Mendoza — The Complete Winery Guide

Mendoza — a city and a province in western Argentina — is a pleasant place with nightlife, history and a student atmosphere. But without doubt the crowning glory of a visit is its fine wine, which thanks to its geography at the foot of the Andes has a worldwide reputation.

Most visitors to Mendoza, particularly the Israeli crowd, go to the Maipú district in the city’s outskirts, head out cycling between the vineyards and enjoy good wine.

That’s certainly a pleasant experience and one I’d recommend, but this guide won’t focus on it.

Instead I’ll focus on the area where the real wine that gave Mendoza its global name is grown: the Uco Valley. Valle de Uco is about an hour and a half’s drive from the city of Mendoza — a comfortable, attractive drive that ends in a green and impressive valley at the foot of the Andes. That location creates optimal conditions for the soil and for the grapes themselves, and makes the perfect recipe for perfect wine.

It’s worth saying that this is a culinary journey and an experience I’d particularly recommend for couples, though it can also suit close friends who love wine and food. Because it’s more than an hour from the city of Mendoza, and because of the wine drinking, I’d recommend spending a night or even two in the area rather than doing this as a day trip.

Getting to the Uco Valley

The popular and recommended way to reach the Uco Valley is by car.

In Mendoza there are plenty of big rental agencies in the centre, and as with everything in Mendoza the prices are very reasonable. But allow me to dwell for a minute on the car hire and recommend a small, family-run agency called Liber. It’s just a few minutes from the centre and is run by a warm, welcoming family who will sort you out with the best cars at a much cheaper price than the big agencies.

When we returned the car, he drove us to our Airbnb in the city centre. Recommended.

Once you’ve hired a car, you leave Mendoza and join Route 40 towards Tunuyán, a small town on the edge of the valley from which you can reach a range of wineries.

Driving might look like a problem given the wine, but winery visits take time, the tastings are usually small, and it’s worth stopping to enjoy the view over the vineyards too.

If you drink responsibly you can certainly visit wineries and drive between them. The roads in the area are in good condition, there isn’t much traffic, and it’s a quiet, rural region.

Another option is to come by tourist bus. The bus runs on Sundays only, and you can find more details at this link: https://www.busvitivinicola.com/index.php

Again, my strong recommendation is not to go for this option. The wineries the tour passes through are the expensive, touristy ones, and the valley itself is an interesting area — you should enjoy its landscape and its atmosphere, not just pass through on a bus ticking wineries off.

Recommended wineries

There’s a long list of wineries in the valley and all the wines are good quality.

This list will mostly concentrate on the characterful, family-run and small wineries I visited, but it’s important to understand that these places require booking in advance.

Besides those, I’ll mention without going into detail some larger, touristy wineries that receive guests without a booking.

Familia Zaina — booking essential

On a small side road along a dirt track hides a winery with a fascinating story and even more fascinating people. This is a winery that lay inactive for many years, and the current generation, descendants of an Italian family, decided to restore it to its former glory.

It’s an experimental winery, which means most of the wines it produces aren’t repeating series — each year they make new ones.

The tour and tasting takes about an hour and a half. You start in the vineyards and get an in-depth explanation of the grape varieties, get a glimpse of the home production process, and finally reach the main part, where you enter a dining room designed in an old Italian style. There you’re given tastings from several series along with fascinating explanations of how the names of the wines — “The Magician”, “The Lovers”, “The Madman” — were invented, and even an explanation of the paintings on the bottles.

In 2019 the tour cost around 200 pesos per person: a very low and worthwhile price, especially for the Uco Valley.

For advance bookings, call: +5492622406433

https://goo.gl/maps/L6EhrYr7hZnJqeTx8

Super Uco — booking essential

Super Uco is a family winery and a particularly interesting one. It’s run by several brothers and operates independently and organically, so beyond wine they also produce their own food.

When I visited, the whole family and the children were at the winery, because I came at the end of February when they were beginning to harvest the first grapes that were ready. The family were lovely and let me see how they do the harvest.

Visiting is an excellent experience. The winery’s design is interesting, built in circles, and it’s a genuinely beautiful place in its own right. On the tour you walk between the vineyards and get explanations of the layout and the grape varieties, then pass through the central space where wine is made in large vessels by a method unique to the place, and finally arrive at a particularly sophisticated tasting room with an automatic wine machine. The tastings are small and measured, but you try a wide range across several of the winery’s series.

Bookings and enquiries: http://superucowines.com/turismo/ The site is in Spanish only. Phone: +5492612171697 https://goo.gl/maps/FVjWyvNDAvNKZX8o8

La Azul — booking recommended

La Azul is a medium-sized winery. Not family-run, but certainly not too large or too touristy.

Unfortunately when I arrived there was a small family festival on. I enjoyed some nice music, but there were no visits running and no space in the restaurant.

The recommended way to visit this winery is to sit down in its restaurant. They serve a seven-course meal, and during it the winery’s wine is served with the waiters giving a short explanation of each one.

There’s also accommodation on site which looked excellent, and I’ll give details of it at the bottom of this guide in the section on places to stay.

Details and bookings: http://www.bodegalaazul.com/la-azul–english.html#contact https://goo.gl/maps/eCzYF8HGUHgdRfVJ9

Domaine Bousquet — booking recommended

This winery is already on a more commercial scale, but the visit is still personal, interesting and definitely worthwhile.

During the visit you’ll go down into the heart of the operation and see the tank rooms and the various types of barrel, and finally sit down to a tasting with close, professional guidance.

The guide will teach you the stages of tasting wine and lead a professional discussion of the smells, the aromas and the sensations we feel at each stage.

Details and bookings: https://domainebousquet.com/en/visit-us/ https://goo.gl/maps/DC7xbBw5CrCXnQ7m6

Andeluna — booking recommended but not essential

One of the larger and more commercial wineries in the Uco Valley. There are several tours a day, and it’s a good option if you didn’t manage to book ahead at the smaller wineries. https://goo.gl/maps/ghT7cPEuie7SmqcH9

Salentein — no booking needed

Salentein is the largest winery in the area and the most touristed. The complex has a restaurant, a hotel and the winery itself.

The winery complex is also a large and impressive gallery and art space — but all of that comes at a price roughly three times the average of the other wineries. A large, impressive winery with heritage and tours of the highest standard for visitors, and it’s recommended in many places.

https://goo.gl/maps/xXcZ5gsuFocnitfs7

Staying in the Uco Valley

Because of the relative distance from Mendoza and the winery atmosphere of the area, most places to stay are of a high standard and the price per night is relatively high for Argentina. But the quality and what you get for the room rate are genuinely worth the investment, and there’s no doubt that after a long day of fine wines you can — and should — treat yourself to a hotel room and dream peacefully about tomorrow’s wineries.

Finca La Azul Part of the La Azul winery complex mentioned above in the winery list. http://fincalaazul.com.ar/en/

Auberge du Vin A Marriott hotel in the heart of the valley at the foot of the Andes. My partner and I stayed there and enjoyed it very much.

The rooms are large and indulgent, and outside each one there’s a private garden with wine vines. The hotel itself has a pool and plenty of places to lie down and relax facing the Andes, and the breakfast is excellent too. https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mdzav-auberge-du-vin-a-tribute-portfolio-hotel-tupungato/

Posada Salentein A hotel that’s part of the Salentein winery listed above.

Further accommodation options, good ones and cheaper than the boutique hotels across the valley, can be found in the small towns of Tupungato and Tunuyán, where there are larger population centres and where you can also find Airbnb houses or cabañas.