Everyday

Everyday, like most people I know, I jump into my car and drive to work. However, unlike most people I know, my morning drive leaves me feeling incredibly fortunate, and with summer just around the corner even more so. A huge blue sky against the snowy mountains greet me as I zip down the high way past row after row of hypnotizing vineyards. Silvery olive trees break my trance as they sway in the breeze. With my radio to keep me company I smile most Monday mornings. This morning I was feeling so lucky that I felt bad not sharing.


After my stretch of high way driving I turn down Urquiza street or what I like to call the ¨tree tunnel¨. It’s the part of my daily fairytale where I discover a magical new world full of vineyards and olive groves. The land where wineries and restaurants are around every bend, where I can smell olive oil wafting through the air, where the snow capped Andes leave me awe stricken with their beauty. This is my new world.

I arrive at the winery where I unpack all the fresh goodies I have brought, and Fernando and I create tasty dishes to share with people from all over the world. I break bread and drink wine with happy vacationers. I listen to their stories and they listen to mine.


Every time I take a sip at the winery I can see all the faces that made this fabulous drink come to life, something truly amazing I am able to share with the folks that come to visit us. I mean, how many bottles of wine have you drank and wondered how this amazing beverage got into your hands, or the opposite, how many times have you drank a bottle of wine without even taking note of more than red or white?

Tempus Alba is a smallish winery, producing about 200,000 liters per year, and is a family owned and operated affair, well excluding me and a few others, but we are such a tight team that in this case blood is almost as thick as water...well wine I guess. Cousins, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters for over three generations fill every bottle here at Tempus Alba, and every time somebody comes to visit us they get to be part of the family too, and that makes me feel like a lucky girl.

After all this gushing I have worked up a pretty good appetite so, I’m going to find myself a quite corner on the patio to reflect, enjoy this tasty pizza and a glass of Malbec Rose.

Where are all the grapes?

Well yesterday was the first day of spring, and I can tell you that the grapes are on their way. With a whisper of the summer heat to come the vines have woken up from their winter nap. Fuzzy baby buds have popped up all over the 3 hectares of experimental Malbec vines, and in a few days these buds will unravel into bright green foliage. It is truly amazing how fast the vines spring to life.
Summer in Mendoza is long and wonderful and I can feel a great season brewing. The Winebar is ready and with the new edition of Patio Tempus (our new restaurant) the terrace is going rock this year. Cool house tracks vibrate melodically and glasses filled with shades of bright pinks to deep purples catch the summer sun. Lamb burgers filled with fresh herbs, dripping with mint tzatziki are served to hungry bike riders, and tangy falafel burgers washed down by a glass of spicy syrah assure me that there are some really good times to be had here at Tempus Alba.

Not sure where to get our wines, go here and you will be able to check if Tempus Alba wines are available in your city.

Try these awesome lamb burgers at home, and if you can get your hands on a bottle of Tempus Pleno you are really in for an awesome surprise.

Patio Tempus Lamb Burger

21/2 kilos of ground lamb
4 Italian sausages
about 1 cup of fresh mint leaves (finely chopped)
about 1 cup of fresh parsley (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium onions grated
3 cloves of garlic grated

try not to over work the ground meat when mixing and forming these patties to avoid an overly dense patty.top with mint tzatziki, sun dried tomatoes and arugula… we make our own bun but any good quality bun will do.