We actually stayed in one place for seven days and it was wonderful! Jane actually unpacked her suitcase! We were in the desert town of Cafayate which is in Northern Argentina at the southern end of the Salta Province. On the 4 hour bus ride from Salta city to Cafayate we were entertained by the many stops made to either pick up people or drop them off out in the middle of nowhere in the desert, including children going to or from school. We would look around and wonder where they came from or where they were headed.
The trip was about 190 kilometers. The scenery as we got closer to Cafayate was spectacular. The last 80 kms was through a gorge, Quedbrada de Cafayate, where there are incredible rock formations, multi-colored mountains, deep crevasses and sand dunes. The gorge leads to the Calchaquies Valley. This is a long desert valley that runs north/south. Look for one of our slide shows to focus on this gorge. We couldn't get good pictures from the bus so I got some from a local.
Cafayate is about in the middle of the valley 50 kms from any other town. Cafayate and the vineyards around it are an oasis in this desert valley. While hot in the summer, the rest of the year is very mild. We had temperatures in the 70's and low 80's during the middle of the day. Cafayate is a quiet little town of about 15,000 with a huge central plaza surrounded by restaurants, shops, and, of course, a Catholic church. There are many hotels and hostels. Tourism and wine are the mainstays of the town. Along with the many people of all ages either walking, riding bikes or motorcycles, or driving old trucks or cars there are many dogs that frequently are seen around the square.
The trip was about 190 kilometers. The scenery as we got closer to Cafayate was spectacular. The last 80 kms was through a gorge, Quedbrada de Cafayate, where there are incredible rock formations, multi-colored mountains, deep crevasses and sand dunes. The gorge leads to the Calchaquies Valley. This is a long desert valley that runs north/south. Look for one of our slide shows to focus on this gorge. We couldn't get good pictures from the bus so I got some from a local.
Cafayate is about in the middle of the valley 50 kms from any other town. Cafayate and the vineyards around it are an oasis in this desert valley. While hot in the summer, the rest of the year is very mild. We had temperatures in the 70's and low 80's during the middle of the day. Cafayate is a quiet little town of about 15,000 with a huge central plaza surrounded by restaurants, shops, and, of course, a Catholic church. There are many hotels and hostels. Tourism and wine are the mainstays of the town. Along with the many people of all ages either walking, riding bikes or motorcycles, or driving old trucks or cars there are many dogs that frequently are seen around the square.
We stayed in the Hotel Killa, owned by Martha and run by Juan. Old friends and our travel consultant put us into this great little hotel. While we had the smallest room, the one with the lowest rate, we overlooked the pool, veranda and garden on the back of the property. They had a wonderful dining room and breakfast buffet. The staff was really well trained and very nice to us, including scrambled eggs for breakfast (unheard of on breakfast buffets in AR). they gave us great suggestions for things to do during our visit.
The first night we went to one of their recommended restaurants, Colorado. It is a small place with eight tables decorated very well and with some soft lighting, which is also unheard of in Argentine restaurants (one of their only drawbacks). As it turns out the place is run by Charlie and April from the U.S.A. What a great place to land in. Being land owners in Chile, they had come up for a look at this little town they had kept hearing about. With the weather so much better than Chile's, they decided to make Cafayate their home base. They opened the restaurant last December. The cool thing for us was the menu. There was some Mexican food, a Thai curry dish, a cordon bleu, and, of course, some great meat served with panache. So we ended up eating there three times with other local typical Argentine restaurants interspersed during our week. They are doing well with the locals, especially the Mexican dishes, but one night seven of eight tables were full of foreigners. They were mostly young people traveling around Argentina. So the food was great and the people were fun.
Our days here were very slow. We spent a lot of time at cafes on the square having snacks and playing gin rummy. One of our days was really interesting. With Horatio, our guide and driver, we went down valley about 50 kms to Amaicha, and old Indian town where Victor Cruz, an entrepreneur and artist, has built Museo Pachamama, a private museum and gallery. Amaicha is in the desert 1790 meters above sea level. It contains exhibits about the precious stones mined in the valley, some archaeology and Indian history and artifacts and copies of artifacts, as well as his art works. The museum is a series of buildings with a wall around them. All the buildings are covered in stone. There are colorful rock sculptures and murals depicting the rituals to "Mother Earth" that were a big part of the culture of indigenous peoples of the area. Again please look to a specific slide show on this topic.
After the museum we stopped at Quilmes, which is a partially restored village of the Quilmes Indians that lived in valley from about 1000-1665. At one time the village had 5000-6000 inhabitants. About 15% of the walls and fences were restored in the late 1970's. The village lies at the base of the mountains, so you can walk up to higher places that allow you a vista over the whole area. These peoples were unusual in that they fought off the Spanish conquerors for over 100 years. Finally the last 400 families were captured and forced to march by foot over 1500 kms to Buenos Aires by the Spanish. These themes seem to reoccur around the world. Okay, on to the wine.
There are about 2000 hectares (4400 acres) of grapes under production at this time. Wine has been made here for many years, but it is just in the last ten years that the quality has improved and that exportation has become a big part of the strategy. For years all the wine was drunk locally or sent in barrels to Salta and sold as bulk wine. Now quality and export are the topic of every wine discussion. Some of the wineries were sold to foreign investors in the mid to late 1990's. Italians, French and U.S. interests are all here. Malbec, torrentes, cabernet savignon, cabernet franc, tannat, merlot, chardonnay and savignon blanc grapes are all grown here. Historically malbec and torrentes were predominant. Now everyone is making a varietal line and a reserve blend line. While growth will be limited by the availability of water there is apparently enough for an additional 2000 acres. Some of these acres are over 2000 meters above sea level, which make them some of the highest in the world they tell me.
What is very cool is that you can walk around town and stop into four or five wineries within three blocks of the plaza. All are very interested in giving you a tour and a taste. Since we were here in a very slow tourist month, we got the royal treatment where ever we went. Nanni, which is one of three certified organic wineries in Argentina, is a great example of true winery hospitality. After a short tour they offered us tastings of four of their wines. Another day we rode bikes 5 kms uphill to Los Nubes Bodega (it almost killed us) which overlooks the town. A nice bottle of torrentes and a board of cheese, sausages and bread brought us back to life. Our sixth day we went on bikes north about two kms to El Esteco Bodega, now owned by some Italian winemakers, who have upgraded every part of their operation. They are now exporting over 60% of their production. They monitor and control the temperature in all fermentation tanks with computers. Their bottling, labeling and distribution is highly automated. A very impressive place.
The first night we went to one of their recommended restaurants, Colorado. It is a small place with eight tables decorated very well and with some soft lighting, which is also unheard of in Argentine restaurants (one of their only drawbacks). As it turns out the place is run by Charlie and April from the U.S.A. What a great place to land in. Being land owners in Chile, they had come up for a look at this little town they had kept hearing about. With the weather so much better than Chile's, they decided to make Cafayate their home base. They opened the restaurant last December. The cool thing for us was the menu. There was some Mexican food, a Thai curry dish, a cordon bleu, and, of course, some great meat served with panache. So we ended up eating there three times with other local typical Argentine restaurants interspersed during our week. They are doing well with the locals, especially the Mexican dishes, but one night seven of eight tables were full of foreigners. They were mostly young people traveling around Argentina. So the food was great and the people were fun.
Our days here were very slow. We spent a lot of time at cafes on the square having snacks and playing gin rummy. One of our days was really interesting. With Horatio, our guide and driver, we went down valley about 50 kms to Amaicha, and old Indian town where Victor Cruz, an entrepreneur and artist, has built Museo Pachamama, a private museum and gallery. Amaicha is in the desert 1790 meters above sea level. It contains exhibits about the precious stones mined in the valley, some archaeology and Indian history and artifacts and copies of artifacts, as well as his art works. The museum is a series of buildings with a wall around them. All the buildings are covered in stone. There are colorful rock sculptures and murals depicting the rituals to "Mother Earth" that were a big part of the culture of indigenous peoples of the area. Again please look to a specific slide show on this topic.
After the museum we stopped at Quilmes, which is a partially restored village of the Quilmes Indians that lived in valley from about 1000-1665. At one time the village had 5000-6000 inhabitants. About 15% of the walls and fences were restored in the late 1970's. The village lies at the base of the mountains, so you can walk up to higher places that allow you a vista over the whole area. These peoples were unusual in that they fought off the Spanish conquerors for over 100 years. Finally the last 400 families were captured and forced to march by foot over 1500 kms to Buenos Aires by the Spanish. These themes seem to reoccur around the world. Okay, on to the wine.
There are about 2000 hectares (4400 acres) of grapes under production at this time. Wine has been made here for many years, but it is just in the last ten years that the quality has improved and that exportation has become a big part of the strategy. For years all the wine was drunk locally or sent in barrels to Salta and sold as bulk wine. Now quality and export are the topic of every wine discussion. Some of the wineries were sold to foreign investors in the mid to late 1990's. Italians, French and U.S. interests are all here. Malbec, torrentes, cabernet savignon, cabernet franc, tannat, merlot, chardonnay and savignon blanc grapes are all grown here. Historically malbec and torrentes were predominant. Now everyone is making a varietal line and a reserve blend line. While growth will be limited by the availability of water there is apparently enough for an additional 2000 acres. Some of these acres are over 2000 meters above sea level, which make them some of the highest in the world they tell me.
What is very cool is that you can walk around town and stop into four or five wineries within three blocks of the plaza. All are very interested in giving you a tour and a taste. Since we were here in a very slow tourist month, we got the royal treatment where ever we went. Nanni, which is one of three certified organic wineries in Argentina, is a great example of true winery hospitality. After a short tour they offered us tastings of four of their wines. Another day we rode bikes 5 kms uphill to Los Nubes Bodega (it almost killed us) which overlooks the town. A nice bottle of torrentes and a board of cheese, sausages and bread brought us back to life. Our sixth day we went on bikes north about two kms to El Esteco Bodega, now owned by some Italian winemakers, who have upgraded every part of their operation. They are now exporting over 60% of their production. They monitor and control the temperature in all fermentation tanks with computers. Their bottling, labeling and distribution is highly automated. A very impressive place.
That was the same day we rode out to Cabras de Cafayate which is a farm that makes goat cheese. What a hoot. They have 600 goats and about 15 cows and two llamas. We watched the milking operation where they can milk about 50 goats at one time. Two men handle the operations and they milk about 200 goats an hour. They make about five types of cheese and it is great.
On the opposite end of the size scale is the Pequeno Bodega that makes a total of 5000 bottles a year: a malbec the traditional style and a malbec roble aged in oak. This winery is run by a 70+ year old man and his son, a physician that has decided making wine is much more to his liking than medicine.
Sunday we went to the 10:30 church service and it turns out that is the children's mass. The church was full of kids along with a few adults. Children were standing all around the church as there was not near enough places to sit. It was a very cool service with lots of singing by all the children. No one except Jane and I seemed to notice the dog that wandered about the main aisle for most of the service looking for someone with some food.
Monday was holiday devoted to the areas annual celebration of their independence from the Spanish. A ceremony was held in the center of the town plaza. A group of musicians were there and representatives from all the schools surrounded the plaza's center. The pastor was present and local officials were in attendance. Gauchos, folk dancers young and old were on hand. After a prayer, a few short speeches were given and then the music and dancing commenced.
Sunday we went to the 10:30 church service and it turns out that is the children's mass. The church was full of kids along with a few adults. Children were standing all around the church as there was not near enough places to sit. It was a very cool service with lots of singing by all the children. No one except Jane and I seemed to notice the dog that wandered about the main aisle for most of the service looking for someone with some food.
Monday was holiday devoted to the areas annual celebration of their independence from the Spanish. A ceremony was held in the center of the town plaza. A group of musicians were there and representatives from all the schools surrounded the plaza's center. The pastor was present and local officials were in attendance. Gauchos, folk dancers young and old were on hand. After a prayer, a few short speeches were given and then the music and dancing commenced.
Although this city is out of the way and doesn't have much written about it, when passing through NW Argentina make Cafayate a stop.
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