Mendoza is Argentina’s most significant wine province, home to more than 70% of the country’s vineyards and more than 1,000 wineries. With overwhelming possibilities, the hard part isn’t finding great wine experiences — it’s deciding where to begin.
What follows is a guide to where to sip and savor while staying at two of the region’s top wine-themed resorts.
Raise a Glass to Personalized Hospitality at SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites
As the first Argentine woman to receive the Decanter Hall of Fame Award (and the second in the Americas), Susana Balbo is a living legend. It’s a marvel that someone who has dedicated her life to advancing Argentine wine can do hospitality so incredibly well.
SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites, located in Mendoza’s Chacras de Coria suburb, offers wine lovers and connoisseurs personalized vacations in one of seven glass-walled suites. Featuring private gardens complete with firepits and heated loungers, each suite is themed around the hotel’s signature artwork, “Tree of Life” by Sergio Roggerone, symbolizing elements and eras of Balbo’s life story. They say a rising tide lifts all ships, and Balbo has made a point to uplift female entrepreneurs, commissioning much of the furnishings, artwork and decor from local women-owned businesses and artists.
From the moment we stepped onto the property to the moment we left, I was astounded by how well our group was looked after. For instance, even though our check-in was after midnight, the staff went out of their way to make our arrival as frictionless as possible, walking us straight to our suites with low lighting to set the mood, light jazz music playing in the background, a turned-down bed with a sweet treat and a surprise cheese plate that was almost too pretty to eat.
They assumed (correctly) that we hadn’t had time for dinner, and the gesture set the tone for what was to come. From always remembering that I preferred sparkling water and reserving a sunny seat for our friend who preferred the sun to receiving flowers and a handwritten card on Mother’s Day, SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites continuously surprised and delighted our group during our stay.
SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites, located in Mendoza’s Chacras de Coria suburb, features seven glass-walled suites.
Credit: 2025 SB Winemaker’s House & Spa SuitesGet Massaged With Wine (Really)
Slow travel is prized at SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites, so suggest clients rejuvenate themselves after a long flight with an in-suite spa treatment. The deluxe SB Fruits of the Vine ritual is a three-hour, wine-themed treatment incorporating a grape-seed body exfoliation, hydrating body wrap, a 50-minute massage and an aromatherapy bath. I enjoyed the occasional waft of red wine during the body wrap — made from Balbo’s signature brioso blend — but the best part of the ritual was the ease of hopping in my suite’s own dry sauna, shower and egg-shaped bathtub, crafted from one of the winery’s concrete wine barrels. If your clients never want to step into a spa again, don’t fault them — the experience is infinitely more indulgent when the spa comes to you.
Savor Seven Courses and Signature Wines at La Vida Restaurant
Chef Flavia Amad of Michelin-recommended La Vida Restaurant does not simply prepare a multicourse meal; she writes a story on seven plates. Her play on the traditional Argentinian humita (creamy corn chowder) comes to life in the bowl when you swirl the contents together. Sweet bell pepper powder and a corn cob reduction meet corn spherifications (caviar-like pearls of corn) in a feat of molecular gastronomy.
Also themed around the SB Winemaker’s “Tree of Life” concept, each course comes with a double-sided puzzle piece, containing a description of the dish on one side and an image on the other. From the first course of a black olive macaron with olive meat dust and a grappa cocktail to a post-dessert cheese and artisanal sweets cart, the evening was a tour de force of creativity that I didn’t want to end. Guests can further elevate the experience and taste wines they can’t get back home with one of the restaurant’s Signature, Nosotros or Susana Balbo 25th Anniversary pairings. There’s also a nonalcoholic pairing option that includes oolong and puerh teas.
La Vida Restaurant features a seven-course menu paired with Signature Wines.
Credit: 2025 SB Winemaker’s House & Spa SuitesSample Whites From the Queen of Torrontes
An oenophile’s visit to the region is not complete without a visit to Susana Balbo Wines, located about a 20-minute drive from the resort. Here, you’ll find couples picnicking on an expansive lawn with a bottle, gazing out at the vineyards and the Cordon del Plata mountain range. While Argentina is prized worldwide for its Malbec, Balbo has helped put Argentine whites, particularly Torrontes, on the map. What was once considered a table wine, Torrontes has become something entirely more sophisticated under the command of the “Queen of Torrontes” (Balbo’s nickname in these parts). Her Barrel Fermented Torrontes, made with Uco Valley grapes, ferments in French oak for four months, and was the first to be made in this style. The sweet Late Harvest Torrontes, made from raisin-like grapes, pairs deliciously with citrus sorbets or even blue cheese. Guests can try these pairings for themselves at on-site restaurant Osadia de Crear, which received a Michelin Guide Green Star this year for its commitment to sustainability.
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Does life get much better than soaking in a hot tub with a glass of Malbec and a crystal-clear view of the Andes Mountains? Probably not. Fittingly, the views are as spectacular as the wines at The Vines Resort & Spa, a boutique wine-themed resort set amidst 1,500 acres of private vineyards in the Uco Valley. Here, clients will find 21 spacious villas designed by Argentine architects Bormida & Yanzon, as well as the fire-themed Siete Fuegos restaurant by acclaimed chef Francis Mallmann.
Ideal for families, the Two Bedroom Deluxe Villa Lake Andes View accommodations feature floor-to-ceiling windows, a kitchenette that opens up into a large living room and a panoramic deck with a firepit and a soaking tub. Additional duplex-style units are expected to open in December.
Visitors can sip and soak at The Vines Resort & Spa.
Credit: 2025 The Vines Resort & SpaTaste Rhone-Style Wines Straight from the Barrel
There are more than 200 private vineyard owners within The Vines’ Winemakers Village and four boutique wineries for guests to visit. Known for pioneering Rhone Valley varietals in Argentina, Corazon del Sol offers several tasting experiences that incorporate its small production bottlings of Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Semillon and Rhone blends. We were fortunate enough to fit in a tasting and a tour with head winemaker Luciano Bastias, who siphoned a blend of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier straight from the barrel for us. Getting to sample this 2024 Rhone blend was a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of winemaking in the Uco Valley.
Sip Argentinian Wines From One of the Deepest Cellars Around
Brimming with 12,000 bottles sourced from roughly 600 producers, the cellar at Hornero Restaurante is a treasure trove for oenophiles. Located a 10-minute drive from The Vines at La Morada Lodge, Hornero offers Argentinian favorites with a twist, such as home-cured Piedra del Aguila trout carpaccio or empanadas stuffed with goat, goat cheese and capers. Chef Edward Holloway and sommelier Andres Rosberg combined their talents into a tasting menu that brings a sense of place to the plate — and the glass.
The Vines Resort & Spa is located among 1,500 acres of private vineyards in the Uco Valley.
Credit: 2025 The Vines Resort & SpaBlend and Bottle Your Own Uco Valley Wine
Clients can become winemakers in their own right at The Vines’ 1.5-hour Blending Session led by a wine specialist. We expanded our minds and our palates while tasting the estate’s Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc single-varietal wines and judging them on their tannins, aroma and sweetness. Next steps were to consider how the tannins would change in the bottle and how many years we’d want the wine to age, and to come up with percentages for our custom blends. Although it might sound intimidating, the wines were so good to begin with that it took the pressure off. In teams of two, we brainstormed a name for our brand and decorated wine labels with colored pencils and markers. Each duo pitched their concepts to the group before a blind taste test and vote for the best blend. The winners got to bottle their wine (cork and all) to enjoy once they returned home.
Since we flew to Mendoza with Copa Airlines, we were able to continue our adventures in Latin America with a free stopover in Panama City. Trading Malbec for Panama’s rare Geisha coffee and the Andes for the Panama Canal, we had truly crafted a connoisseur’s trip of a lifetime.