Trips · Itinerary Nº 2

Mendoza and the Uco Valley, no fuss

The world capital of Malbec is a short flight from Brazil, and it welcomes visitors better than many a European region. Irrigated desert, the Andes as an escort and the best lunch-with-a-view ratio on the wine planet.

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The treasure map

Three zones cover the whole trip: Maipú (the closest to the city, historic houses, you can even do it by bike), Luján de Cuyo (Malbec’s classic cradle, half an hour by car) and the Uco Valley (1h–1h30 on the road, altitude, cutting-edge architecture and the finest wines of the new generation).

When to go

February to April: the harvest. In March, the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia takes over the city: harvest, concerts and the crowning of the harvest queen. Book everything months ahead.
Winter (June to August): vines asleep, snowy Andes in the background: the prettiest photos and fewer people.
It gets more than 300 days of sun a year: there’s really no bad season.

How visits work

Local rule: everything by reservation, almost no walk-ins. The bodegas charge for the visit and the tasting, and the star format is the paired lunch: several courses, the house’s wines and the Andes in the window. It’s the splurge that makes the trip: cut other outings before you cut this one.

Suggested ways in

In Luján de Cuyo, the historic Catena Zapata (the pyramid that became the symbol of Malbec’s rebirth); in Maipú, Familia Zuccardi; in the Uco Valley, Zuccardi Valle de Uco (named the world’s best winery more than once) and Salentein. Listed by zone, not by ranking, and none of them paid to be here.

Write these down

Driver or tour: distances are long, the sun is strong and the glass fills fast. Hiring transport is standard there; it’s not fussiness, it’s survival.
Two bodegas a day with lunch in between is the right pace. Three is a rush; four is a waste of good wine.
Altitude is sneaky: hydrate between glasses; an altitude hangover shows no mercy to an overconfident tourist.

Logistics, straight up: flights from Brazil land in Mendoza (many routes go via Santiago or Buenos Aires). From the city to the Maipú bodegas it’s a matter of minutes; to the Uco Valley, up to 1h30. It’s worth spending a night in the Uco if the budget is smiling.

Wineries to visit

Stated criteria: well-known houses, open to visitors and with an official site to book directly, in alphabetical order, because a list here isn’t a ranking. None of them paid to be here; prices and hours change, so confirm when you book.

Bodega Norton · Bodegas Salentein · Catena Zapata · Familia Zuccardi (Maipú) · Trapiche · Zuccardi Valle de Uco

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