WINERIES IN SAN RAFAEL, MENDOZA

San Rafael is Mendoza’s southern wine region, 230 kilometres from the city, where the Atuel and Diamante rivers feed a valley of small family estates. The altitude and the wide day-to-night temperature range give the wines here a freshness and an aromatic character you will not find further north.

Every tour on this page starts and ends in San Rafael, with a private guide and transfer included, so they work whether you are in San Rafael for two days or for a week. If you are based in Mendoza city instead, see our wine tours around Mendoza city, which cover Luján de Cuyo, Maipú and the Uco Valley.

San Rafael’s wineries are small, family-owned and spread across a handful of rural districts: Las Paredes, Cuadro Bombal, Rama Caída and Cuadro Benegas. These are the estates we work with, and the reason our tours here look nothing like a bus route.

Iaccarini Winery, Las Paredes

Founded in 1903 and still run by the same family. The visit crosses the vineyards and ends in the underground cellar, with a Reserve wine to share and a platter of artisanal cheeses and cured meats.

Bodega La Mansa, Cuadro Bombal

A family winery surrounded by century-old trees. Five labels, four wines and one sparkling, each paired with tapas and presented by one of the winery’s own winemakers, at sunset.

Murville, Camargo, Garbín, Jean Rivier and Chaglasián

Our Wine Route visits three of these estates, selected according to availability on the day. Each one opens its cellar for a guided tasting of reds, whites and sparkling wines, usually with the winemaker or a member of the family. If you want to see the full picture of the province first, our guide to the best wineries in Mendoza covers every region.

Eating well is half the reason to come. Cuyan Flavors is a full day through Rama Caída and Cuadro Benegas, with boutique family wineries, organic and sustainable practices, and a long lunch where regional recipes are paired with the wines you have just tasted.

For a shorter plan, La Mansa serves tapas with each of its five labels at sunset, and Iaccarini closes its visit with a gourmet platter in the old cellar. All three include a private guide and door-to-door transfer from your hotel in San Rafael.

Three wineries in a day is the comfortable number. The districts sit close to each other, so the driving between visits is short and most of the day is spent in the cellars rather than on the road.

A typical visit runs about an hour and a half: a walk through the vineyard, the cellar, and a guided tasting of four to six labels. Reservations are required at every estate, which is the practical reason to go with an agency rather than turn up at the gate. And with tastings in the plan, having a driver is not a luxury.

The rhythm is the same one we use in the Uco Valley and in Luján de Cuyo, adapted to a region where the estates are smaller and the visits more personal.

Harvest runs from late February through April and is the busiest and most interesting time to visit, with the cellars working and the vineyards full. Spring and early autumn are the most comfortable for walking the vineyards. Wineries open mid-morning and close in the late afternoon, and most do not receive visitors on Sundays.

San Rafael is 230 kilometres south of Mendoza city, around three hours by road. Our tours here depart from your accommodation in San Rafael, so they are built for travellers already staying in the area. If you are coming down for the day from the city, tell us and we will plan it as a full day instead.