Mendoza & the Uco Valley

January 24th we left Salta for our last stop in Argentina. After a lengthy delay in flights we landed in Mendoza where we then had an hour and a half drive to the Vines Resort in the Uco Valley nestled in the foothills of the Andes and as the name suggests right in the middle of wine country.  One thing that we passed along the drive was many oil drilling machines.  Apparently it is a very lucrative business in this part of the country.  Wine and oil, not a bad combination.  The Vines is a beautiful and interesting resort concept.  Situated on 1500 acres it is as the name implies a giant vineyard but the vines are owned by over 200 individuals in parcels ranging from a single acre to many. Workers tend to the vines and there is a winery on site where all the individual wines from each plot are made and then the owner is free to do with the wine as he wishes.  Owners are from all over the world.  The resort has 30 villas which are beautifully appointed, many of them privately owned but all rented out by the resort.  There are some other wineries on the property and we went to a tasting at Corazon del Sol where it was just Eric and I and the sommelier for 2 hours so besides tasting some wonderful wines we, especially me, also learned so much.  We enjoyed a lunch at the Gimenez Riili winery which was five courses paired with seven wines.  One evening we enjoyed the Siete Fueegos dinner experience at the resort with 12 other guests served family style. This has been created by Argentinian chef Frances Mallimann and involves cooking over 7 different open fires, inspired by the old gauchos.  Some of the cooking started early in the morning and the process itself was fascinating though there was more food than anyone could possibly eat.  Thank goodness we had skipped lunch that day.

A highlight of our stay was an early morning horseback ride up into the mountains before sunrise to watch the sun come up.  It was a private experience with just Eric and I and two horsemen.  The climb up was steep and dark and we had not been on a horse for many years but all went well and we reached the top and with hot coffee in hand watched the landscape come to life.  It was magical and as it was light on the way down we got to enjoy some wonderful views of the surrounding hills.  Maybe it was the massage later that day but neither of us were even sore from all the time we spent on the horses.

Our three days here passed way too quickly but it is time to head to Chili for a couple of days before we start home.

Except in Buenos Aires all the houses and buildings had these boxes on top. On enquiring, inside the box is a water tank. They have municipal water but pressure is poor so a quantity is pumped up to the roof first and then used from there. Explains why you can never get cold water from the taps

Vineyards with the mountains in the background. The haze is some of the smoke from the Australian wildfires that has drifted over. 

Interesting map of the Vines property 

We did a 5 kilometre walk through the vines.  It was marked with arrows or else one could wander for ever

Lovely cool place for a tasting

The sommelier Carolina getting us a taste straight from the tank. This wine will be bottled in the next few weeks

Eric is definitely in one of his happy places

This was one of the seven fires for our dinner and it was started at nine in the morning. Cooking above the coals are fennel, pineapple, cabbage and chicken. The chicken cooked like that all day until dinner at 830 and yet it was so moist

This is a package of root vegetables that also roasted for hours

These empanadas baked in a fire oven were the best we had in Argentina and luckily they were on the restaurant menu so we were able to have them a couple times more

Cooking ribs in this oven.  One would think they would be burnt to a crisp but they were moist and delicious 

This is a tray of trout heavily coated in salt and then baked in the fire. Cooked perfectly 

Fascinating process

One of the courses, this is a rib and a traditional sausage. So much more to come

Not bad for two middle aged city slickers

The colours in the sky were vibrant

Taking some time to sit and contemplate 

The rising sun changed the colours of the surrounding mountains 

The trail down was steep but the views that we had not been able to see in the dark on the way up were now opened up to us

Eric took this picture from up higher when his horse decided to go a little slower than the rest of us

The long rocky path down. Thankfully the horses were very sure footed

Eric trying matte, a very popular drink in Argentina. Better than the butter tea in Bhutan but not one we want seconds of

Now on the other hand one can never try too many different wines

This was the main course of our tasting menu at a winery. The piece of ribeye was delicious but would have fed a small family. Every time we have ordered meat in Argentina the portions are unbelievable. Thank goodness this course came with two different wines and even though I was not able to come close to finishing the meat I was able to drink all my wine so as not to offend our waitress

The Vines at night as e say farewell to Argentina 

Quebrada de Humahuaca

January 23rd started bright and early with Fredrico picking us up at 0700 for our very full day to Quebrada de Humahuaca.  Our drive started out passing through large areas of agriculture where there were large tobacco farms and huge sugar cane plantations.  As we started to approach the hills we entered dense fog and I was quite concerned but this soon cleared and we were treated to a day of visual magnificence.  The whole area is a World Heritage Site and it’s beauty was like something we had never seen before.The colours and textures in the hills are just outstanding and though we made several photo stops you kept wanting to take more.  We stopped at the small town of Purmamarca which is nestled in a cradle of multi coloured hills. We visited the adobe chapel of Saint Rosa built in 1648 which was special in its simplicity.  There was a huge artisan market in the square and down the narrow streets but absolutely no pressure from any of the locals. Just smiles.  This whole area is rich in culture and the home of many of the indigenous people of Argentina and their beliefs persist.  One of these that was evident was that even with the small towns the cemetery was located high above the town as the spirit can only go up and this way they could not return to the home to cause havoc.  We then travelled on to Tilcara and visited the Picard which is an ancient pre-Colombian indigenous fortress which has been partially reconstructed.  Built high on the hill it was very interesting and the views were spectacular.  We then crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and arrived in the town of Humahuaca which is located 2939 meters above sea level. It was founded by the natives of the region in 1594 and stands out for its pure colonial adobe houses and narrow cobblestone streets.  After yet another delicious meal in another local restaurant where especially Eric’s Spanish is improving due to no English spoken we explored the town and then headed back.  About 60 kilometres from Salta Fredrico left the highway and took a very narrow and winding road which went through jungle, farms as well as giving us wonderful views of the fertile valleys far below.  We covered over 500 kilometres but the day flew by and after another late dinner we hit the bed to get ready for the next leg of our trip.

After travelling through farmlands and hills of green the landscape dried out and the colours started to appear

The contrasts were amazing

The hills were in all sizes and textures 

Set against the blue sky we were so lucky as the day started with a lot less promise

The only plants were low and scrubby due to the altitude and low amount of rainfall

Your eye was constantly drawn in to the landscape 

One possible painting after another

Hard to take it all in

Climbed up some hills for more panoramic views

Absolutely incredible 

This town has a rather impressive backdrop 

Adobe buildings with cobblestone streets and sidewalks. All clean as could be

Historic church from the 1600’s

Beautiful Main Street of Purmamarca 

All the colours kept changing making it all so beautiful 

Even the rocks without as much colour had so much texture that they had a different appeal

Trying to capture just a bit of the feel of what one could see from a single point

A small village nestled in the hill

An elderly gentleman making his way down the street of Humahuaca 

Our lunch stop for the day

Church in the main square with the war monument showing up behind

Unique restaurant front. Llama used to run wild here but were domesticated by the natives and are farmed today for their meat and are used extensively for their packing ability

A local selling her wares in the main square

People cooking on the streets is very common everywhere and the choice for a BBQ is half a metal barrel

Humahuaca was the favourite village we visited as even though their were a fair number of tourists many locals were out and about 

Driving the narrow winding road through the lush green what they refer to as jungle. The only animals we saw were cows, pigs and horses.