in this region.

Being a rank amateur that merely drinks and enjoys good wine and doesn’t pretend to know the complicated judging system used by the wine connoisseurs, I am unwilling to describe these wines in terms of stars. I’ve found that many of those who write about wines and consider themselves authorities will award three stars or more to a wine I wouldn’t bother to drink twice, so I won’t pretend that I know something about the esthetics of wine when the so-called experts don’t seem to know much themselves.