Location: Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina
Varietal focus: Malbec leads the way, but the estate’s many private vineyards also produce Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay, Torrontés, and blends
Why we love it: Harvest immersion, hands-on winemaking, Andes setting
There are plenty of places in Mendoza where you can drink very good Malbec while gazing at the Andes. But at The Vines Resort & Spa, the idea is to understand what went into the bottle in the first place. The resort sits within a 1,500-acre patchwork of privately owned vineyards in the Uco Valley, a project that began in 2005 as a way for would-be vintners from around the world to own vines and make their own Argentine wine. Today, hundreds of private vineyard owners make wine within the larger estate, giving hotel guests an unusually close view of the experimentation—and obsessive decision-making—that happens between grape and glass. Come during harvest (late February through April), and you can get much closer still: WineCamp sends guests into the vineyards to pick and hand-sort grapes, taste wine straight from the tanks, help with cellar work, and stomp grapes barefoot before sitting down to an open-fire asado surrounded by the vines. At other times of year, a blending session lets you taste barrel samples and hand-bottle your own Uco Valley blend.
