Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
224
outside schools and the coffee-color ed cathedral. A dd to this some pr etty, palatial-style
wineries, luxury lodges, excellent arts and crafts, and stunning vineyard country produc-
ing the aromatic white
torrontes
grape, and you can see why this whole area is becoming
known as the Tuscany of Argentina.
GETTING THERE
Cafayate lies 194km (120 miles) southw est of S alta, on RN 68.
Empresa El Indio
(
&
387/432-0846
) offers three buses daily from Salta; the trip takes
3
1
/
2
hours and costs about $10 (£6.80).
VISITOR INFORMATION
The
tourist office
(
&
3868/421470
) is located on the
main plaza and pr ovides maps, bus schedules, and lodging r
ecommendations. O pen
hours are Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.
Visiting the Wineries
There are approximately 25 wineries to visit in the ar ea, some palatial-style villas, others
rustic boutique garages. All ar e within easy r each of the to wn and can be visited b y
bicycle or taxi. S ome unexpectedly shut do wn their guided visits, for whatev er reasons,
so it is always wise to call ahead. The most popular time to visit is from February to early
April, when the harvest occurs. Most wineries are open Monday to Saturday.
Bodegas E tchart,
F inca La R osa, 3km (1
3
/
4
miles) fr om Cafayate, on RN 40
(
&
3868/421310
), is owned by the French wine giant Pernod-Ricard and is one of the
region's most impor tant, producing chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, Tannat, Torrontes
(a Muscatel-like white), and M albec (a dr y red). One-hour guided tours and wine tast-
ings are offered Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, and S aturday from 9am to
noon.
Finca Las N ubes,
El D ivisadero, Alto Valle de Cafayate, 5km (3 miles) fr om
Cafayate (
&
3868/422129
) is one of Argentina 's smallest vineyar ds and is family-r un,
producing some young but excellent wines. The rustic facility is located a few kilometers
up a dir t road from the center of to wn and pr ovides lunches with r eservations. Wine
tours and tastings ar e fr ee of charge M onday to S aturday 9am to 5pm; call for an
appointment outside these hours or to arrange for a meal.
Michel Torino,
Finca La Rosa,
3km (1
3
/
4
miles) from Cafayate, on RN 40 (
&
3868/155-66019
[cell];
www.michelto-
rino.com.ar), is a beautiful, hacienda-style complex that also houses the luxur y wine
lodge Patios de Cafayate. The winery is also known as
Bodega
El Esteco
and it produces
the Don David Torrontes, one of the best examples of Argentina's signature white grape.
They offer guided tours Monday to Friday from 10am to 6:30pm and Saturday 10am to
noon.
Bodegas El Porvenir de los Andes
, Córdoba 32, Cafayate (
&
3868/422007;
www.bodegaselporvenir.com), is one of my fav orite wineries, pr oducing rich concen-
trated reds. The winery is a handsome town house with courtyard, located 2 blocks from
the plaza. While there, pip for the $10 (£6.80) tasting of Labor um, one of the best r eds
coming out of S alta.
San Pedro de Yacochuya
, RP 2, RN 40 (
&
3868/421233;
www.sanpedrodeyacochuya.com.ar), is a boutique operation star ted by the Etchart fam-
ily when they sold their larger winer y. It is basically a tidy shed at the end of a dir t road
lined by cactus 3km (2 miles) from the town; yet it is producing excellent Torrontes and
Malbec from some of the highest vineyards in the world. Visits here are patchy in quality.
If you are lucky to meet either Arnaldo or Marcos Etchart you will enjoy their bonhomie,
made famous in the documentar y
Mondovino.
You can even have lunch in the adjacent
family home. R eservations ar e r equired, and opening hours can be erratic.
Bodega
Nanni,
Silverio Chavarria 151 (
&
3868/421527;
www.bodegananni.com), is a tradi-
tional winery that, in recent years, has concentrated on making purely organic wine. The
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