Vineyards and best wineries in Mendoza: how to choose which one to tour
Wondering what the best wineries in Mendoza are? You’ve come to the right place. How to select the right vineyard to visit in Mendoza wine region? Come and explore to find which one (or many!) is right for you.
Which are the best wineries in Mendoza for touring? I came up with this question when we planned our last trip to Mendoza, and I wanted to include the Wine Route in it. But there is a long haul between choosing the top notch wineries and being able to really tour them.
When you’re planning a trip to Mendoza, the sheer number of wineries can be completely overwhelming. The most frequently asked question for visitors to Mendoza is: Which wineries should I visit?. But if you ask five people who have been, you’ll get five different answers! With winery options ranging from casual to refined and rustic to elegant, there is a winery in Mendoza to suit any palate and any style.
That is why, in this article, I want to tell you the things to take into account to visit the wineries of Mendoza without any mishaps, and I want to share my experience so that you have all the necessary information to plan your visit.
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Where are the wineries in Mendoza located?
There are several winery areas in Mendoza, but the main ones are:
- Maipú.
- Luján de Cuyo.
- Uco Valley.
As for landscapes, those of Uco Valley are spectacular, but they are 53 miles to the south of the city. On the other hand, those of Maipú and Luján de Cuyo are much more accessible if you are going to stay in Mendoza city.
There are also wineries in the area of San Rafael, such as Bianchi, in case your trip is through the south of the province.
How to get to the wineries
How do you want to get to the wineries? There are various ways you can visit the best wineries in Mendoza. You have many options for transportation. The best transfer option will actually depend on your budget and priorities, so I’ve listed below all the possible alternatives. You can choose the one that suits your travel necessities best!
▶️ The most practical thing is to drive your own vehicle, as many wineries are far from the urban centers. Anyway, beware of alcohol tests: if you drive you will not be able to drink any alcohol, since the alcohol tolerance in Mendoza is zero. I usually use Rentalcars.com to compare prices for a rental car and book the best deal.
▶️ In case you don’t have a car or prefer to be able to drink without being worried, there are excursions that take you to tour them. For example, there is a well-known tour that picks you up at your hotel and takes you to visit two wineries, and it is affordable. ➥ Book it here!
▶️ Another highly recommended alternative is the Wine Bus, or “Bus Vitivinícola”, a sightseeing bus which has several different routes and stops depending on which one you choose: there is one for Valle de Uco, another for Luján de Cuyo, etc.
It will take you to different vineyards and wineries in Mendoza. In some wine bus tours you can choose a full day or half day tour, depending on how you have organized your itinerary in Mendoza. Book in advance and check the days of each tour in each booking link:
➤ North Uco Valley: The wine bus follows a unique route with stops at Salentein winery, Domaine Bousquet winery, Andeluna winery and the famous Gaia restaurant. ➥ Book it here!
➤ South Uco Valley: The bus has stops at two different wineries, Zuccardi Valle de Uco and Gimenez Rilli. ➥ Book it here!
➤ Maipú wine region: Full-day tour is a single route with stops at Olivar Zuelo, Santa Julia winery, Casa del Visitante winery and La Rural wine museum. ➥ Book it here!
➤ Luján de Cuyo & Maipú: This tour visits famous vineyards and wineries in Luján de Cuyo and Maipú. It stops at various wineries, for example: Casa Vigil, Bressia, Las Perdices, Penedo Borges, Tierras Altas and Cruzat. ➥ Book it here!
▶️ If you want to experience a more energetic activity, the wineries in Maipú area can be explored by bicycle. The land is quite flat. ➥ Book you bicycle in Maipu here. Something even more fun? hire a winebike tasting tour, ideal if you are traveling with friends or want to meet people and have a good time!
▶️ Would you like something more private? There are private tour alternatives where they pick you up at your accommodation and you are taken to tour two wineries. This is ideal if you would like to go only with your family, partner or friends, without having to adapt to another group. Besides the most important aspect of a driver getting you there safely, they also can provide information and history. You can choose to go to those wineries of Maipú (book it here or here), Luján de Cuyo (book it here or here) or Valle de Uco (which is usually more expensive for being at a greater distance. You can book it here!).
Which are the best wineries in Mendoza?
There really is no best or worst winery, it’s all about what you want! Which Mendoza wineries suit your style? There are many ways to experience the incredible wines grown and produced here.
Choosing the best wineries in Mendoza is something subjective, so I’m going to rely on concrete and objective facts to classify them.
According to The World’s Best Vineyards Academy that selects the 100 best wineries in the world, the Argentine winery that appears in the highest position in the ranking is Zuccardi Winery, and no less than in the first place! The good thing is that this ranking is not centered solely in the quality of the wine, but in many other details that make a unique experience when visiting a vineyard, like the route, the landscape, the food or the surroundings.
In 2021, there were 3 wineries from Mendoza in the top 20 of this ranking: the first position was for Zuccardi wines, the seventh for Catena Zapata, whose design is characteristic for being a pyramid based on the Mayan architecture, and position 18 was for Trapiche.
On the other hand, the SuperUco winery won the first prize in Sustainable Practices in Best of Wine Tourism 2021. They work the vineyard in an organic and ecological way, practicing biodynamics, which implies focusing on the natural elements without using any chemical compounds, herbicides or fungicides.
How to choose the best Mendoza wineries to visit
When you start looking for wineries to visit in Mendoza, you realize that it is a challenging task. There are so many! And being able to filter the ones that you may be interested in from those that you may not, for sure it requires a big effort.
I would love to have a month available to visit a different winery everyday, but it’s not my case and I guess it won’t be yours, either. Then, there is no other option than to choose some.
So, how to select the right vineyard to visit in Mendoza? I’ll give you some guidelines that I found useful to decide which wineries to visit. Planning can be part of the fun, so I hope these travel tips help you create an itinerary that is best for you when visiting Mendoza vineyards.
The best ones
To begin with, we always try to visit the best wineries, those of the rankings, as I mentioned in the previous point.
But is it really necessary to go to the best ones?
Perhaps we should analyze whether we know enough about wines so that we really understand the difference and, on the other hand, we must bear in mind that it is difficult to get availability. For example, in Zuccardi Valle de Uco I didn’t get a place in any of the three times I asked.
Transportation
Do I have a car to get around on my own? If that’s not the case, it is best to focus on wineries that have easy access, such as Bodegas López, or hire an excursion to visit them. The alternatives to choose are limited, though.
Winery restaurants
If you wish to have a full experience, a good idea is to look for wineries in Mendoza for having lunch or dinner. Not all wineries have a restaurant, so you’ll have to pick one.
Views
This point may not be of much influence for you, but in my case, when looking for winery restaurants for lunch, I wanted them to have a good view of the vineyards and, above all, of the mountains. To me, it was a key point, so when it comes to choosing the best Mendoza wineries to visit, the setting is almost as important a factor to consider as the grapes themselves.
Know your intentions
Are you visiting for the first time and just want to have fun and explore? Is this trip less of a focus on wine purchases and more about the romance? Do you want to experience something more than just tasting wine?
There are tours where you can learn general wine education and how the wine is made. But you can also do a wine and food pairing lunch, have a picnic and more! Ever wanted to create your own style of wine? So you can do a blending class!
Favorite wines
What are your favorite wines? If you feel strongly about particular varietals (sparkling wines, only Malbec, etc.) then you can head for the wineries that make what you like. For example, if you like sparkling wines, you should definitely take the Chandon winery tour.
Price
The price will be another filter, for sure. What is your budget for wine tasting and purchasing wine? There are two costs to consider for each winery: the tasting and the cost of the wine.
Visiting wineries in Mendoza can be from free to quite expensive, depending on which winery it is, whether we want to experience only tasting, or lunch. Based on our budget, we’ll have to decide how much we’re willing to pay for the experience. Anyway, I can assure you it’s worth it.
Time
How much time do you have? Wine tastings in Mendoza can last anywhere from 45 minutes to three hours or more. And some wineries are remote! If you are short on time, you should skip the wineries in the Uco Valley or consider taking a half-day tour like this one.
Availability
Finally, no matter how much you want to visit a winery, it won’t be possible if there is no availability or if it’s closed at the time of your trip. So it is best to get to this point with at least a couple of wineries to contact, in case Plan A does not work.
Otherwise, you can ask the tour agencies, who usually have extra availability.
Tours, tastings and winery restaurants
When I chose to visit some vineyards in Mendoza, I knew that in addition to the classic tour and tasting, I wanted to have lunch in a winery that offered a good selection of Malbec wines.
Which wineries do have a restaurant? Not all, but some offer an outdoor lunch with a tasting menu paired with their wines. Depending on the day of the week, they usually open at noon and some also in the evening for dinner. It is necessary to book a table in advance.
Here I share some options that I found (they could be more, but some wineries like Luigi Bosca were closed until the end of 2022 and others, like La Azul Winery, never answered).
Note: The prices are paid in Argentine pesos but, due to the inflation rate in the country, I will provide an estimated price in dollars (at the official rate).
Salentein Wineries
Located in Uco Valley, Salentein is a modern winery. It has an art gallery and a wine cellar which is characterized by its design and by having a compass rose on the floor, and where classical music concerts are held for its good acoustics. It is one of the most sought-after wineries, since it has spectacular architecture and still better views. There are several photos on its official website.
In The World’s Best Vineyards Academy ranking that I mentioned above, it was positioned in 23rd place in 2020 and the 67th in 2021.
It offers the classic 1-hour tour to the winery and the art gallery, with a tasting of 3 wines at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm. And there are two schedules for the top tour, where there is a premium wine tasting. The price starts at $30 per person (official dollar rate).
They also have the Salentein Restaurant that offers a 4-course meal menu with two pairing alternatives. From $50 (dollars).
🚩 Location: Valle de Uco (you can take this wine bus which stops in Salentein, or you can also go on this private tour).
💯 An interesting detail: Did you know that you can stay in Salentein Wineries? They have this lodge among vineyards in Mendoza, which is highly demanded.
Zuccardi Winery
Zuccardi Winery is located in Valle de Uco at 1100 masl, and has a unique design, with a metallic dome that reflects the sunlight.
It has four schedules for touring and tasting, apart from the renowned Piedra Infinita Restaurant.
If you are willing to visit this winery in Mendoza, I recommend booking well in advance. We tried to go there 3 times, but we never got a place (in spite of trying to book several weeks before). This is Zuccardi website.
On the other hand, in Maipú you can find Santa Julia Winery and Pan & Oliva restaurant which is among olive groves and has very good reviews (both belong to Zuccardi).
🚩 Location: Valle de Uco (this wine bus stops at Zuccardi Winery and this one goes to Santa Julia winery in Maipu).
Trapiche Winery
As I mentioned before, Trapiche Wineries took 18th place in The World’s Best Vineyards Academy of 2021 and in 2019 had won as the best winery of New World Wines at the Wine Star Awards.
Trapiche is one of the most visited wineries in Mendoza. It is a historic winery from 1883 and was one of the first to include French vines and import French oak barrels. It is also characterized by being next to the old railway tracks.
The guided tours with a tasting last around an hour and they are held every day every 2 hours, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The price starts at $30 per person (official dollar rate).
The Espacio Trapiche haute cuisine restaurant offers a 3-course meal menu and is open from Thursday to Monday at noon, or Friday and Saturday for dinner. It costs from 60 to 100 dollars, depending on the pairing you choose.
The restaurant has excellent reviews, but if you are looking for something more relaxed or inexpensive, they have the Estacion 83 Wine Bar. It is a train car that used to take the grapes from the harvest to the winery, where you can drink bulk wine in the gardens, just as if it were craft beer.
🚩 Location: Maipú (this private tour goes to Trapiche).
Nieto Senetiner
Nieto Senetiner winery is one of the historic wineries of Mendoza, since they have been making wines since 1888.
Its winemakers are considered benchmarks in the country’s wine industry. In fact, in 2020 Santiago Mayorga was the only Argentine selected among the 50 most influential under-40 people in the wine world.
It offers tours, tastings and a restaurant in a spectacular setting, with century-old vineyards within walking distance and the Andes mountain range as a background.
I will tell my full experience in another specific article.
🚩 Location: Luján de Cuyo (this private tour goes to Nieto Senetiner).
Alta Vista Winery
The environment of Alta Vista is very nice and the winery offers tours and tastings every day at 9:30 am, 11:00 am, 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm. From 15 dollars per person (there are 3 types of tastings to choose from).
They also have a proposal called A day in the countryside which consists of a relaxed lunch in the gardens, with a 4-course meal menu, and two pairing options to choose from. From $45 (dollars).
🚩 Location: Luján de Cuyo.
Lagarde Winery
Lagarde still has its winery from 1897. From this winery I love their wines and the environment they created for having lunch under the big trees. It is also easily accessible for being close to the center of Luján de Cuyo, which is a plus. Still I was very surprised as it was “trapped by the city”, and yet they managed to create a beautiful place overlooking their vineyards.
Tours are made from Tuesday to Friday at 10:00 am, but it is advisable to check beforehand because it may change. It includes a 3-wine tasting and it costs from 23 dollars per person.
They also have the Fogón Restaurant, which although it has a very modern indoor place, I loved the outdoor place with tables under the large trees and attached to the vineyards. They offer a 4 or 7-course meal menu, starting at $65 (dollars). They also have an à la carte menu where lunch includes the guided tour, which is a clear advantage. They are closed on Wednesdays, and on Fridays or Saturdays you can also have dinner.
They also offer different proposals, such as blending your own wine, or a blind wine tasting.
If you buy wines directly from the winery, you get a 20% discount on the price list. The Proyecto Hermanas Pinot Noir is exquisite.
🚩 Location: Luján de Cuyo.
Vistalba Winery
I was struck by the offer of original activities in this winery, and I thought it was a good idea to include it in the list in case you are looking for a different proposal.
You can choose between playing a wine blending game, or being taught the techniques of tasting, or a blind tasting to guess the wines you are drinking. There is also a classic tour and tasting at 4 schedules, from Tuesday to Sunday, and they have a wine bar to have a glass of wine with a view to their vineyards in Mendoza.
🚩 Location: Vistalba (this private tour goes to Vistalba winery).
Chandon wineries
If you enjoy sparkling wines, this is the winery you should visit in Mendoza. We toured it on a previous trip, and I remember that we were surprised by its flawless gardens.
They currently offer a tour and tasting of 3 sparkling wines, which lasts around 1 hour, at 5 different schedules a day. From $15 (dollars).
They also have a 4-course lunch menu at Bistro Chandon, which includes water and a glass of sparkling wine per plate. From $50 (dollars). You can ask for an upgrade for an extra $15 (dollars) for pairing with Baron B line.
A more relaxed alternative is the picnic in the gardens, try some cheese, cold cuts and empanadas with a sparkling wine.
🚩 Location: Agrelo.
🍷 There is an excursion that leaves from Mendoza city and takes you to tour Chandon Wineries, which is ideal if you don’t have a car or if you plan to drink alcohol.➥ Book it here!
López Winery, free touring in Mendoza
I left the proposal of Bodegas López, founded in 1898, to the end since it has some special details: it is easily accessible from the city of Mendoza if you take the Metrotranvía, and the guided tour, which includes the tasting of 2 wines, is free.
That’s why I have already mentioned it in the article about things to do in Mendoza Argentina, since it is really very easy and cheap to arrive there on your own, even without your own car.
It also has the Rincón de López Restaurant, with a set menu or à la carte.
🚩 Location: Maipú.
Tips when visiting a winery in Mendoza
- Booking in advance: most wineries handle reservations and you won’t be able to get access to them if you don’t book in advance. Besides, many of them do not have any availability a month in advance, such as Zuccardi.
- Alcohol breath tests: the best advice I can give you is to not drink and drive. The alcohol tolerance in Mendoza is 0% so, in case you drive, it is best to plan a designated driver, or go by taxi or excursion, so you don’t drive. Of course, there are tests everywhere: we had to do one at 7:00 in the morning while going to do trekking to the Aconcagua mountain.
- Priorities: You shouldn’t tour many wineries the same day, especially if you are willing to have lunch in one of them. The meals, paired with wines, are long and I promise you will not be willing to continue touring other wineries later.
- Check the days wineries are closed beforehand. This may suffer changes throughout the year.
Can you stay in any of the wineries in Mendoza?
There are some with lodging, although they are not so many, and as imagined, prices are quite expensive. Having said this, it must be for sure an incredible experience to wake up next to the vineyards.
Three of the most exclusive options of lodging near the vineyards of Mendoza are:
In case it is what you are looking for, I recommend that you book in advance, especially in high season and in February-March, when it is harvest time in the land of the Wine Route.
Wineries and vineyards in Mendoza FAQs
How many vineyards are in Mendoza?
There are more than 150.000 hectares of vineyards, roughly 1,000 registered wineries and over 150 tasting rooms in Mendoza. This can make selecting the right ones to visit a challenge, but using our tips you’ll be on your way to finding the perfect ones to come visit.
What is the best time to visit Mendoza’s vineyards?
Although there is tourism all year round, many tourists visit the wineries during the summer, between December and February, but keep in mind that it can be very hot. Personally I prefer to go in autumn or spring, when the weather is more pleasant.
Another ideal time to visit Mendoza’s wineries is between February and April, during the grape harvest season, although you should book accommodation in Mendoza and tours in advance.
How many days do I need to visit the wineries in Mendoza?
It depends on how much you like wine! I think one day would be the minimum, but I would spend at least two days, one for Luján de Cuyo and Maipú and another for the Uco Valley, which has incredible landscapes. Anyway, you could even use a week to visit wineries in Mendoza.
Map of wineries in Mendoza for visiting
…and that’s a wrap! I hope this list of the best Mendoza vineyards & wineries was useful to plan your trip. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. Have fun!
