Wine and Bike Tour with Mr. Hugo

Before I get ahead of myself and deeper into my travels (which I am well into as of now) I need to share another story about Mendoza. Mendoza was a place of a million memories (as Bryce can attest -it´s been Mendoza this and Mendoza that so much that we´ve now come up with code names to avoid annoying him) as 3 intended nights turned into 6, then into 8 and may have worked it´s way to 12 waay to quickly before we were forced to leave.
Anyway, from the beginning... As we checked in early in the morning of our arrival, Coco and Juanma (two of our favorite hostel guys ever!) outlined all the excursions, activities and events the hostel offered ranging from High Andes adventures to Hot Springs and trekking. The one that instantly caught our eye, obviously, was the wine and bike tour :) As a background helper if you don´t know the area well (which I didn´t until talking to other knowledgeable travellers and reading up in my Lonely Planet guide), Mendoza is known for it´s wine, especially the Malbec grape, and has hundreds of vineyards and wineries lining it´s borders. Going on some sort of tour was a must while experiencing this lovely city. We decided to sleep on the offered excursions, and ask around a bit before we made up our minds.
As we dug for information, we found out a lot about this possible day tasting. The main consensus was that the wine and bike deal was a go, but that it was easily compiled without going through the hostel and was a heck of a lot cheaper at that. So after a fun Asado night at a neighboring hostel (where Dana and I were served a special vegetarian Tart option) we made some friends from Denmark and decided that we´d head to Maipu the following morning.
The third day in esta ciudad linda (this pretty city!) we took a bus out to Maipú and got started at Mr. Hugo´s bike shop. He set us all up with bikes (with baskets!), bottled water and outlined a map for our day´s adventure. We began at an olive farm and paid 15 pesos to taste their incredible oils, vinegars, spreads, liquors (including Absinthe -that strangely had little taste, but left our throats on fire for at least ten minutes after!) and chocolates. We then ventured up the street to El Museo del Wino San Felipe where we had a couple complementary glasses of wine and wandered around exploring the enormous barrels and old wine equipment they had on display. From there, came Familia al Tommaso (a beautiful family run winery), El Patio (a beer garden where we tried a ruby (la rubia), typical of that area), and finally Historias y Sabores (where we each tried a liquor and were treated with a cup of chocolates). 
We finally made our way back to Mr. Hugo´s at around 7 where we were greeted with more wine (and consistent refills of more wine) and a table full of laughs until 930 when Mr. Hugo himself escorted us out to the bus stop and paid for our safe rides back home.
Every city we have been since, we have celebrated his name and business! It was a wonderful day, with all too many great memories, pictures and friends.