Mendoza & the Uco Valley

South of the city of Mendoza, the Uco Valley climbs toward the Andes: a high, dry country of vineyards, poplar windbreaks and wide skies, where the mountains stand directly above the vines. Cool nights and bright days at altitude have made it Argentina’s most renowned wine region, and its three departments, Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos, hold many of the country’s most celebrated wineries. Snowmelt runs down from the range in irrigation channels that are centuries old, and the light changes the colour of the peaks through the day.

In Los Chacayes, Tunuyán, The Vines Resort & Spa keeps thirty-three villas within 1,500 acres of private vineyards, with Siete Fuegos, a Winemakers Village of specialty wineries, and The Sanctuary, a secluded house for four couples. The villas, designed by the Argentine architects Bormida & Yanzon in wood and stone, each have a private deck, an outdoor firepit and a view of the mountains or the vines; the twelve Andes Condor Villas, the largest, are set over two levels with a pool of their own.

The valley is best known on foot, on horseback and at the table. A ride leaves under the last of the stars for a hilltop near Manzano Histórico, with mate and pancakes at first light; treks climb from Paso Los Puntanos toward the waterfalls of Guardia Vieja and the granite walls of Cajón de los Arenales. Back among the vines there is a blending session to make a wine of your own, private tastings in the Winemakers Village, and dinner at Siete Fuegos, named for seven open-fire techniques born of the gauchos.

Many travelers pair the vines with the far south: Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego, on the Beagle Channel, are reached by way of Buenos Aires, and our Argentina guide sets out the route between them.