Culture Shock
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
1
27
159
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Salta,
Argentina
Sunday, December 12, 2004
It was a beautiful ride to Cafayate and the town itself is very pleasant too.Cafayate is a place rich in history; Diaguítas indigenous settlements have been found here; afterwards, around 1480, the Incas arrived from Peru and in 1535 the Spaniards came, arriving from the Humuahuaca ravine
Cafayate from Finca las Nubes
. In the area one finds ceramics, guardrails, cultivation terraces and cave paintings by the Diaguita Indians. Cafayate is in the center of the Calchaquíes valleys of Salta, and - after Mendonza - it's the area that produces the best wines of Argentina. The most renowned one is Torrontès, the roots of which come from Spain, and although it's white, it reaches 13° alcoholic degrees due to the altitude where its vines are cultivated. The cellars are generally small and family-owned, most of them can be visited and there's even a small museum in the oldest one, called the Secret Vessel. They have even developed a wine ice-cream, which is sold in the ice-cream parlors of the town (and a whiskey ice cream too).
Apart from the charm of the town, Cafayate also boasts interesting surroundings, like the Río Colorado waterfalls (where we hiked to), the white sands of Los Mèdanos and the Cafayate Ravine. To see the sunset, one can either go to Santa Teresita hill (where I went before a big thunderstorm broke out)or to Las Nubes ranch, a small winery 3km off the village, at the foot of San Isidro hill, on a small elevation that overlooks the whole valley. It's the personal project of a guy from Mendoza who decided to create "author's wines" in this area. He bought the land, planted 5000 stocks and his current production counts a few thousand bottles. The winery/house will soon be expanded so as to provide tourist accommodation facilities.
I visited several wineries, tried the corresponding tastings and found, much to my disappointment, that I did not like any of the wines.
