Salta to Mendoza | Epic Wine Road Trip!
Salta to Mendoza via the back roads is an adventure that can be done in either direction. We customize everything so if you would like extra days in either Mendoza or Salta at either end or in both places, no problem. For this trip, you have a private, expert local guide, a comfortable and capable 4×4 vehicle and a blend of wine tours and tastings plus many cultural and landscape visits. We can add some active adventures too, such as trekking in national parks. We organise hotels, lodges or estancias (like the one you see below) along the route, just sit back and drink in the scenery and wine!
Your Salta to Mendoza wine tour will take the slow, winding road down through the vineyards of Salta, Tucuman, Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan, and Mendoza, visiting some outstanding boutique wineries in this lesser-known part of the wine world. For the history and culture lovers among you, the area boasts pre-Hispanic ruins and historic sites, plus an abundance of outstanding and varied natural beauty.
After a superb and delicious road trip, we arrive in the hub of Argentina’s wine industry, Mendoza, home to some of the best vineyards in South America. Mendoza itself is the perfect place to while away a few more days tasting some of the best wine this part of the world has to offer.
Day 1: Salta to Cafayate
After breakfast, we pick you up for the drive South through the tobacco region and into the Quebrada de las Conchas, a stunning canyon of red sandstone and sedimentary rock deposits formed hundreds of thousands of years ago. We will take a closer look at the naturally carved wonders of the Amphitheatre and Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat), before arriving in Salta’s premier wine town of Cafayate for afternoon wine tasting.
This high-altitude wine region is home to the best Torrontes in the world. Among the outstanding boutique vineyards here are Nanni, Piattelli and El Porvenir. As well as Argentina’s trademark Malbec red, don’t miss out on the Tannat: a full-bodied deep-coloured red which seems as if it was invented for the traditional Argentine Asado (barbecue). If you tire of wine tasting, we can take a short hike in the Quebrada de las Flechas, offering outstanding views of this lunar landscape north of the city.
On each overnight stay, you will choose a hotel to suit your budget and comfort level. At the high end, we love Patios de Cafayate Hotel for example, at the more moderate end it could be Munay Hotel. In the evening enjoy one of the restaurants and Peñas (live folk music) in the plaza.
Day 2: Cafayate to Belen, Catamarca
After leaving Cafayate we now join Route 40, the iconic and scenic road which runs more than 5,000 km from the extreme north to the far south of Argentina. One of the advantages of taking a Salta to Mendoza wine tour by road, as opposed to flying, are all the remote and unusual bodegas and wine you can see en route, plus the superb scenery you would miss if above the clouds.
We are in the heart of the Valles Calchaquies, an area populated for centuries by aboriginal tribes, and the seat of fierce resistance to the Spanish invaders. At the ruins of Quilmes, descendants of the original inhabitants tell us the remarkable and sad story of how this indigenous tribe resisted the invasion until 1665, when they were finally, cruelly, broken. From here, we continue to Amaicha del Valle to visit the superb Pachamama Museum dedicated to indigenous culture and art.
Now we cross into the sleepy province of Catamarca to visit a vineyard in Santa Maria founded by Augustinian monks, with its rare (for Argentina) Barbera and excellent dessert wine, before heading onto Hualfin, home to a co-operative vineyard here producing lovely Torrontes and Malbec. Our overnight stay in Belen will be at Las Cardas or a similar standard.
Day 3: Belen to Chañarmuyo, La Rioja.
After Bethlehem (Belen) we visit London: Londres is the second oldest city in Argentina, founded in 1558: it was named after the British capital to mark the wedding of the English princess Mary Tudor to Philip II of Spain. Nearby, hidden away in the forest, are the ruins of the most important Inca settlement in Argentina: Shinkal. This was the southern regional capital of the Inca empire and exhibits well-preserved sun and moon temples and ceremonial platforms. From here, we travel south along the Route of Adobe in Catamarca, where this is a great lunch stop: an old manor house and restaurant with its own winery.
We will take the old mountain road crossing from Tinogasta down into La Rioja, for an overnight in the small town of Famatina, sheltered by the impressive 6,200m mountain range of the same name. One of the great options we have to stay en route is the lovely setting that the Charnarmuyo Winery Hotel offers. Stay here and soak it in with a glass of local wine.
Day 4: Chañarmuyo to Villa Union.
Today your Salta to Mendoza wine tour continues with us winding down through the Famatina Valley to Chilecito, the historic centre of western Argentina’s gold-mining region, and also home to the region’s cooperative winery, La Riojana. It serves as a central production point for 500 small producers and is known for its organic and fair trade wines, including the award-winning Tilimuqui Torrontes and Cabernet Sauvignon / Bonarda blend.
Valle de la Puerta is a combined wine/olive operation with some great reserve blends of Malbec, Bonarda, and Syrah. Then we travel along the winding mountain road of Cuesta del Miranda down to Villa Union, a jumping-off point for the parks of Talampaya and Valle de la Luna, which can be added to the itinerary with an extra night.
Day 5: Villa Union to Barreal.
This is the longest travel day, with some great scenery along the way, ranging from sand dunes and lakes to flat, open red rock plains. Arriving in San Juan province’s lesser-known wine region of the Calingasta Valley, we will visit Entre Tapias, where you can sample San Juan’s trademark Shiraz and even a Pinot Grigio: http://www.entretapias.com/home.html
There is also a picturesque new winery run by German couple Astrid & Gerhard Haase, who are experimenting with techniques of eiswein: https://www.altabonanza.com/
Day 6: Barreal to Mendoza.
We can visit El Leoncito national park as well as the 17th-century Jesuit gold and silver smelting chimneys at Uspallata (the mountain town where Brad Pitt filmed Seven Years in Tibet). There are stunning up-close views of the Andes before the descent to Mendoza via the old mountain road from Villavicencio, home of the natural mineral water springs.
Remember: This is a private journey, with your own expert guide. This means you can ask us to add days anywhere you like, but in any case, adding a night or two in Mendoza is almost obligatory – plus an extra night in the Salta area so you can see the highest vineyards in the world.
