Salta, Cafayate and Humahuaca
Salta, Cafayate & Humahuaca.
The location of the world´s highest “commercially viable” vineyards and wineries is a topic of debate. As global warming progresses, vineyards are consistently moving farther north and south toward the poles, and higher in altitude. However, at some point there must be an altitude limit to creating great wine. Enterprising winemakers are always trying to innovate and push the boundaries.
Remember: Everything we do is tailor-made and customizable to your wishes. More time, fewer tours, more shorter visits, a whole day in one place, cheap snacks or extensive lunches, rustic hotels or high-end places. You choose and let us know, or just let us suggest.
The areas of Cafayate and Humahuaca are not experimental; they are well-established wine regions, where there are dozens of players operating in a vibrant market. The Colome winery near Molinos was previously recognised as the king of altitude, but that has changed over recent years as new projects have been launched. For example, Gary and Malka are shown below with the charming owner of the Viñas de Uquia winery, Claudio Zucchino, and his lovely family in their vineyards. This is a very high-altitude winery and has vineyard plots stretching up to 3329 meters, and most certainly the highest bottle cellar in the world, at 4000 meters!
Please note that, as far as we are concerned, day trips from Salta are not an option. The drives to these sub-regions take around 3 hours one way, so in our experience, you need at least one night in Cafayate or Humahuaca to enjoy these areas; two would be ideal, and if you have more time, you can travel both north and south to enjoy a combination of Cafayate and Humahuaca.
Tour Program Overview | Humahuaca
This relatively new wine region is home to the aforementioned Viñas de Uquia and many other high-altitude wineries. From your base in the lovely city of Salta, you will travel north to Humahuaca through dense cloud forest and into the high desert region of Jujuy to enter the stunning UNESCO-recognized Humahuaca Canyon. There are more than enough wineries and other points of interest to keep you busy for two or three days.
You have many accommodation options across the price range. The towns of Tilcara, Purmamarca or Humahuaca are interesting in themselves and offer the perfect bases to explore not only the wineries of the Humahuaca Canyon, but also other points of historic, cultural or gastronomic interest.
We will mix some of the bigger hitters such as Dupont, Yanay and El Bayeh, with some more rustic, family-operated places such as Incahuasi or Perchel. The contrasts are striking, and we would take you to two or three differing wineries each day, one for a tour and tasting, another may be as a lunch stop and the last one for a tasting. Much will depend on the chosen combination.
For example, a day visiting the two wineries of Yanay and Incahuasi shows clients great contrasts in investment levels, technology and style. Yanay is a very impressive setup, with a large amount of investment made in technology. The place is visually stunning, as you can see in the first photo on this page. The wines are very well made and high in quality; the tour of the facility is also very instructive, and you can ask many technical questions if you are wine geeks like us. Sipping these superb wines with the spectacular views on offer is a real treat.
The Incahuasi winery is a completely different proposition. A couple of hours spent with Teresa and Ramon is a true pleasure; their passion is obvious, as is the fact that they do not have the funds on hand that many of the others do. Even so, they do a fantastic job of hospitality and the wine tasting experience. They have their own historic chapel full of Cusco School religious art, which is not something you see every day at a winery! The viticultural practices here are interesting, and they have many wild vines, creeping across the barren, slate slopes as you can see below.
World´s Highest Wine Cellar | Wine in a Mine!
A visit to the Viñas de Uquia winery, just past the Tropic of Capricorn line (which we can visit), is a great experience. This winery is relatively new and only has half a dozen vintages so far, but the results are really good and getting even better under the expert eye of winemaker Marcos Etchart, who also consults at other wineries in Cafayate and Humahuaca.
Uraqui means “terroir” in the ancient native language of the area, Aymara. This very deep, intense wine is produced from grapes grown at 3329 meters (some 10,922 feet) in the Moya vineyard. The Moya plot produces Malbec, Syrah, and Merlot – and the Uraqui red blend is composed of 60% Malbec, 30% Syrah, and 10% Merlot. You will take a look around the winery and hear how this ultra-high altitude wine is produced from the “horse´s mouth”, so to speak, before trying it.
Then you have the option to visit the highest and maybe strangest wine cellar in the world. Claudio decided that the 4000-meter-high ex-barium sulfate mine provides the perfect environment for the ageing of his wine with its almost constant 13 degrees Celsius. Our Blog will tell you much more about the mine-wine cellar, but suffice to say it will be a very memorable visit. You will enjoy a tasting from a dusty wine bottle taken from the racks in the cellar, plus a selection of cheeses, olives, and bread, with incredible views.
Focus on Cafayate
The alternative (or complement if you have time) to the northerly trip to Humahuaca is to travel south to Cafayate. Cafayate is located a scenic 3-hour drive from Salta amid spectacular semi-desert landscapes. The journey itself is a large part of the pleasure. A two-day/one-night tour will give you a great overview of several wineries located in and around Cafayate and can follow some of our suggestions below. A three-day/two-night trip would be even better if you have the time as you dont have to rush around so much and can visit more places. You can enjoy the evenings in the main square of this wine-focused town.
Of course, as our clients, you can request a particular winery if you have any on your “must-do” list. Or you can trust us to suggest the best combination.
On our wine tours, you will tour the production facilities and cellars at some wineries, especially where there is something unusual to see, or if you show a particular interest in the way things are done at a specific place. At others we may just have tastings; at others we might eat and taste. We can talk through the options in the planning stage, but remember that as a private tour you have plenty of flexibility on the ground.
Some Cafayate highlights:
- Drive through the lovely Quebrada de la Conchas | Photo stops en route
- Visit Finca las Curtiembres en route | A tasting in the winery
- El Porvenir winery tour plus private, premium tasting in the cellar
- Superb wine bar at the Amalaya winery
- Several picturesque outlying wineries such as Piatelli and Domingo Molina
- Option to taste wine by Michel Rolland at the Yacochuya Winery
- Overnight stay in Cafayate | Free evening to eat in the main square
- Drive to spectacular Finca Las Nubes for a tour and privately led tasting
- Visit two or three more wineries in Cafayate town for tastings
- Option for waterfall walk, bike ride or goat farm visit
- On the way back to Salta, we will visit the Viña Las Viñas winery
After all this, you will probably snooze on the way back to Salta, where we will drop you off at your hotel. Make sure you speak to us about your next wine adventure, which may well see you continuing to Chile?