Most people don’t know this, but we’ve always said IF we ever move back to the States, it would very likely be to New Mexico. We adore the bright sunny skies, the cooler red rock desert landscapes, the Wild West vibes, and the genuine diversity of its people. We’ve now found our “New Mexico” in Argentina and love it even more after three nights. But the bonus of this place other than the obvious cost factor? It’s also a lesser known Vino Utopia of absolutely delicious high altitude wines, the highest in the world in fact. Cafayate also produces some very unusual wines from grapes that aren’t common in other parts of the world, including Torrontes.
The view from our place. To be honest, we stayed in our apartment quite a bit while here simply because we wanted to embrace the beautiful setting that surrounded us. We chose to stay on the outskirts of town for this reason. It also ended up being an annoying one hour round trip walk during the heat of the day to the center.
It was hot in Cafayate so it was a good time to appreciate white wine, or their speciality, Torrontes, from our patio. It’s bursting with very fruity flavors.
Our apartment, which was more of a house, cost $21/night on booking. It had a loft with three additional beds, as well as kitchen. Definitely big enough for a family.
Our downstairs bedroom, and the bathroom. It was a blissful place to enjoy morning sun as well.
Wandering into the center, we encountered the equally sunny square and accompanying Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary.
The tree-covered square, which was an ideal place for enjoying helados de vino. Yes, if you know your Spanish you’ll know this means wine ice cream, more like sorbet, which was created in this town. The two most wonderful things on earth having a baby. How can it not be good?! Well, there are two types: Vino Tinto made of Cabernet Sauvignon and Vino Blanco made of Torrontes. And yes, they have real wine in them so give them to your toddler with caution. We preferred the vino blanco which was oaky and sweet, while the vino tinto tasted more like grape kool-aid to us. Although grape kool-aid is disgustingly nostalgic, neither flavor warranted a full cone, so we happily grabbed more mainstream flavors which were plentiful as well.
The mountains are a permanent picturesque fixture no matter where you walk in Cafayate.
Streets of Cafayate, where the vibe is seriously chill, truly demanding a slower pace of life. What is it about desert-hued pizzerias that is so inviting?!
This scene could easily be in the US southwest.
Same with this…a historic petrol station sign turned into a useful map.
Breakfast for four people in Cafayate…total cost $7, which could not be in the US. 🤣 We enjoyed the rare breakfast out with Roos and Bob who, after a month of constantly crossing paths, we’d finally be parting ways from, as they headed back to Salta to catch a flight. We’ll certainly miss them!
These cacti look like they’re in the front row of a solar concert.
The municipal market funnily bedecked with Santa’s sleigh.
Reflections of small town existence.
An impressive artist’s house called La casa de la llama. It was a bit too ostrich -like for Mandy’s taste.
And multiple bodegas to enjoy! (P.s in Argentina a winery is a bodega while in other parts of LA it’s a small shop.) More…of many words, that have to be different here to drive the Spanish learner mad.
For our official wine tasting, we went to Wine Bar Cafayate, where we had tastings of wines, which thanks to the altitude, have a unique intensity and concentration. We had four white wines and four reds all of the utmost quality, as well as two full glasses, six empanadas and two bottles for home, both organic. Total cost for with tip was $15. OMG… it’s hard not to love it here.
Unfortunately/fortunately they closed at 6 or we would have stayed for more. 🤣
So, instead we wandered back into town, for some shopping under the influence. Thankfully we didn’t walk out with any weird ponchos but we did try on some funny hats…
…which the Mad Hatter approved of.
Another vantage point of the church, and more eye-catching colonial buildings.
They also had some eye-catching raised rubbish bins (to keep the dogs out.)
And some absolutely set-worthy old trucks.
At restaurants in Cafayate you can order a carafe of wine for about 500 pesos or $.60. This particular one came in a penguin pitcher, so we called it our pingvino. It is also excitingly possible to get something besides milanesa and empanadas here like this blackened sesame chicken salad which was $2.09.
