We originally gave ourselves two days to explore Cafayate and the surrounding wineries.
We needed to renew our visas and had planned to do this in Mendoza, which put us on a tight schedule.
However after much deliberation we decided to stay much longer in Cafayate (6 nights) and go back north to Salta to renew our visas there.
This way we didn’t have to rush our time in Cafayate or the towns along the way: Tafi de Valle and Chilecito.
With our newly arranged schedule, we managed to do almost everything we wanted in Cafayate (though no matter how much time you ever have in a place you enjoy, it’s never enough), from visiting wineries and wine tastings to a 50 km bike ride through the Quebrada de Cafayate.
In total Kelly and I visited seven wineries including Utama, each one teaching us something new about how to make wine and showing us different scales of production
- from 40,000 litres per year to over a million (Utama was about 4000 litres).
But the best was the “desgustacion”, or tasting.
Here we tasted the difference between table wine and young and aged wines, and received a lesson on how to properly do a tasting.
Needless to say, my future retirement savings have plummeted, as I now have a new love of “good” wine.
Speaking of scales of production, it wasn’t until I saw the semi-trailers loaded with grapes being pitch forked into a large sorting machine that I really thought about the scale of consumption and therefore energy and waste that went into wine production.
I romanticize wine.
The wineries are beautiful, set against a backdrop of mountains (probably the prettiest monoculture production I’ve ever seen).
I have trouble believing that it could possibly be unsustainable, especially after living and working at Utama with it’s 4,000 litres per year.
But think about it, over 1 million litres a year at some of these wineries that encompass only 1% of the production in Argentina – a leading wine producing country.
Also, we learned that the glass wine bottles are not reused by the wineries instead they always use new bottles.
I’m not sure what happens to the millions of wine bottles that are disposed of by households throughout the country (By the 1970s Argentina was the 5
th largest producer of wine and 6
th largest consumer…I have no idea what it is now, but they drink a lot of wine!).
There is no formal government sponsored recycling program here so who knows where all that glass goes.
Anyway, it’s food for thought while sipping back your favourite Malbec, especially since Winnipeg doesn’t currently recycle glass either.
The surrounding landscape of Cafayate, named the Quebrada de Cafayate, is quite striking.
As you travel through the valley you are constantly overwhelmed by the various ridges and rock formations all named according to what they resemble most.
We rented some bikes and took a bus out of town 48km to Garanta del Diablo (the Devil’s Throat), a huge crevice in the landscape that opens up like a hole…or a throat.
From this awe inspiring natural formation we made our way back to town, a 4 and a ½ hour journey.
At times we weren’t sure if we were actually going to make it to town, with the uphill climbs and bikes that felt like they might fall apart – but the descents gave new found hope and energy.
It was a great bike ride and it got our appetites hungry for the empanadas and beer waiting for us back in town!
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| Garganta del Diablo |
 |
| Garganta del Diablo |
 |
| The Amphitheatre |
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| Las Ventanas (Windows) |
Another day we rented bikes again to check out the Etchart winery a little further out of town, and on the way back made our way to a “mirador”, or lookout, on a small hill overlooking the town and the surrounding mountains that are bathed in an orange hue as the sun goes down.
As we biked down a path toward this hill, we caught the attention of a herd of llamas and a donkey.
One white llama took particular interest and approached us in curiosity or defense – I didn’t know.
We got off our bikes and I shielded myself with my bike in front, as it insistently tried to get around me and head toward Kelly.
“What’s it doing?!
Oh no, is it going to spit on me?!” (a common warding off tactic).
When it wasn’t chewing on my bike seat and tire, or trying to get around to Kelly, we were head to head, looking into each other’s eyes as the llama moved its head back and forth as if trying to hypnotize me like a cobra snake.
Meanwhile, some construction workers on the property were laughing at us!
As it turned out, the workers later told us, this was a “friendly” llama and only wanted to be pet or fed.
A little warning would have been nice.
We eventually made our way around the beasts and enjoyed the view from the hill.
Another adventure, though not nearly as hilarious, was to the Quilmes ruins about 70km from Cafayate.
The settlement dates back to approximately 1000AD and was home to about 5000 indigenous peoples.
The Quilmes people survived contact with the Inca and held out for quite some time before being overwhelmed by the Spanish conquistadors.
The last 2000 inhabitants were deported to Buenos Aires in 1667, forced to walk the entire way.
It took seven months and of the 2000 people who began the journey, only 400 survived.
Adding insult to injury, Quilmes is also the name of the national beer.
The site is now maintained by the remaining descendents of the Quilmes.
It is quite large and complex and is worth spending some time.
Unfortunately we were held up for just under 2 hours due to flooded roads along the way and our time to explore the ruins was cut short.
 |
| The Pulperia (the mortadela is on counter to the left) |
Cafayate is probably our favorite small town to date. It’s hard to go wrong with wineries a stone’s throw away and a surrounding landscape that urges exploration. But it was the small-town feel that we enjoyed the most. Staying at Utama, Kelly and I learned about the upcoming elections and even met the soon-to-be mayor of the town at a party Sacha had, where we ate “asado” and listened to some great sing-a-longs. Meeting locals at the Pulperia (an old-school grocery store where gauchos used to hang out, and also doubled as a behind-the-scenes bar) always provided comic relief. Natalio, who worked at the Hostel Rusty-K filled us in on the local culture when he wasn’t eating our pizza leftovers. Wherever we went we always seemed to run into our Irish & Scottish friends we made at the hostel, reminding us just how small this place really was. But all good things must come to an end, and our soon-to-expire visas took us back to Salta one last time, before we headed south to Tafi del Valle and Chilecito.
Adios Chicos!
Kelly and Juan
We originally gave ourselves two days to explore Cafayate and the surrounding wineries. We needed to renew our visas and had planned to do this in Mendoza, which put us on a tight schedule. However after much deliberation we decided to stay much longer in Cafayate (6 nights) and go back north to Salta to renew our visas there. This way we didn’t have to rush our time in Cafayate or the towns along the way: Tafi de Valle and Chilecito. With our newly arranged schedule, we managed to do almost everything we wanted in Cafayate (though no matter how much time you ever have in a place you enjoy, it’s never enough), from visiting wineries and wine tastings to a 50 km bike ride through the Quebrada de Cafayate. 
In total Kelly and I visited seven wineries including Utama, each one teaching us something new about how to make wine and showing us different scales of production - from 40,000 litres per year to over a million (Utama was about 4000 litres). But the best was the “desgustacion”, or tasting. Here we tasted the difference between table wine and young and aged wines, and received a lesson on how to properly do a tasting. Needless to say, my future retirement savings have plummeted, as I now have a new love of “good” wine. 
Speaking of scales of production, it wasn’t until I saw the semi-trailers loaded with grapes being pitch forked into a large sorting machine that I really thought about the scale of consumption and therefore energy and waste that went into wine production. I romanticize wine. The wineries are beautiful, set against a backdrop of mountains (probably the prettiest monoculture production I’ve ever seen). I have trouble believing that it could possibly be unsustainable, especially after living and working at Utama with it’s 4,000 litres per year. But think about it, over 1 million litres a year at some of these wineries that encompass only 1% of the production in Argentina – a leading wine producing country. Also, we learned that the glass wine bottles are not reused by the wineries instead they always use new bottles. I’m not sure what happens to the millions of wine bottles that are disposed of by households throughout the country (By the 1970s Argentina was the 5th largest producer of wine and 6th largest consumer…I have no idea what it is now, but they drink a lot of wine!). There is no formal government sponsored recycling program here so who knows where all that glass goes. Anyway, it’s food for thought while sipping back your favourite Malbec, especially since Winnipeg doesn’t currently recycle glass either. 
Another day we rented bikes again to check out the Etchart winery a little further out of town, and on the way back made our way to a “mirador”, or lookout, on a small hill overlooking the town and the surrounding mountains that are bathed in an orange hue as the sun goes down. As we biked down a path toward this hill, we caught the attention of a herd of llamas and a donkey. One white llama took particular interest and approached us in curiosity or defense – I didn’t know. We got off our bikes and I shielded myself with my bike in front, as it insistently tried to get around me and head toward Kelly. “What’s it doing?! Oh no, is it going to spit on me?!” (a common warding off tactic). When it wasn’t chewing on my bike seat and tire, or trying to get around to Kelly, we were head to head, looking into each other’s eyes as the llama moved its head back and forth as if trying to hypnotize me like a cobra snake. Meanwhile, some construction workers on the property were laughing at us! As it turned out, the workers later told us, this was a “friendly” llama and only wanted to be pet or fed. A little warning would have been nice. We eventually made our way around the beasts and enjoyed the view from the hill.
Another adventure, though not nearly as hilarious, was to the Quilmes ruins about 70km from Cafayate. The settlement dates back to approximately 1000AD and was home to about 5000 indigenous peoples. The Quilmes people survived contact with the Inca and held out for quite some time before being overwhelmed by the Spanish conquistadors. The last 2000 inhabitants were deported to Buenos Aires in 1667, forced to walk the entire way. It took seven months and of the 2000 people who began the journey, only 400 survived. Adding insult to injury, Quilmes is also the name of the national beer. The site is now maintained by the remaining descendents of the Quilmes. It is quite large and complex and is worth spending some time. Unfortunately we were held up for just under 2 hours due to flooded roads along the way and our time to explore the ruins was cut short. 
