Chile & Argentina Wine Adventure
March 2010 Private Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Our tour starts at the Mendoza airport where we will pick you up after the 2:25 PM flight from Santiago, allowing you to fly in that morning after an overnight flight from the US the day before. (If you decide to come in early, we'll meet you at our hotel around 3:15 PM.) We check into our hotel and start with a tasting of Argentinean wines and dinner at a local restaurant. Then, we join in the opening night celebrations of Vendimia at Vía Blanca de las Reinas, the White Road of the Queens or the parade of harvest queens from around Argentina.

Day 2: After breakfast we have an optional guided walking tour of Mendoza. From 11:00 to 1:00 is El Carrusel, another festival parade but this time much bigger with horses, gauchos, old style cars, and dancers from around South America. You'll then have the opportunity to have lunch on your own and in the afternoon we'll drive to the Lujan de Cujo valley for a vineyard walk and tasting at Decero Vineyards. That evening is the main Vendimia party, the Acto Central. It's a busy day but we'll squeeze in dinner at some point!

Day 3: Today we visit the nearby Uco Valley wine region and jump on bicycles.  We have two routes from which you can choose, so you can select your own riding distance, with all routes finishing at Bodegas Altas. The short route riders will reach the Bodega (winery) in time to participate in a cooking class with one of Mendoza's most famous chefs while the long route riders will arrive in time for lunch. We'll have a very leisurely late lunch with plenty of wine and then its back to Mendoza to rest.

Day 4: Today we switch countries - and beverages. We drive towards the Andes and go for a hike in the cordillera, the pre-Andes mountains. The hike finishes at the Jerome Brewery, a small family-run brewery that has outstanding beer and serves a hearty lunch. After lunch we'll continue over the pass to Chile and our hotel in Los Andes, a small market town in the Aconcagua Valley. That night we'll eat dinner at a local hacienda, several hundred years old, with a view over the nearby vines.

Day 5: Today we experience the Aconcagua Valley. We first visit Von Siebenthal winery in the Aconcagua Valley for a vineyard walk and tasting. Lunch is on your own in Los Andes. In the afternoon you have the option to hike or horseback ride through the vineyards of Viña San Esteban to an area of ancient Incan petroglyphs. Our walk or ride takes us to one of the most scenic dinner settings you will ever experience, a shelter that overlooks the valley floor full of vineyards with the Andes looming on the other side.

Day 6: We depart Los Andes for the cooler Casablanca Valley and a bike ride on the mostly-flat valley roads.  We start our ride with a quick tasting (only one glass!) at Emiliana Vineyards and then earn our lunch by riding for an hour to the lunch stop in the cute town of Casablanca. In the afternoon we continue on our bikes to Viña Catrala for a very pleasant tasting at a picnic shelter in the woods. After the tasting we shuttle to Viña del Mar, Chile's beach resort city, where we'll check into our ocean-front hotel and have dinner in a room overlooking the waves.

Day 7: On our final morning we shuttle to our last Chilean wine area, the Maipo Valley. There we visit the amazingly beautiful Viña Peréz Cruz winery for a vineyard walk, lunch, and tasting. In the afternoon we drop you off in downtown Santiago (if you are planning to stay longer) or at the airport for your evening flight home.