Private Mendoza Winery & Culinary Tour

The combination that brings most travellers to Mendoza: private visits to boutique estates, dramatic Andean landscapes and a long, unhurried lunch among the vines. Mendoza has more than 100 wineries open to visitors, but the difference between an unforgettable day and a tourist checklist comes down to two things: who you visit, and who drives. Peter curates each departure personally around three houses chosen for quality and contrast, leaving the driving and bookings completely sorted so you can actually enjoy the day.

Why this day works

Visiting wineries in Mendoza is not like Napa or Bordeaux where estates cluster along a single road. Distances are real — Uco Valley is 90 minutes south, and wineries in Luján sit tucked down gravel lanes between olive groves. Between local drink-drive limits, spotty cellular coverage on rural roads and the reality of tasting reserve wines across three stops, self-driving means someone in your party spends the day looking at a map and drinking water. With your own private SUV and a bilingual local driver-guide, door to door, the entire group travels at the same relaxed pace.

What the day looks like

Hotel pickup in Mendoza city, Chacras de Coria or Luján de Cuyo between 8:30 and 9:00 AM in a private air-conditioned SUV.

• First winery (10:30 AM): an intimate boutique estate for a walk through the rows and barrel room, followed by a guided tasting of estate and reserve labels.
• Second winery (1:00 PM): a multi-course paired lunch at one of Mendoza’s leading vineyard restaurants, seated with direct views of the snow-capped Andes.
• Third winery (3:45 PM): a smaller, family-owned house — often with the winemaker or cellar master on hand — for a focused tasting of single-vineyard wines.
• Return: back at your hotel around 5:30 to 6:00 PM.

Which wineries will I visit?

Peter chooses from Mendoza’s most respected boutique producers across Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, matching the day to your taste — high-altitude Malbec, old vines, Cabernet Franc, biodynamics or cutting-edge architecture. Houses we work with regularly include Pulenta Estate, Andeluna, Domaine Bousquet, Salentein, Alpamanta, SuperUco, Corazón del Sol and Monteviejo. You can read about each in our guide to the wineries of Mendoza.

What’s included

Private late-model SUV with a bilingual English/Spanish driver-guide, all winery and lunch bookings, bottled water, insurance, hotel pickup and drop-off, all wine tastings across three boutique estates, and a multi-course paired vineyard lunch ($280 USD per person) — completely arranged so there is nothing to pay during the day.

Practical details

• Duration: full day, approximately 8 to 9 hours door to door.
• Drive time: 35 to 90 minutes from the city depending on the valley chosen.
• Group size: private departures from 2 people; never combined with strangers.
• Best season: year-round. February to April for harvest, September to December for green vineyards and snow on the peaks.
• What to bring: sunglasses, sunscreen, a light layer (valley mornings and cellars are cool) and comfortable walking shoes.

Tell Peter your dates, group size and any estates already on your radar, and you’ll get a proposed itinerary with specific wineries named — not a generic package.