Valle Calchaquies Argentina 5 days wine tour

Day 1: Pick up from the airport and drop off at your hotel in Salta: we will include a two-hour walking tour of this pretty colonial city. We will recommend a restaurant for the evening, and for the full salteño experience, we can arrange for you to visit one of the town’s traditional folk music peñas. 

Day 2: We begin our tour of the Valles Calchaquies, the highest altitude wine region in the world, by climbing a spectacular mountain road, the Cuesta del Obispo, reaching a peak of just under 3,500m altitude at the top. There are some great views of the surrounding landscape as we descend into the national park of Los Cardones, where candelabra cacti stud the landscape. We will have lunch in one of Cachi’s boutique wineries, followed by a tasting at a couple of the others. Optional exploration of the pre-Inca ruins of Las Pailas.  Apart from sampling the classic Malbec here, Miraluna winery is producing an excellent Merlot, and Puna has developed a very decent Chardonnay.

Day 3: From Cachi, we take Route 40, the iconic road which runs more than 5,000km from the Bolivian border south to Patagonia. We arrive at the high-altitude wine resort of Colome, the brainchild of Swiss billionaire Donald Hess, which has been at the forefront of experiments growing Malbec grapes at different altitudes. They also produce rare varieties (for NW Argentina) of Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as fine Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Torrontes, the classic white you will be sampling more of in Cafayate. Colome also has a unique museum dedicated to the American artist James Turrell. Overnight at the historic colonial house of Hacienda de Molinos, the home of the last Royalist governor under Spanish rule, now converted into a boutique hotel.  
 
Day 4: We continue along the unmade road of Route 40 through the startling lunar landscape of the Quebrada de las Flechas, onto north-west Argentina’s premier wine town of Cafayate. Here we will have a tasting lunch at Burbujas de Altura, producer of the world’s first sparkling Torrontes, and we will visit another couple of wineries for tastings. Among our favourites are Esteco, San Pedro de Yacochuya, Domingo Molina, and Finca las Nubes, but please tell us if there are any others you specifically want to visit. Overnight stay in Cafayate.

Day 5: Spend the morning relaxing at your hotel, enjoy a short horse ride, or join us for a three-hour hike through the spectacular desert landscape surrounding Cafayate. We will have a tasting lunch at Piattelli Winery before returning to Salta through the stunning red rock landscape of the Quebrada de las Conchas. Drop off at the airport or your Salta hotel.