Cafayate, a small town of roughly 13 000 inhabitants in the province of Salta, is the wine capital in the Northwest of Argentina. Surrounded by spectacular mountain ranges, it is home to numerous Bodegas. Some of them are even in the city centre and therefore easily accessible. One of the bodegas we visit is Bodega Nanni, the only certified organic winery in Cafayate.

We get there in the afternoon and are nicely greetd by the Bodega staff. After a relaxing time in the beautifully set out garden surrounded by Tannat, Torrontes and Cabernet Sauvignion grapes, we get a tour through the winery. This is what we learn:

• It was founded in 1897 and is still family owned
• Wine is grown on 47 hectars with vineyards being all at 1750 m altitude which makes the Nanni wines high altitude wines (the cut off is at 1650 meters above sea level)
• Little more than 50% is covered by the Torrontes grape
• Red wines include: Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Bonarda
• The Tannat grape, which is very popular in Uruguay, grows very well in high altitide
• Harvest is completely done by hand
• Barells, out of American oak, are used three years in a row
• Every three years a special wine is released: the Gran Reserva Arcanus. It’s compiled of the best grapes. Only 5000 bottles are produced
• Overall, the yearly production is 300 000 litres, which makes roughly 400 000 bottles
• 60% of the production stays in Salta, 30% is exported to Brazil. What happens with the rest? We don’t know…

After the tour, we take part in the tasting of three new wines (a Torrontes,  a Torrontes late harvest, a rosate made out of Cabernet Sauvignon) and a tannat wine from 2013.

The tours are run every hour and are offered in English or Spanish, the tours are free. The tasting includes four of the new wines and is 30 Peso.