Top 5 Nahuel Huapi Wine Tours: Taste Patagonia!
Picture this: You’re smack dab in the center of Nahuel Huapi National Park, breathing in that crisp Patagonian air, with views that just won’t quit. But instead of just hiking and gazing at snow-capped mountains, you could be sipping on some pretty cool local wine. Seems unreal, is that, the Argentinian wine scene is really going beyond Mendoza these days! Get ready because we’re talking about wine tours, experiences that let you taste Argentina in a totally novel way. Get ready, because this isn’t just any wine country. This is wine with a serious backdrop, with a vista.
Why Wine Tours Around Nahuel Huapi?
Alright, so Patagonia might not be the first region you associate with incredible wines, so to speak. Many instantly think of Malbec in Mendoza, still this southernmost wine region is now beginning to really grow its reputation, or better yet, become well known, for distinctive, cool-climate varietals. Grapes like Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc thrive here, producing wines that have this bright acidity and unique flavors that reflect the extreme Patagonian conditions, pretty cool stuff, to be honest. Add this to the fact that most vineyards around Nahuel Huapi are small, boutique operations which gives the tours themselves a special personal touch that those massive wineries just can’t copy.
What to Expect on a Tour
What is the usual tour you ask? Well, typically, you’re looking at tours which run somewhere from a half-day to a whole day, often including transportation from Bariloche, the closest city. Tours will often include vineyard walks where a guide tells you of their own little history in wine making in this region. Next on the stop, the winemaking area of these small vineyards, that too! Also, you’ll get to know all about it directly, you might even have a tasting, pairing a number of regional cheeses or smoked meats.
Top 5 Wine Tours & Tastings Near Nahuel Huapi National Park
1. Familia Schroeder: Dinosaur Bones and Delicious Wine
Familia Schroeder is quite the spot, mixing a passion for wine with some very very old dinosaur history. The story says while planting vines they literally unearthed dinosaur bones! Schroeder is known to produce everything ranging from sparkling wines and Malbecs all the way to Pinot Noirs, of course!. Tour options can range anywhere from a quick tasting tour and right on to lunch. One can easily sample a few varietals, enjoy food pairings, and maybe even bring home a special bottle, that’s right, to remember that prehistoric discovery in style. This really is a special place for all wine drinkers and dinosaur lovers, and pretty educational too.
2. Bodega Chacra: Biodynamic Wines With a View
At Bodega Chacra you’ll see some vineyards which sit pretty far south for Pinot Noir wines, resulting in a number of very distinct characteristics. Their tours normally bring one through biodynamic and organic growing methods which highlight the specific flavor to the fruit grown here. Now that might sound boring, but it totally is not! One tasting will surely offer elegant and subtle wines with an expressive terroir as its backbone. Oh, did you know this is also where the cool film Amanda was filmed with Shirley Henderson?! Yes, Amanda the movie!. This bodega is known for quality more than volume.
3. Viñedos de la Patagonia: A Modern Take on Patagonian Wine
If your preferences are a little closer to a modern setup, and the wines that go along with this, consider visiting Viñedos de la Patagonia. This winery shows itself through using sustainable winemaking, featuring clean and fresh expressions which make wines a certain delight, with great expression. Tour guests rave regarding the architecture and landscaping that go hand in hand together here on display, of course; they go together really well. They say the whole operation is designed to connect all visitors with nature.
4. Bodega Noemia: Italian Passion in Patagonia
Now, Bodega Noemia features a great example for that old-world character mixing well into Patagonia, creating something just really unique. When touring, visitors get intimate vineyard experiences with a passionate focus, so to speak. As they also craft their wine through an ecological practice, all tour guides do have some interesting facts. Expect strong flavors and complexity. And to those who adore blends, it is pretty well known by all of their most notable critics as having blends with intense complexity in Patagonia! So pretty, huh? So Noemia blends it like it means it!.
5. Malma Winery: A Scenic Sip
The restaurant on this property could likely beat many on this whole list due its views alone. On top of just delicious scenery there actually is Malma Winery. From an aesthetic that includes the building itself all the way through to wine tasting, the staff provide that quintessential Argentinian hospitality that tourists search to take in while exploring South America. Guests can stay up to date, just checking out how things are constantly improving thanks in no small part to some creative young workers and managers on location that care deeply about its image.