Known as the Napa Valley of Argentina, Mendoza is Latin America’s largest wine-making region with more than 800 wineries. Uco Valley in particular is known for its malbecs, cabernet sauvignons, syrahs and ruby red tempranillos, which benefit from 250 sunny days a year, very little rain, fertile soil and a cool micro-climate where the average temperature is 57 degrees F.
An hour’s drive southwest of the city of Mendoza, Uco Valley is a popular destination for travelers on the Argentina Wine Route. As well as producing the highest altitude (900-1,200 meters) wines in the province, the valley is renowned for its beauty. Covering 45 miles by 15 miles on the eastern slopes of the Andes, Uco Valley follows the northern course of the Tunuyan river as it flows down from the surrounding snow-capped peaks. As you visit the valley’s vineyards, looks out for almond trees and orchards too.
Practical Info
If you’d like to stay overnight, the main town in Uco Valley is Tunuyan. To get to the valley, you can either drive from the city of Mendoza (one hour), or alternatively, many Argentina Wine Route tours include stops at Uco Valley’s renowned vineyards.
Unlike some of the smaller wineries in the Mendoza area, Trapiche is very well known in the international wine scene, and in fact, the winery traces its history to 1883, and began sending wines to international competitions in Paris as early as 1920. Since the 1970s, Trapiche has been exporting its wines to the international market and has won the Argentine Wine Producer of the Year award twice. Their wines are imported by businesses in 40 countries.
But that doesn’t mean that they have sacrificed quality, and some of their best-scoring wines are a line of single vineyard Malbec, which is made from grapes from high altitude near the Mendoza River valley. Other wines they produce include Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, Torrontés, Rosé, Viognier and a Pinot Grigio. Visits to the winery include a multimedia presentation, walks through the cellars and tastings.
Practical Info
Some of the land managed by Trapiche is used for olive trees and vineyards raised biodynamically, which is a system of practices that use traditional calendars based on the phases of the moon and solstices, as well as organic plant and animal products used to enrich the soil.