Mendoza

— Journey —

Jet 1 h 40 from Buenos Aires

Mendoza is the beating heart of Argentine wine — a high desert of vineyards laid out beneath the snow-capped Andes, where the Malbec grape reaches an expression found nowhere else on earth. FFGR Argentina arranges private cellar visits at Catena Zapata's Mayan pyramid winery, at Bodega Salentein and at the boutique estates of the Uco Valley, each lunch paired by the winemaker. We coordinate helicopter ascents toward Aconcagua, the highest peak outside Asia, and afternoons at the spa of Cavas Wine Lodge among the vines. The drive from Mendoza city into the Uco Valley — past poplar avenues and irrigation channels engineered centuries ago — is among the most serene in the Americas, and is best taken at the golden hour before a long table dinner under the stars.