Vendimia 2012 - Mendoza

 So you walk over a hill in the middle of what feels like nowhere in Mendoza, a province famous for Malbec and other great wines.  Lights flash on the stage in front of you and you realize the hills are covered in people.  In front of you are 20,000 people watching a huge show.   Then you are sitting there, listening to announcements of all the various winners of Vendimia, a huge beauty pageant with all the different regions in Mendoza offering one candidate.  Now the show begins.  And goes on...and on...and on....more than 600 dancers showcasing the history of wine, and Mendoza, and basically the world. 

 Then SHE enters - best I could tell, she was WINE.  Or the QUEEN OF WINE.  Or VENDIMIA.  Or PREVIOUS WINNER OF VENDIMIA. I am not sure, but her costume was something to see.  And she was all over the stage.  On top of a giant mountain that rose out of the stage where she rose up and broke huge chains from her arms.  Observing the show wistfully from a throne.  Walking or being carried around the stage.  But always there. 

 Then the show, filled with opera and choirs and soaring music and dancing in water and fake trains and lots of acting out the history of the province of Mendoza goes silent for a moment, and then...the CONFETTI.  This is followed by selecting the queen, Wanda from La Heras.  I was in town for another two days and the TV shows were filled with experts giving the play by play on the Vendimia 2012 show.  Looks like every year they have to top the previous year.  I think they will need live animals if they want 2013 Vendimia to be any better.  I love my job.