Best Wineries in Mendoza, Argentina + Travel Guide

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One of my travel goals is to visit all the major wine producing regions on the world! So, I was really excited about visiting Mendoza, home of Malbec and Argentinian wine. Mendoza is located at the foothills of the Andes mountain range, close to the Chilean border and capital, Santiago. As Argentina’s number one wine producing region, the Province of Mendoza has no shortages of some amazing wineries (bodegas). This post covers some of the best wineries to visit in Mendoza.

The Wine Producing Regions of Mendoza

Mendoza is the name of the province AND the name of the capital city within the province. There are actually three major wine regions in the province of Mendoza. These are: Maipu, Lujan de Cuyo, and the Uco Valley. One thing to note about these 3 regions is that the quality of the wines and the views get better as you go higher.

• Maipu is closest to the city of Mendoza and easiest to reach using readily available modes of transportation (i.e., bus, taxi, bike)
• Lujan de Cuyo is located about 20 minutes from the city center but is still accessible.
• The Uco Valley is located about an hour and half from the city but is home to the best wineries in Mendoza paired with some amazing views of the Andes. You need to either have your own car or hire a private driver to visit this region.

Lujan de Cuyo and the Uco Valley are the two more popular regions. If you are very pressed for time or have only a day, then visit Uco Valley for the best wineries and views! However, as I mentioned, you will need your own car or a private driver. If renting a car or hiring a private driver are not options for you, then visit Lujan de Cuyo during your one day in Mendoza as this area can be reached by regular taxi.

A Typical Day Touring

I visited 4 wineries including a multi-course lunch per day and I think that was rushing it a bit. Some wineries offer lunches with wine pairing and these take a good 2-3 hours. If you are doing a multi-course lunch, then I recommend 3 wineries if you want to take things nice and slow. If you don’t mind visiting 4 wineries a day then I suggest visiting 2 in the morning, then lunch, followed by one more in the late afternoon.

Food

Mendoza is known for it’s really good food. In fact, 4 of Argentina’s 7 Michelin star restaurants are in Mendoza!! As I mentioned above, some wineries offer multi-course lunches with wine pairings. I highly recommend doing one per day you are here. Dinner at wineries are a lot harder to come by as most close around 5 pm but I did still manage to find one (more below!)

How to Book Tours

I cannot recommend booking in advance enough! It was holiday season when I visited and all the wineries were packed! It is very easy to reserve in advance. Most wineries have an online reservation system or will have a WhatsApp number to contact them. If there are wineries you absolutely want to visit, then book those far in advance as you can, to ensure you can get the date/time you want.

How Many Days

This really depends on you! You can spend weeks here and there will still be enough wineries to go around. I spent 2 full days and 1 night visiting wineries. Plan on 3-4 days if you are planning on visiting most of the wineries I have mentioned below.

How to Visit Wineries and Get Around

Self-Drive

Self-driving offers the most flexibility. Especially if you are visiting the Uco Valley. However, it’s the least ideal for visiting wineries, especially Argentinian wineries where the pours are very heavy! If you are traveling in a group, you may be able to have a designated driver or take turns being one each day. If you are traveling solo, you will probably have to cut back on your consumption. I was doing more than visiting wineries in Mendoza (more to come on this!), so I rented a car through Mendoza Rental and had a really good experience. I contacted Mauro via WhatsApp and it was very easy to communicate with him. He had the car ready for me when I landed at the airport and I was also able to drop it off at the airport, without having to drive to the city.

Private Tour or Driver

This is the best way to visit some of the best wineries in Mendoza but it definitely comes at a higher cost. If you are traveling with a group of friends, then you can split the cost and it won’t be too bad. There are 2 types of options here. One where you have a driver and they drive you to the wineries that you book and the other is where the company will arrange all the wineries and you have a driver who will take you to those places. Some places have set wineries that they take customers to while with some others, you can pick and choose the ones you want to visit and they will arrange the tour

Tour Companies

Here are a few options for companies that can arrange things for you:

• Driver in Mendoza – They are a highly rated company with many options to choose from. You can tour 1 region in a day or a mix of regions (i.e., Lujan de Cuyo and Uco Valley). You can also select the wineries you want to visit or they will do it for you.
• Mendoza Wineries Tour – This company was recommended to me. They also will arrange your winery tours for you.
• Trout & Wine – A friend of mine went with this company and she said it was good. They offer both private tours and small group tours. They are a little pricey!
• Borravino wine Tours – This company offers a slightly different model, where the price includes everything! That is the driver, the tours and tastings and a lunch.

Drivers

Here are a few options of individual drivers.

Please note that they were all recommended in a travel forum I am a part of. It can be a little hard to come across private drivers, so I wanted to share these numbers with you but with the disclaimer that I haven’t used them personally.

• Miguel Sanz – +5492614190737
• Walter Nievas – +5492613368550
• Adria Carlavan – +5492615331377
• Cesar Martinez – +5492613141773

Other Modes of Transportation

Cabify, Uber or Remis – You can use Cabify or Uber in Maipu and in Lujan de Cuyo. You may have to wait a bit in Lujan de Cuyo for a ride. As a back-up, I would ask all the wineries you are visiting if they can arrange a taxi, just in case. Cabify offers something called “Cabify Bodega” on their app. Basically it lets you book a driver for the entire day, who will do up to four stops with up to 3 passengers. It’s a lot cheaper than the private tour or driver option.

Bike – Biking is another popular way to get around in Mendoza. Both Maipu Valley and Lujan de Cuyo have dedicated bike lanes in places. This company offers rentals and winery bike tours.

Bus - The bus option really only works for Maipu and that too you may still have to get a taxi to get to your final destination.

Notes About Driving

Some of the roads in Mendoza are not the best. This statement applies to both small roads leading to wineries and even the main roads. There were a few main roads that were under construction when I visited. Also, be very careful about driving after visiting wineries. There are regular police checkpoints where they check for driving under the influence.

Where to Stay

Mendoza has accommodation for every type of traveler and budget. I stayed in Chacras de Coria, which is located in Lujan de Cuyo. It was about 20 minutes from the city center and 30 minutes from the airport. This area is a lot quieter than the city center and has lots of restaurant options to choose from. Since I was doing a few other things beyond wineries, I wanted to stay in a place that was not completely away from everything. If you are looking for complete peace and quiet and want to stay away from the city, then the Uco Valley will be your best option.

My favorite way to look for a place to stay is to use booking.com. I love their many filter options where you can filter for location scores and various amenities.

Getting to Mendoza

If you are coming from Buenos Aires, then you will have to fly to Mendoza. Luckily it is a very short flight and there are multiple flights a day from Buenos Aires. If you are coming from Chile (Santiago), you can drive through the Andes. It takes about 5.75 hours but this does not include time to cross the border. The route is very scenic but can be very winding and windy!

Best Wineries in Mendoza

Now let’s get to the best wineries in Mendoza! I have divided this into the 3 regions. I did not get to visit each and every winery in this list in the interest of time. However, all these wineries are the ones I had narrowed down from my many counltless hours of researching for the best wineries in Mendoza!

Maipu

Generally, wineries in the Maipu region are pretty underwhelming and there is nothing much to write home about. However, there are two exceptions.

Casa Vigil

I had one of the two best meals I had in Argentina at Casa Vigil. This winery has a Michelin star restaurant and it is always on the World’s Top 50 Restaurant list. In addition to lunch, they also offer dinner, making them one of the few wineries in Mendoza that does both. The meal is multi-course with wine pairings. Each course and the paired wines were simply *chef’s kiss*! I cannot recommend this winery more. A winery tour is included with the meal. Casa Vigil is also called El Enemigo Wines. They currently sit at number #10 in the Best Wineries in the World list.

Bodega Trapiche

I did not visit Bodega Trapiche but it is another well ranked winery in the Maipu area. Also, the brand is well known throughout the world or at any store that sells Malbec. Trapiche is one of the oldest wineries in the region and was established in 1883.

Lujan de Cuyo

Catena Zapata

Catena Zapata is perhaps the best winery in Mendoza! In fact, it was awarded the number 1 spot for the best wineries in the world! Catena is one of the oldest Malbec producing wineries in the region. Their building is shaped like a step pyramid and the top floor terrace, offers some stunning views of the Andes. I did the tour with the make your own wine mix experience! You need at least 2 hours for this. In all honesty, I wish I skipped the tour and just got to the wine mixing! I can see why this winery is the number 1 in the world! It feels like a very luxury experience from the minute you step foot through the doors of the pyramid. Reservations are a little hard to come by, so book as early as you can!

Clos de Chacras

Situated on a bike route, Clos de Chacras is in the heart of Chacras de Coria. They are a boutique winery that is family owned. They offer tours of the vineyard, tastings and lunch. I had a very fun tour of the vineyard at Clos de Chacras. They have a really good story and a history which is highlighted in the tour. Seeing some of the old vats and ways of making wine in the 1920s was definitely memorable . After the your, you can do a tasting on their deck next to their large coy pond. Their lunch menu gets really good reviews if you want to check it out!

Ojo de Agua

Ojo de Agua might be one of my favorite winery experiences in Mendoza! First of all, the vineyard is stunning! And there is something very quiet and peaceful about this winery which I really enjoyed. I had a private tour and tasting. My absolute favorite part was the cheese platter that came with the tasting. The tasting area is beautiful and overlooks the vineyard. They also have a lunch option that gets very good reviews!

Susana Balbo Wines

I love the way the tour was done at Susan Balbo. Trust a woman to get it right! Yes, Susan Balbo Wines is owned by a woman and is another beautiful winery. The tour and tasting is integrated where we had tastings at various times in the tour as the tour progressed.

Ruca Malen

Ruca Malen is a popular winery for lunch where you can have a multi-course meal with wine pairing, overlooking their vineyard, with the mountains off in the distance. They have a mention from the Michelin Guide however, the chef’s other restaurant is one of the 4 Mendoza restuarants that has a Michelin star. The food and the wines were both excellent! The serves do a good job explaining each dish and the sommelier will do the same for each wine pairing. Overall, I really enjoyed my meal and wine at Ruca Malen.

I reserved via WhatsApp. Their website has the number.

Achaval Ferrer

This winery is relatively new, only opening in 1995. I did not visit Achaval Ferrer but read really great reviews about them, especially about their stunning setting.

Carmelo Patti

This is the one place I have deep regrets about not going but I know I had good reason. Carmelo Patti is an individual winemakers that operates a garage winery. Carmelo will take you on a tour of his facilities and wine making process. People rave about this experience. Unfortunately, the tour is in Spanish (and my Spanish is asi, asi) and that is the reason I decided against visiting Carmelo Patti.

Uco Valley

Bodegas Salentein

Bodega Salentein is huge! It is also one of the biggest producers of wine in the region. The wine was excellent, although it was on the expensive side! Salentein is another regular on the World’s Best Wineries list.

Tip – If you are driving, Google may send you down a road that has no access to the winery (you end up at their back gate which is not manned). Ignore the turn off that Google gives you and keep to the main road. The main entrance is just off the main road. There is a big board and you can’t miss it!

Andeluna

The vineyard at Andeluna is really beautiful. Andeluna also offered a really good tour, very similar to that of Susana Balboa, where we got to taste as we did the tour. I love this as I think it’s the most efficient way to tour a winery. The tour ends up all the way down in the cellar. I loved that the tour had a mixture of wines and not just Malbec.

Bodega La Azul

This is a family-owned winery and the only Uco Valley winery owned by a family from Mendoza. Bodega La Azul offers a 5-course lunch with wine pairings. The wine pairings are bottomless. Meaning, they keep the bottle at your table and go away! After lunch, you are taken for a tasting and get to drink wine straight from the barrel. The main course in my 5 course meal was one I will remember forever! I am not a huge steak person but wow! This steak was cooked to absolute perfection! Literally melted in my mouth!

Alfa Crux

I did not get to visit Alfa Crux but read really good reviews about them. They are a little out of the way but the reviews say it is fully worth it. A lot of people call out their really beautiful and unique architecture in addition to their wine. They also have a really good lunch option that people rave about!

Zuccardi

Zuccardi is another winery that gets called out for its beautiful architecture, stunning views, good wine and food. They have in previous years been in the number #1 spot for the best wineries in South America.

SuperUco

I really wanted to visit SuperUco but unfortunately they were closed the day I wanted to visit. People who visit SuperUco rave about their wine tour and their food.

Domaine Bousquet

This small, family owned winery, produces organic wines. Domain Bousquet is a good winery to visit if you are looking for a smaller winery experience.

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Love wine? Check out my posts on other wine producing regions below

• Alsace Wine Route, France
• Casablanca Valley, Chile
• Maipo Valley, Chile
• Rhine and Mosel (Cochem and Beilstein), Germany