About mikelley

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Male

Currently Lives:

Mendoza, Argentina

Citizen Of:

United States

Some Forum Posts:

Argentina: Grape prices to raise this season:

I have been informed by my manager in San Rafael that the cooperatives and bodegas will be paying 7 pesos per kilo of grapes this harvest due to the shortage of grapes as many vineyards lost their crops due to El Nino rains. This is a good sign as the price last harvest for my reds was only 2.45 pesos/kilo. Things are looking up!! Mike

Argentina: Wonder Where Argentine Real Estate Market Is Headed...:

Yes Tom I agree but I see a silver lining in the near future. Inflation has to drop to a realistic number as the market price for goods is outpacing the value of such goods. Also the exchange rate for US dollars is remaining constant, a phenomena that hasn’t been seen for years. This will have to stabilize prices as people will cease buying goods which I have seen is already happening. Movement of goods and money have slowed to a trickle already in San Rafael. Mike

Argentina: Apartment in Mendoza - Lujan de Cuyo:

Niels. A fellow named J0hn Hill does workaway in San Rafael and could accommodate you if you are willing to help around his tomato farm. John is an ex Rhodesian and runs a farm there and could possibly take you in. The harvest in San Rafael is more local than in the area to the north but much slower and provincial. Both Tom and I have vineyards in the area and use help (free) during the harvest. Send him an email at johnhill1985@gmail.com if you are interested. Mike

Argentina: San Rafael wineries:

I have noticed that the local wineries are relying more and more on their own grapes to make their wine. Before the local small vineyards produced most of the must for the wineries and now the total produced by the wineries is up to 53%. Looks like they are slowly replacing the small guys like me with five to ten hectares of product. I hope this is not a price squeeze happening. Mike

Argentina: Visiting for first time:

Just a reminder for ravel from and to Mendoza,the airport will be closed for resurfacing of the runway from Sept 7th thru Dec 7th so plan your trips accordingly. We are having to route our trip to San Rafael from Miami thru Santiago to San Juan or Cordoba and have a 6 or 12 hour bus ride to get to our finca in San Rafael. Bummer!! Mike

Argentina: Why are hectares in San Rafael so cheap?:

I would add a few notes to Tom's reply. A recent article in Diario San Rafael mentioned that about 20,000 hectares of vineyard land in San Rafael has been either abandoned or reduced in yield. I would say the reason is that the price of grapes for the private producer of 5 to 20 hectares has remained at about 3 pesos per kilo for years but the cost of producing the product has steadily increased. It is no longer profitable for the small producer to farm at the prices paid by the bodegas or the cooperatives. The same applies to the producer of stone fruit here. The prices paid for land here reflect this argument as well as Tom's reasons. You cannot make a profit if you have to pay a farm worker, buy fertilizer, pay for diesel fuel, etc. Very sad but true. Mike Kelley

Argentina: Converting Argentine pesos into USDollars:

I had money transferred to Mendoza via XOOM last week and it was easy. The maximum you can transfer at one time is $US2900 but you can do multiple transfers. My manager picked yup the pesos in Mendoza without a problem. The cost of the transfer was an additional $30 and the rate was less than the blue rate at 11.45 pesos/$.but better than a bank transfer. Mike

Date Joined:

5/9/2006

Total Posts:

14

Posts/Day:

0.00