Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/889690
My objective: Bask in Salta's multi- coloured mountainscapes while sipping its underappreciated wines. SOARING INTO THE PRE-ANDES On my second day in Salta I hired a driver named Puma (who looked more like a wolf than South America's enigmatic mountain lion) to take me on a three-day loop tour out of the city and over to the far side of the province where vineyards encircle a small tourist town named Cafayate (not to be con- fused with the more popular Patagonian hub of El Calafate). To get there, Puma and I spent our first day dipping into the verdant Escoipe Gorge and zigzagging up Bishop's Slope into the oxygen-thin pre-Andes mountain range. We stopped at a 3,400-metre-high overlook to seek the blessing of Archangel Raphael (patron saint of all travellers) in a chapel built in his honour. After sampling some llama sausage from a thatched stall next door we continued onward into the rust-red hills of Los Cardones National Park. The reserve is famous for its cartoon-like cacti, which appear on the horizon like an army of green ghosts wandering through a desert plain. We reached the adobe homes and time- forgotten streets of Cachi just in time for a quick dinner and a comfortable stay at La Merced del Alto, an old alfalfa-growing estate turned boutique hotel. The next morning Puma and I stopped by the Church of San Jose de Cachi to check out its unique roof. The mud-brick walls of the church are adorned with banana-coloured paint, and when we looked up, we saw the pockmarked wood of interwoven cacti logs. Soon after we forged onward past the archeological ruins of a pre-Inca city called La Paya into the Gorge of Arrows. A highlight of the annual Dakar Rally, it bears a striking resemblance to the Canadian Badlands. On the far side of this spectacular geological rift lie the vineyards of Cafayate, Argentina's second major wine centre after Mendoza. WINE TASTING IN CAFAYATE If Mendoza is Argentina's Napa Valley, then Salta is its Sonoma, more down to earth and approachable than its famous neighbour. And while Mendoza may be the big bold land of Malbec, Cafayate is dominated by the more demure Torrontes, a white wine grape that grows exceptionally well in its cold and windswept valleys. Torrontes has a deceptively sweet nose (like a Riesling) that belies its dry finish. To learn more about this unique Argentine wine I made my way to Bodega Domingo Molina and signed up for a guided tour of the property. Salta is home to among the highest altitude vineyards in the world, and the best bottles come from wineries like this one in and around Cafayate. For a late lunch I drove across town with Puma to the breezy hilltop restaurant at Piattelli Vineyards, where we ordered juicy steaks (cooked jugoso) and paired them with a peppery Piattelli Malbec. In need of a wine nap, I then booked a room at Patios de Cafayate Wine Hotel, a stunning colonial estate attached to El Esteco winery. The pool out back was perfect for a post- nap sunset swim amid the vines. I dined shortly thereafter in the hotel's La Rosa restau- rant, sitting under a sea of stars at one of the poolside wrought-iron tables. The waiter rec- ommended an Andean quinoa salad with a glass of Don David, a refreshing Torrontes made from the grapes (barely visible at this late hour) along the property's edge. FALL/ WINTER 2017 DREAMSCAPES 57 GOOD TO KNOW Salta is a year-round destination with tem- perate weather and moderate changes in climate from season to season. Nighttime temperatures can dip to 3 C in the drier winter months ( June–August), while summer is rainier and hotter with daytime highs in the mid-20s. Keep in mind that heavy rains can cause flooding and make some roads impassable after summer storms.