Argentina wine region entices with luxury
Intimate resorts with vineyards pamper tourists near Mendoza
If you want mint tea with your breakfast at Casa de Uco, a luxury wine resort nestled in Argentina’s Andean foothills, your server first checks in the kitchen. Moments later, he walks toward the hotel’s organic garden, next to its vineyards. When he returns, he delivers a teapot brimming with freshly cut mint leaves.
About one hour north, guests at the Entre Cielos Wine Hotel and Spa are greeted at the gate with a glass of rosé from the Mendozaarea hotel’s vineyards. Drinks in hand, they are transported by golf cart to the hotel entrance. Pampering is an Entre Cielos specialty. Indeed, its award-winning hamam spa, the first in South America, draws visitors worldwide.
Casa de Uco and Entre Cielos have much in common besides their own vineyards in Argentina’s leading wine region. Both are intimate, each with 16 rooms, creating a lodge-like experience where it is easy to meet other guests, or relax in secluded nooks. Both are among a handful of luxury hotels just outside Mendoza — independently owned and established by newcomers to the hotel industry.
“None of us had any background in hospitality,” says Switzerland native Cécile Adam, managing owner of Entre Cielos, of herself and her three Swiss co-owners friends who were “looking for a different challenge.” They found it in an abandoned vineyard in the Luján de Cuyo wine area, 20 minutes from Mendoza. The hotel opened in 2011, the same year they started producing rosé from the revitalized vineyard. They have subsequently added two highly rated Malbecs, the area’s signature wine.
But the hotel is best known for introducing a 1,000-year-old, sixstage cleansing and relaxation treatment to an entire continent. The purification process begins with a steam bath, followed by an exfoliating rub. Next is a respite in a warm water pool, followed by a very hot herb-infused steam bath and another exfoliation session. A final relaxation step is resting on a heated stone.
Another attraction is its twiceweekly asado, literally barbecue, but in Argentina it’s a fun social occasion built around cooking, especially meat, over coals. At Entre Cielos, guests meet at the bar for pre-dinner drinks before walking to the restaurant with an open wood-fire barbecue. The meal begins with everyone making their own empanadas of beef, caramelized onions and spices under the tutelage of the restaurant’s chef. By evening ’s end, after consuming generous portions of steak and the hotel’s Marantal wine, some guests are exchanging email addresses.
Casa de Uco, opened in late 2014, is the brainchild of one of Argentina’s leading architects, Alberto Tonconogy, whose striking native rock, concrete and glass exteriors give way to softer wooden and leather interiors. The Uco Valley landscape is incorporated with ducks floating on a natural lagoon next to guests lounging by an infinity pool.
The rooms are ultra-modern with features such as electronic blinds, Nespresso coffee makers and 42-inch, high-definition TVs. Activities include cycling, horseback riding, trekking and visiting other wineries. Every guest receives a free bottle of the hotel’s Malbec and a platter of chocolates.
Tonconogy and his family also own the hotel, their first, and its surrounding 790-acre vineyard, parcels of which are available for sale. An on-site winery is to open later this year to serve not only the hotel but also those who have purchased their own mini-vineyards.
In recent years, the Uco Valley has become the world’s leading region for Malbec, a French grape that thrives in Argentina. Still sparsely populated, with just a nascent tourism industry, the region is attracting from major wine producers closer to Mendoza as well as from vintners around the world.
Several factors make Uco Valley Malbecs special. The high altitude in desert-like conditions means warm or hot days and cool nights, with 330 days of sunshine, ideal for grape growing. Since it rarely rains, watering can be controlled. The rich desert soil with excellent drainage completes the terroir.
“We have something special and the rest of the world is just beginning to catch on,” says Casa de Uco commercial manager Gonzalo Robredo.
“Right now, it’s like the Napa Valley of 25 years ago.”