The Vines Resort & Spa
Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina, vinesresortandspa.com. 22 rooms from $510 (U.S.).
It’s no secret that Argentina’s Mendoza is a haven for wine lovers, with more than 1,500 wine growers scattered across the province. But why just tour a handful of tasting rooms when you can stay overnight at a vineyard retreat?
The Vines Resort & Spa – a lavish hotel within a winery – not only offers panoramic views of the surrounding Andes mountains, but also encourages you to make your own blend.
Location, location
Located 90 minutes from Mendoza, The Vines is nestled in the Uco Valley – Argentina’s newest wine-making region known for its majestic scenery and award-winning malbecs. For guests, it’s a short stroll down the path to wander through hundreds of hectares of vineyards. Tastings, tours and blending sessions can be arranged, as well as “wine camp” in the harvest season: a day of picking and punching down grapes to make a barrel of Argentine wine.
Whom you’ll meet
It’s a mecca for aspiring winemakers from around the world. There are some 135 owners who have purchased plots at the Vines to produce their own premium wines to ship home. Also roaming the resort are gauchos – burly Argentine cowboys in ponchos – with whom the hotel can arrange a day trip on horseback into the foothills.
Design
A dirt road lined with grapevines leads a cluster of stylish one- and two-bedroom villas, each with a private deck, kitchen and living room. My villa had a rustic decor that emanated gaucho culture: saddle blankets tossed over leather furniture, polished concrete floors and a colossal wood-burning fireplace. Particularly convenient is the full-size fridge that came stocked with staples such as butter, milk and, of course, wine.
Room with a view
Book a lakefront villa for an unobstructed view of the Andes. You’ll awaken to misty mornings and rugged mountains, and in the harvest season, autumn colours rippling across the vineyard. From the veranda, watch the sunset paint a pinkish hue over the valley or stargaze into the evening.
Best amenity
The personal butler will spoil you rotten and anticipate your every need. For example, when one guest was hit with a poutine craving, the butler researched the recipe and arranged for the kitchen to make the dish.
When we arrived near midnight, our butler arranged for dinner to be served in our villa (“That way, you can relax after your journey”) and lit the fireplace in our living room. It was just what we needed.
Eat in or eat out
Top Argentine chef Francis Mallmann offers asado (barbecue) and more than 450 boutique wines at the in-house restaurant, Siete Fuegos. Try the rib-eye steak that’s prepared on a parrilla (iron grill) and slowly cooked over embers. It’s incredible: As the heat gradually rises to the meat’s centre, the beef is charbroiled until very tender. If you partake in the hotel’s five-course dinner on the patio, however, try the goat prepared by pirca o asador – an old country practice of fastening an entire carcass to an iron cross and grilling for nine hours.
If I could change one thing
As the new kid on the block, the hotel is experiencing minor growing pains. The WiFi and telephone worked intermittently and a faulty doorknob locked me inside my bedroom. With no phone, I waited to be liberated. But lounging in a plush bed for an extra hour was no hardship, and the butler promptly fixed the handle once I was freed.
The writer was a guest of the hotel.