When a Winery Is a Person
When people mention Ojo de Agua, the first thing that comes to my mind isn’t a grape or a tasting note. It’s Dieter Meier.
If you don’t recognize the name, you’ve probably heard the sound. Dieter Meier is the voice and frontman of Yello, the Swiss electronic-music pioneers behind “Oh Yeah”. He’s also one of those rare characters who genuinely lived more than one life—artist, writer, entrepreneur… and yes, a professional poker player, according to his own story.
And then he ends up here, in Agrelo—part of Luján de Cuyo—building an organic project that feels nothing like the typical “polished winery visit,” the kind of place often discovered while exploring wine tours in Luján de Cuyo.
An Unlikely Project in Agrelo
Ojo de Agua is a full universe: organic wines, grass-fed beef, and restaurants tied to the same idea of “Argentina, but done properly.” The wines are overseen by Marcelo Pelleriti, one of the most recognized winemakers in Argentina, and you can feel that seriousness behind the label.
But the reason I chose Ojo de Agua isn’t just “because it’s organic” or “because the owner is famous.”
I choose it because it’s unexpectedly human.
The place is rustic in the best way—almost like an old house that happens to sit in front of a postcard view of the Andes, with a lake that makes you slow down, whether you want to or not. It doesn’t feel like a stage. It feels like you arrived somewhere real.
And for me, the heart of that experience has a name: Jaime.
Jaime is the guy who receives you, cooks, runs the pulse of the place, and somehow makes you feel at home inside a Swiss musician’s organic wine-and-beef world. That contrast is exactly why it works: you’re expecting something “conceptual,” and instead you get warmth, simplicity, and food that hits the table like someone actually cares.
There’s also something else that matters if you’re curating for clients: availability. Ojo de Agua isn’t the kind of wine you see everywhere. Their distribution is international and tied to specific channels (including Switzerland), and in Argentina, it’s often direct or limited—so it still feels like a find.
Final Thoughts
I wouldn’t send someone to Ojo de Agua with a checklist. I’d send them with the right mindset: go ready to be surprised, go ready to relax, eat well, drink something genuinely serious—and meet the people who make the place feel alive.
If visiting Ojo de Agua Winery sounds like your kind of experience, our private wine tours in Mendoza are designed to include places like this—projects where organic farming, food, wine, and people come together in a genuinely relaxed and human way.
Peter Cubillos, a Mendoza-based writer and winemaker with three published books and over 20 years of experience in wine tourism.