In preparing for our Mendoza winery tour Bodega Ruca Malen kept appearing in my online research results. All the information suggested a must visit; so when we visited Mendoza's wineries Bodega Ruca Malen was on our list. The wine touring company, which took us made reservations at Ruca Malen's Restaurant for lunch. This Spaswinefood enthusiast was very happy.
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| Bodega Ruca Malen © Spaswinefood |
Ruca Malen celebrates the legend of a young lady. Ruca Malen in Mapuche Indian/Aconcagua language means "young girl's house". A version of the legend is that a young Mapuche woman fell in love with a god. The god brought her to a house in a valley of the Aconcagua Mountain. The god had to leave and so he left her with a special nectar. Whenever she ate the nectar she would feel the joy of falling in love.
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| Mount Aconcagua, the highest Andean Mountain © Spaswinefood |
Bodega Ruca Malen is a boutique winery in Luján de Cuyo. Its restaurant is written up in many travel guides as a culinary delight. Tripadvisor reviews of the restaurant are excellent. Some of its wine are amongst the best produced in Argentina. Snooth provides reviews of some of its wines.
Ruca Malen offers both outside and inside dining options. The day we visited the winery the temperature outside was over 38 C (100 degrees F) so we were happy to dine inside.
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Entering Bodega Ruca Malen © Spaswinefood
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Corner Table for four with a Vineyard View © Spaswinefood
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Tasting Menu © Spaswinefood
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Appetizer and wine pairing © Spaswinefood
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Main course for Karla, Gary and John © Spaswinefood
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An awesome vegetarian main course for me © Spaswinefood
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| Ruca Malen © Spaswinefood |
We had three others winery visits planned for the day we visited Ruca Malen. With so many tastings we did not do a separate wine tasting at Ruca Malen. The amount of wine, however, served at lunch was quite sufficient. The food and wine pairing was excellent. The restaurant does make accommodations in the menu for vegetarians. You could easily make Ruca Malen a complete day by going for a wine tasting before or after lunch. Bodega Ruca Malen has a youtube video but it does not substitute for being there.
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| Bodega Ruca Malen © Spaswinefood |
Since visiting Ruca Malen anyone I have meet who has visited the Mendoza vineyards I always ask "Have you heard of Ruca Malen?" The answer is always "Yes". Clearly, like the legend of the young Mapuche woman once you have tasted Ruca Malen's wines you will not be able to escape. Put it on your list, it is well worth a visit. I also continue to explore Ruca Malen wines.
I invite you to join me in my travels in Argentina and elsewhere at Spaswinefood.
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| Ruta Malen, Malbec 2013 © Spaswinefood |
Sharon
Tasting Memories from the Las Américas Trip
January 2010
© Spaswinefood
© Spaswinefood
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| Bodega Ruca Malen © Spaswinefood |
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Fortunately in 2017 I returned to Mendoza to explore Ruca Malen and other great Argentine wines.
Fortunately in 2017 I returned to Mendoza to explore Ruca Malen and other great Argentine wines.
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