Wine Tours Mendoza Argentina

Uco Valley. The Next Napa

It's still possible to get a feel for what Napa was like before the hordes arrived…

9.30, We pick you up from your hotel to visit the exclusive high-altitude wine growing area of Valle de Uco (1 and half hour-drive from Mendoza City).

Well inside the first mountainsides of the Andes’ foothills, the Uco valley presents the highest altitudes at which wines are produced in the province of Mendoza: up to 1,400 meters above sea level. The best wines are produced from grape varieties that have short ripening cycles, especially Chardonnay, Semillon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir.

Our first visit will be to Bodega Salentein, a modern winery located at the foothills of the Tupungato Mountain. They are producing one of the best Pinot Noir Reserves. The property is comprised of three estates on more than 1,000 acres, some of which perch higher than 5,500 feet above sea level. Salentein also has a posada, or inn, with eight luxurious suites, each named for a different grape variety such as tempranillo and pinot noir.

We continue for lunch at one of the great rising stars of the region, "La Tupiña", located at Bodega Altus. We will have the opportunity to enjoy the regional cuisine of the well-known chef Lucas Bustos. The lunch begins with tapas and white wine, then moves on to the dinning room where we have a stew (locro), then a meat course (baby goat “a la tupiña” and lamb comfit, accompanied with pureed potatoes and leeks, baked tomatoes and lemon and mint sauce), and finally an amazing dessert (bitter chocolate terrine with raisins). Each course is served with a different Altus wine. The whole lunch experience takes about three hours !

Our last stop is Andeluna Cellars. Originally part of a well-known Argentine wine family's estate, the property was sold in 1995 to H. Ward Lay, the son of Frito-Lay founder Herman Lay. A longtime fan of Argentina, Lay also owns a 200,000 acre hunting estate in Patagonia. This beautiful place is the inspiration for the name Andeluna, which was chosen to symbolize the romance and heritage of the Argentine moon illuminating the magnificent Andes Mountains that frame the Uco Valley near the town of Tupungato. Andeluna is a wine lover's paradise !

Return to Mendoza by 6:30pm.