Mendoza & the Wine country
In order to help us explore Argentina, in 2010 we decided to pack up our truck and move our base of operations from Salta city to the Uco Valley in the west of Argentina. The region is known as Cuyo and covers the provinces of Mendoza, San Juan, San Luis and, depending on who you speak to, La Rioja. Mendoza is the area’s economic hub and, along with its wineries, it is renowned for its verdant groves of peaches, cherries, apples, pears, nectarines, plums and olives. This colourful patchwork of plantations is caught between two magnificent extremes, the shimmering desert and the majestic Andes mountains. The desert areas are wild and captivating and rarely visited by outsiders, which is a pity as the local culture and people are fascinating and tremendously welcoming. When Hugh, our founder, first rode into the region, he was invited by a local hiking guide to cross the Andes to Chile. For a 20-year-old aspiring travel guide, it was the gift of a lifetime and he crossed with his inseparable companion, his horse Pancho, whom he had travelled with from Buenos Aires province. Coming from the rolling misty hills of Ireland and the flat grasslands of the Pampas, it was a challenging adventure for the two of them and the guide, Chano Quintana, is still today our main hiking guide in the region and one of our oldest friends.
Where to go & What to do
- Tailored private wine tours of the Mendoza Wine Regions, with tasting and lunches at wineries hand-picked by us or of your choosing.
- Sunset horse rides in the Andes above Valle de Uco.
- Learning to blend your own wine in Lujan de Cuyo.
- Bicycle Wine Tours in Chacras de Coria.
- An interactive introduction to Mendoza cuisine with a local chef.
- Hiking in Las Loicas, some of the most beautiful and least trodden scenery of the province. It’s a drive to get there, though we believe it is worth the time and you can link it in with the otherworldly Payunia reserve whose distinctive black rock surface is home to over 800 volcanoes.
- Climb the highest mountain outside the Himalayas: Mount Aconcagua or visit the base of the mountain.
- A northern road trip (or, for the more energetic, a mountain bike trip) that takes you on a route up round San Juan and La Rioja provinces, witnessing as you go, the inexplicably verdant Valle Fertil, followed by the disorientating contrast of the desert parks of Talampaya and Ischigualasto, with their astonishing rock formations.
- A southern loop road trip: principally along stone tracks, first threading your way up the stunningly pretty, verdant steep hills of Villavicencio, an area filled with mountain birdlife, before arriving at the bustling border town of Uspallata. You then end the trip winding your way down to the green rolling hills of Mendoza’s best cattle ranches in las Carreras and on to the vineyards and fruit plantations of Valle de Uco.
Travel logistics
- Mendoza is located at the foot of the Andes Mountains. These mountains greatly influence the weather. As a result, the climate is generally mild and dry. The fresh breezes, bright sunshine and clear skies of the Andes Mountains are very pleasant, but it is important to keep in mind that there are large differences in altitudes and temperatures across the province. Due to these variations, we advise you to discuss with us a suitable kit list, depending on where in the region you are travelling.
- We recommend travelling to the region during our Spring (October to November), when everything is blossoming after the dry season, throughout the Summer (though it is of course considerably busier) and then, possibly our favourite time, Autumn (March to April). It’s a little chillier, particularly in the South of the province, though it’s generally a quiet time of year and the Autumn colours are a joy.
- As for all of the regions we work within, it’s important to keep in mind the weeks around 24/25th and the 31/1 as well as Semana Santa, which tend to be very busy. For Mendoza, the Vendimia (Wine Harvest) Festival is also a busy time of year – along with semana santa this often changes dates so during the planning we will advise on how to best avoid (or enjoy) them.
- The Grape harvest is from February to April
- The principal airport in the west is Mendoza city, a 1.5 hr flight from Buenos Aires or a 13 hr drive.
- Many of our guests are keen wine enthusiasts and luckily Mendoza connects really well with Santiago de Chile, just over the mountains, it’s a beautiful 7 hr drive over the Andes (though it can be vertigo inducing) or a 1 hr flight from Mendoza city.
- Mendoza also has direct flights to Cordoba, Salta and Bariloche, the principal city in the Lake District of Argentine Patagonia, from where you can take another flight down to Los Glaciares national park.
Things to keep in mind
- If you are keen on wine, we have a lot of experience organising private wine tours and our guides are some of the most experienced in the region. However, many people have done their own investigation and would like to visit specific wineries and try certain wines. This is no problem at all and we are very used to creating custom-built wine experiences based on the preferences of our guests.
Example Itineraries
Some examples of our favourite trips that we’ve organised over the years:
