The Vines Resort & Spa

The Hotel

The Vines Resort & Spa opened on 28 January 2014 as the principal Mendoza project of US-based Auberge Resorts and the Argentine entrepreneur Michael Evans (founder of The Vines of Mendoza, the Uco Valley's principal private-vineyard-purchase programme). The site is on a 600-hectare property in the Uco Valley, 100 kilometres south of central Mendoza city — at the high-altitude (1,200-metre) southern end of the Mendoza wine region, with the Andes rising directly to the west of the property and the Cordón del Plata range as the principal landscape feature. The architectural commission was Mendoza practice Bórmida & Yanzón, the firm responsible for many of the region's contemporary winery buildings; the brief was 22 detached single-storey villas arrayed across the property with the principle that no villa should be visible from any other and that every villa should have an unobstructed Andean line of sight.

The 22 villas divide into three categories: 14 Vineyard Villas at 130 sqm, 6 Mountain Villas at 165 sqm with elevated positions for the higher-altitude Andean view, and 2 Estate Villas at 280 sqm with private 8-metre lap pools. The Estate Villa is the milestone unit, with two bedrooms, a private outdoor terrace with grill, and a dedicated villa host. All villas include floor-to-ceiling Andes-facing windows, fireplaces, and the in-villa wine cellar (each villa is stocked with the daily-changing rotation of 6-8 Mendoza wines as part of the included programme). Bathrooms are travertine; bath products are local Mendoza-made botanicals.

Siete Fuegos — meaning "Seven Fires" — is the named live-fire restaurant under the direction of Argentine chef Francis Mallmann (one of South America's most-decorated chefs and the personality featured in the Netflix series Chef's Table); the seven separate fire stations include the parrilla (grill), infiernillo (small-hell oven for full-lamb roasting), chapa (cast-iron griddle), horno de barro (clay oven), rescoldo (ember-cooking), and asador-y-cruz (cross-asado for whole-animal). The kitchen has been a destination for international travellers since opening and operates on the daily-tasting-menu format with paired Mendoza wines. The Vines Cellar holds 5,000 bottles with deep verticals on Uco Valley high-altitude Malbec from Salentein, Pulenta, Catena Adrianna and Achaval-Ferrer Mirador. The Spa runs five treatment rooms; the central pool is at the resort core; the Outdoor Adventure Centre runs the in-house horseback-riding, hiking, and cycling programmes through the surrounding Andean foothills.

The Uco Valley position is the booking proposition — and the trade-off relative to Cavas. The Vines is 100 kilometres south of central Mendoza city (a 90-minute drive on the Ruta 40 highway); 90 minutes from Mendoza International Airport (MDZ); 15 minutes from Salentein and Bodega Atamisque; 25 minutes from Tunuyán village. The lodge runs daily winery-visits with private-guide programmes; the Estate Villa booking includes a complimentary helicopter excursion to the upper Tupungato Valley and the Cordón del Plata range. For travellers wanting the highest-altitude Mendoza wine-and-Andes booking with the Mallmann live-fire programme, The Vines is unambiguous. Cavas is the Luján de Cuyo alternative; The Vines is the Uco Valley answer.

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