Cafayate, and the vineyards that forgot to be low

Most vineyards trade altitude for warmth; Argentina's northwest does something closer to the opposite. Around Cafayate, in Salta province, vines are planted at elevations of 1,700 metres and higher, with some plots pushing above 3,000 metres, among the highest commercial vineyards anywhere in the world. The thin air at that height brings intense sunlight by day and a sharp drop in temperature overnight, a combination that slows ripening and concentrates flavour in the grapes, and it has given the region a wine identity distinct from Mendoza's better-known lowland valleys further south.

Torrontés, a grape that found its place here

The signature white grape of the region, Torrontés, is generally believed to have developed in Argentina from Old World Muscat and Criolla varieties brought over during the colonial period, and it has since become closely associated with Cafayate and the wider Salta wine country in particular. It produces an aromatic, floral white wine that tends to divide opinion less than most distinctive grape varieties do, and the high-altitude growing conditions here are widely credited with giving it the acidity and structure that keep the wine from tipping into simple sweetness.

A valley of colour before it becomes a valley of wine

The road into this region runs through the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a long valley carved into the Andean foothills and recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2003, both for its dramatic, mineral-streaked rock formations and for its long history as a trade route connecting the Andean highlands to the lowlands beyond. Purmamarca, one of the valley's best-known towns, sits beneath the Cerro de los Siete Colores, a hillside whose banded layers of red, ochre and green rock make plain, without needing much explanation, why the valley has been settled and travelled for so long.

Salta, colonial in style, Andean in setting

Salta city, the region's main hub, retains a noticeably colonial character in its architecture, a legacy of Spanish rule that persisted here longer, in some respects, than in parts of the country further south, and it sits at a natural crossing point between the wine country to the south and the high Andean plateau, the puna, stretching north and west towards Bolivia and Chile. Most itineraries through the northwest use Salta as a base, radiating out to Cafayate, the Quebrada and the wider puna over the course of several days rather than treating the city as a single stop.

Beyond the vineyards themselves, the country around Cafayate has its own dramatic geology to offer, most notably the Quebrada de las Conchas, a canyon of red sandstone eroded into formations with names as descriptive as the rock itself, the Devil's Throat, the Amphitheatre, the Three Crosses, each shaped by wind and water working on stone laid down millions of years before anyone thought to plant a vine nearby. Several itineraries build in time to walk or drive through this stretch on the way between Salta and Cafayate, treating the canyon as a deliberate stop rather than simply scenery glimpsed from a moving vehicle.

Wine tasted where it is made

Most of the wineries around Cafayate remain considerably smaller and more personal in scale than the large estates further south around Mendoza, a difference visitors tend to notice quickly: tastings here are as likely to happen with a winemaker as with dedicated hospitality staff, in bodegas built from the same adobe construction as the surrounding town rather than the architect-designed visitor centres common in Argentina's better-known wine regions.

Autumn, coinciding with the grape harvest in March and April, and spring, September to November, both suit this region well, mild enough for the walking a vineyard visit typically involves and clear of the sharpest heat that builds over the valley floor in midsummer. Nights at this altitude stay cool even in the warmer months, worth remembering when packing regardless of the season chosen.