Mendoza is a desert. Almost everything that makes this province extraordinary, its vineyards, its cities, its rivers, depends on water that travels down from the Andes. With the legacy of the Huarpe people, generations of mendocinos transformed this arid land into an oasis that today covers just 4% of the province’s territory. Everything else is desert.
That single fact changes how we think about tourism. At SAK Wine & Travel, we believe travel can change the world, and in Mendoza, that change starts with water.
Why Water Guides Everything We Do
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals set out a blueprint for a better future, and SDG 6, ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for all, sits at the center of our sustainability strategy. It’s not an abstract commitment. In a province where water scarcity is a daily reality, protecting this resource is what allows the wineries we visit to keep producing exceptional wine, the rivers we raft to keep flowing, and the landscapes we share with travelers to keep existing at all.
We work to take care of water, avoid polluting it, and promote its responsible use across every trip we design, from a private wine tour in Luján de Cuyo to a multi-day trek in the high Andes.
Our Sustainable Projects
Sustainability at SAK is built on a few concrete, ongoing projects rather than a single certificate on a wall.
Plastic. PET bottles discarded along Mendoza’s irrigation canals block waterways and contaminate the same water sources our wineries depend on. Every plastic bottle generated on our tours enters a dedicated recycling circuit, so it never reaches the canal system in the first place.
We’ve also rethought how we package the regional snacks our local producers provide on every tour and transfer. We’ve worked with our suppliers to replace plastic packaging entirely: the bags we use are now 100% cornstarch-based organic matter, and the paperboard boxes for our box lunches have been replaced with ones made entirely from sugarcane. Both materials are compostable and fully organic.
Legacy. Working alongside local specialists, we built a story we share with every traveler: the history of Mendoza’s water culture, an oasis engineered by hand generations before modern irrigation, and a legacy worth protecting rather than taking for granted.
Stakeholders. None of this works alone. We partner closely with wineries, hotels, and suppliers who share our environmental vision, building a value chain where every partner raises the bar rather than just meeting it.
Benefits Program. Internally, our Benefits Program recognizes the guides and drivers who generate the greatest positive impact each season, from water awareness among their passengers to kilos of plastic diverted from landfills. Sustainability isn’t only client-facing; it starts with the team living it every day, in our offices too, where we separate waste for recycling and practice conscious water use in daily routines.
Travel that gives back
as much as it takes
Low-impact itineraries, built around Mendoza’s water and community
Explore our 100% sustainable packages!
100% SUSTAINABLE PACKAGESWineries That Share Our Vision
We don’t work with every winery in Mendoza, we work with the ones whose values align with ours. Many of our partner wineries have made their own meaningful commitments to sustainable production, from water-efficient irrigation to biodiversity programs in their vineyards, and several open their doors for sustainable winery events in Mendoza that celebrate exactly this kind of responsible winemaking.
Water is inseparable from what ends up in the glass. The wines of the Uco Valley, grown at some of the highest altitudes in Argentina, exist because of careful, deliberate water management in one of the driest wine regions on earth. Every Malbec, Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir you taste on one of our tours carries that story with it.
Measuring and Offsetting Our Carbon Footprint
Beyond water, we’re working to understand and reduce the broader environmental impact of our operations. Most of our best-selling products now have a measured carbon footprint, calculated in line with ISO 14064 and GHG Protocol standards, and we’re expanding this measurement across the rest of our portfolio. Once a product’s footprint is measured, we offer the option to offset those emissions through certified projects at the time of booking, so travelers who want to take that extra step can do so with confidence in the numbers behind it.
100% Sustainable Packages
For travelers who want their entire itinerary built around this commitment, our 100% Sustainable packages combine low-impact activities, partner wineries and accommodations selected for their environmental practices, and experiences designed to leave Mendoza exactly as we found it, or better.
If you’d like a firsthand look at what responsible wine tourism feels like, our 100% sustainable city wine tour is a good place to start, four days moving through the city and its wineries with a low-impact footprint from beginning to end.
Coherence Starts at Home
We don’t ask our partners and travelers to do what we haven’t already committed to ourselves. That’s why sustainability at SAK begins internally: waste separation and conscious water use in our own offices, a Code of Ethics and Wellness for our staff, and Ecopartner agreements with companies that share our commitment to Mendoza’s community and environment.
Every trip is an opportunity, and every one of those opportunities starts in the smallest details.
To see everything we’re doing in one place, including our current Ecopartners and the season’s top-performing guides, visit SAK In Action for more info.
Paula is a travel communications specialist with solid expertise in wine tourism and adventure travel in her native Mendoza. She combines a background in audience analysis with a deep understanding of today’s travelers to craft effective, user-centered, and sustainable content strategies. Her approach blends creativity, data, and a strong commitment to the responsible development of tourism in Argentina.