Wine Tours to South America
2024 – Very limited availability
2025 – Tours to Argentina, Chile, Uruguay in February/March
Prices from £1,650pp for 6 days/5 nights
- Discover the diversity that South American wines have to offer
- Taste a wonderful range of grapes and wine styles
- Understand the different terroirs that influence the wines
- Receive fabulous hospitality from a broad range of wine estates
- Contrast the winemaking philosophies from region to region
- Experience the beauty and wonder of the Andes
- Enjoy exquisite cuisine that celebrates a wealth of cultures
- Choose from four different modules in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay
- Stay in Santiago, Santa Cruz, Salta, Cafayate, Mendoza and Montevideo
- Comprehensive tastings at every visit and fabulous tasting lunches or dinners with wine each tour day.
Read about the tours I previously ran to Argentina and to Chile
2024 Tour dates
Uruguay – Saturday 17th-Thursday 22nd February – limited availability *
Argentina Salta/Cafayate – Friday 23rd-Monday 26th February – fully booked *
Argentina Mendoza – Tuesday 27th February-Sunday 3rd March – fully booked *
Chile – Monday 4th-Saturday 9th March – fully booked *
Uruguay – Sunday 10th-Friday 15th March – fully booked *
Chile – Saturday 16th-Friday 21st March – fully booked *
Argentina Mendoza – Friday 22nd-Wednesday 27th March – fully booked *
2025 Tours
Based on unprecedented demand from existing customers, I will be running tours to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in February/March 2025. I will release the dates and prices of these in November 2023.
* If you wish to book or be wait listed for 2024 tours or enquire about 2025 tours to South America, please contact me.
Outline Itinerary
Each tour commences at the Meeting Point Hotel, where we will have drinks before our first night dinner.
On each full tour day we will visit two wineries, where we will have comprehensive tastings and visits to vineyards and/or wineries. Lunch with wine will be taken at one of the visits, or at a local restaurant.
Other than the first and last nights, evenings are free to enjoy the local town. Our hotels are situated to afford a short stroll to a variety of bars and restaurants. People rarely have large appetites on the evening of a day of visits!
We will enjoy a dinner together on the final night of each tour.
In Uruguay and Mendoza the tour ends after breakfast on the final day, our Departure Point is our hotel. In Salta/Cafayate and Chile the tour ends following our transfer from our hotel on the final day. The Departure Point will be in Salta and Santiago respectively and agreed with the tour attendees.
Uruguay
We stay throughout the tour in Montevideo, the beautiful capital city on the coast. Our hotel is the Montevideo Hotel – a member of The Leading Hotels of the World group. It is ideally situated in a lovely neighbourhood with some delightful bars and eateries.
We will visit the regions of Canelones, Maldonado and Montevideo and enjoy tastings at wineries including Bodega Garzon and Bodegas Bouza. This is a great opportunity to experience and better understand the high-quality wine selection that Uruguay has to offer. The lesser known Tannat grape has become the flagship red and is being critically acclaimed by wine journalists all over the world. You will also discover a host of other international grape varieties and styles and experience the vibrancy and drive of this up and coming wine nation.
Argentina – Salta/Cafayate
Our first night will be spent in Salta, where the Design Suites Hotel is our Meeting Point, and we will commence our discovery of this amazing region with a tasting of wines and dinner at a local restaurant. On Day 2 we spend the morning travelling to Cafayate, some 120 miles south, in our coach, arriving in time for a lunch and visit. We check in to the Patios de Cafayate Hotel in Cafayate, and have the evening free to explore the town. On Day 3 we visit at least two wineries for tastings, with a light lunch at one . In the evening we will have a final night dinner at our hotel. On the morning of the final day we check out of our hotel, and enjoy a final visit with lunch before our coach returns us to Salta, where our Departure Point is the Design Suites Hotel.
Please note that this is a high altitude area. Cafayate is at 1,800m, and some of the wineries we visit may be above 2,000m.
Argentina – Mendoza
The Diplomatic Hotel in the city of Mendoza is our Meeting Point on Day 1, we convene for drinks and dinner at a local restaurant.
Over the following four days we will visit the top wine producing regions around Mendoza: Maipú, Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley. Wineries such Bodegas Kaiken, Cruzat, Azul Piatelli and Luigi Bosca will provide comprehensive winery tours and tastings, and we will be able to visit vineyards too. Lunch each day will be at a winery, and on Days 2, 3 and 4 we will have evenings free to enjoy the many bars and restaurants of Mendoza. On Day 5 we will enjoy a final night dinner together. Our Departure Point is our hotel, with the tour ending after breakfast on Day 6.
Chile
Our Meeting Point is our hotel in Santiago, where we will have drinks and dinner on the first night. We then have two full days of visits and tastings in regions including Maipú, San Antonio and the Casablanca Valley, with lunch at a winery on both days, and free time to explore Santiago in the evenings. On Day 4 we check out of our Santiago hotel first thing, and board the coach with our luggage to head south to the town of Santa Cruz in the Rapel Valley, a journey of a couple of hours. We will arrive in time for a visit and lunch at Chateau los Boldos, checking into our hotel in Santa Cruz that evening, which will be spent at leisure.
Day 5 is a full day of visits and tastings, with a light lunch at a winery, and a final dinner in the evening. On Day 6 we check out of the hotel, and return by coach to Santiago. The Departure Point is Santiago Airport or an agreed hotel in Santiago.
Note: the Itinerary may be changed at Tim Syrad Wine Tours discretion so as to facilitate the smooth running of the tour and to accommodate great opportunities for visits or tastings that may become available.
Key Tour Information
* The Key Tour Information specifies what you should expect from the tour, no matter how far ahead you book.
As additional information is published on the website, it will be advised to clients who have reserved a place. The daily itinerary will be finalised in the weeks leading up to the Start Date.
Pricing
Uruguay – 6 days/5 nights £1,850pp
Argentina Salta/Cafayate – 4 days/3 nights £1,400pp
Argentina Mendoza – 6 days/5 nights £2,000pp
Chile – 6 days/5 nights £2,050pp
- All prices are per person based on 2 people sharing a double/twin room.
- £250 supplement for single occupancy of a double room,
- £200 discount for bookings made before 1st September 2023, and paid for 12 weeks before departure.
Price includes
- Coach for all activities in the intinerary, from the Meeting Point on Day 1 to the Departure Point on Day 6 (Day 4 for Salta/Cafayate tour).
- Uruguay, Argentina Mendoza and Chile:
- 6 days (including arrival and departure days)/5 nights bed and breakfast in good quality hotel(s) in
- Four full days of visits, with eight visits/tastings, to wineries in key wine producing areas, covering a range of styles and wines made from different grape varieties.
- Minimum of six lunches/dinners with local wines.
- Argentina Salta/Cafayate
- 4 days (including arrival and departure days)/3 nights bed and breakfast in good quality hotels
- Three full days of visits and tastings in Salta/Cafayate with six visits/tastings, to wineries in key wine producing areas, covering a range of styles and different grape varieties.
- Minimum of four lunches/dinners with local wines.
- All local taxes and service charges.
- The services of Tim Syrad as your Wine Tour Manager and Wine Guide.
It is a condition of my accepting a booking that you will take out appropriate travel insurance – please see our Terms and Conditions Section 8.
Terms and Conditions are available here or on request.
Please note travel to/from our Meeting and Departure Point is not included in the price. Many of my clients prefer to extend their holiday before or after my tours, so I let people make their own travel arrangements.
I can advise on suitable internal flights to coincide with module start/finish times, and advise on transfers between airports and our hotels.
* End of Key Tour Information
How to book this tour
Please contact me by phone or email, or use the enquiry form on the Contact page on the website to check availability. When I confirm a place is available, please complete the booking form to reserve your place.
Once I have confirmed a tour is proceeding I advise clients to arrange flights and confirm travel arrangements to me. Please do not arrange flights before I have confirmed your place and that the tour is proceeding.
Full payment must be made 12 weeks before the tour starts, invoices will be sent out 14 weeks before the tour starts. At this point you will need to provide your insurance details (name of insurer, policy number, 24 hour emergency telephone numbers), outbound/inbound travel arrangements and any dietary requirements.
More about my Tour to South America
My tours in 2011 and 2015 to Argentina, and to Chile in 2015, revealed the passion and capability of the winemakers, and the fast-evolving quality of the winemaking scene. In 2024 and 2025 we will have the opportunity to visit old friends, new places and enjoy the variety of wines, places and people that the continent offers.
Uruguay
I think it would be fair to say Uruguay is a relatively unknown country for most of us – who knew it was the first nation to host (and then win) the World Cup, back in 1930?
Settled far later than Argentina and Chile, it was the Basques who brought vines to this coastal country, separated from Buenos Aires by the River Plate (which can be crossed by ferry for those making the transfer). A relatively small country, its varied soils and undulating hills provide a wide variety of terroirs, and an incredible diversity of wine varieties are grown.
Tannat, native to Madiran in southwest France, is possibly Uruguay’s most well known variety, and in the capable hands of top Uruguayan winemakers can produce not only structured wines but also lighter fruitier styles, even sweet wines! It is called Harriague by some wineries, after the pioneering Pascual Harriague, who planted it in the north western region of Salto, where the warm climate allowed tannins to ripen softly, and still produces a very approachable style
On our tour we will taste a very wide portfolio of wines, including a number of Italian varieties such as Nero D’Avola, Barbera, Cortese and Moscato. Tempranillo has also made a home here, but it is Albariño that is making waves, with Uruguayan wines winning prizes in many wine shows. And of course, Tannat is not the only French variety to be found in Uruguay: Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are widely grown.
Despite being the second smallest country in South America (after Suriname), distances between wine regions run to hundreds of kilometres, so our focus is on the more southern wine regions, such as San José, Canelones, Maldonado and Colonia, and of course Montevideo where we will be based. Here Atlantic breezes and varied soils over granite bedrock create some fabulous conditions for very high quality wines. ‘Grand Crus’ are being developed such as Sierras de Mahoma and Las Violetas, based on specific terroirs.
The vibrant wine scene reflects the determination of well established family companies to evolve and innovate, and the entry of some newer companies making big investments – Bodega Garzón was financed by Alejandro Bulgheroni, from Argentina, with consultation from Alberto Antonini.
Equally vibrant is the cultural and gastronomic scene, Montevideo is a wonderful city, offering great opportunities for our evenings at leisure, and our first and last night dinners will show case the best of Uruguayan cuisine.
Argentina
In Argentina tradition (wine has been made here since the 1550s) combines with innovation to create endless opportunities to learn something new, and to taste something different. I am running tours to two destinations: we are returning to Mendoza and visiting the Salta region (where we will have one night in Salta city, and two in Cafayate) for the first time.
Argentine wines vary from the freshest of the fresh, unoaked aromatic whites, through high quality fizz to the most ageworthy oak influenced whites and reds. While Argentina has made the Malbec and Torrontés grape varieties its signature, we will taste many classic varieties – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Viognier to name but a few. The Bonarda variety is its second most widely planted, while the Criolla varieties originally planted by the Franciscans also add local character to the wine scene. This wide palate of varieties reflects the indigenous wine drinking tradition in Argentina, where waves of immigrants have not only brought their consumption habits with them, but also their culinary and gastronomic skills. Our meals will demonstrate the quality and variety of Argentine food.
Mendoza’s vineyards range from 500m above sea level to over 1,500m, and we will focus on the highest quality areas, Maipù, Lujan de Cuyo and the Uco Valley. Here altitude and aspect in the vineyard allow winemakers to plant varieties where they will express themselves best, and as their experience grows they are developing smaller areas of particular merit: Las Compeuertas, Agrelo, Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos. As our previous tours revealed, the Mendoza wine scene includes long established family wineries, exciting young winemakers setting up garagiste operations, and spectacular wineries such as Salentein where art and music are as ‘on show’ as barrels and bottles. My priority is to take us to the places that are making the most interesting and high quality wines, and to ensure we truly understand the evolving concept of terroir in these wine regions.
In the Salta province, vineyards up to 3,000m above sea level are producing white and red wines of great power, complexity and refinement. Along the Calchaquí River, sloping vineyards provide shade from the intense sunlight (not only are vineyards up to 3,000m high, they are also among the closest to the Equator in the world). The GI Cafayate has a particularly high reputation for aromatic, unoaked Torrontés wines, but we will also explore the distinctive aromatic style of Malbec that results from the intense sunshine, but very cool night time temperatures. A fascinating contrast with the Mendozan wines, and a hugely exciting ‘first’ for my tours.
Chile
As in Argentina, wine has been made in Chile since the 16th Century, as it was colonised from the north to south. Here the Criolla varieties are known as País, were initially planted, but immigrants brought more varieties, and by the 19th Century wine making was evolving fast. Around Santiago still famous wineries were producing wine for local consumption, but began to import higher quality vines, and modern techniques that set the country up for its exporting future.
The mid 20th Century saw Chile isolated politically, but from the 1980s things changed quickly. Vineyards were replanted, and there was investment in new technology allowing them to make what are considered to be some of the most varietally expressive wines in the world. Much production was on an agricultural scale, and we will certainly pass large vineyards on flat river valley floors, but there have always been vineyards of higher quality on the hill sides and producers who have been determined to play on the world stage.
In 2015 we enjoyed the most incredible tasting at Errazuriz, in the Aconcagua Valley, enjoying recent vintages of the iconic wines such as Seña that in 2000 beat first growth clarets at the famous Berlin tasting.
Chile’s vineyards stretch from 30°S to 38°S, a distance of 1,000km. A glance at the map shows the country is narrow, but some of the greatest variations in grape growing conditions are from the west to east. Coastal areas such as San Antonio Valley produce fresh, aromatic Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, while inland on the foothills of the Andes, the top class regions such as Pirque produce elegant ageworthy wines from varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah that rival European counterparts.
Of course, no visit to Chile is complete without an exploration of Carmenère, which was mistaken for Merlot for decades and only in the last few years has been understood and grown and made so as to express its more aromatic character, and develop higher quality levels.
We will be based for three nights in Santiago, before venturing south, to the Cachapoal and Colchagua Valleys. Here a slightly cooler climate, and varied soils and terroirs are enabling wines of superb quality to be made, for example in Apalta. Our base here will be Santa Cruz.
I first visited Chile in 1997, and in the ensuing 30 years, the country’s infrastructure, facilities and cuisine have been transformed. Our journey between Santiago and Santa Cruz will only take a couple of hours, and our central hotels in both cities will allow us to explore the vibrant neighbourhoods. We can look forward to some gastronomic meals using the highest quality ingredients and innovative menus to rival the best in Europe.
More about Tim Syrad Wine Tours
Since 1997 I have escorted over 110 groups of people on wine tours, visiting more than 30 wine regions in Europe and the New World. My clients keep coming back year after year because in addition to tastings and visits we really do meet the people who make the wine and tend the vines.
I pride myself in offering tours that are informative, imaginative and enjoyable. I keep group sizes manageable so that we spend our time appreciating our visits, not getting on and off the bus or queuing for the loos! I personally escort all of my tours, and I ensure as much as possible of the money my clients pay is spent on great food and wine, and good hotels. I believe you can combine appreciating fabulous wine with relaxation and laughter, which is why so many of my clients come on tour with me every year. More than 70 people have come on at least 10 of my tours.
There is a friendly and welcoming atmosphere on every tour from the start, and I am proud that many friendships have been made between the people who come on tour with me.
For more information about me, my next tours, and previous tours I have run, and to find out what my clients say (some of whom have been coming on tour with me since 2001) please explore the website.
For more information about this tour, or to book a place, please contact me
By phone (020 7060 4529)
Or email (tim@timsyradwinetours.com)
Or use the online enquiry form on the Contact page