Argentina with Kevin O’Connor

Bienvenidos a Argentina! Our trip begins in the evening when we’ll convene at our hotel for a sumptuous introduction to Buenos Aires. After getting to know Kevin and munching on a few local specialties, we’ll venture out into the city for an immersive dinner while toasting the adventure ahead.

Afterwards, we’ll absorb the buzzing energy unique to Buenos Aires with a live tango show.

Today we’ll embark on a tour of a few historic neighborhoods bursting in local color and lore. First it’s off to the barrio Recoleta for an immersive tour where Belle Époque mansions, shaded plazas, and the storied paths of Recoleta Cemetery offer a glimpse into the city’s layered history. We’ll pause at La Biela, a longtime gathering place for writers, artists, and porteños, before continuing into the culinary traditions that have helped define Argentina’s identity.

For lunch, we’ll roll up our sleeves alongside local chefs to prepare beloved dishes while tasting wines from some of the country’s most celebrated regions.

The afternoon is yours to spend as you wish before another evening in Buenos Aires, where neighborhood parrillas, intimate wine bars, and late-night cafés invite you to continue your exploration with dinner on your own.

We’ll continue our exploration of Buenos Aires for a unique street food experience as we trace the origin stories of specific ingredients while rambling through one of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods. We’ll start in San Telmo, the city’s oldest barrio, whose cobbled alleyways make up the heart of tango; continuing on to the unforgettable La Boca, lined with its iconic bold and brightly painted buildings. Once there, we’ll listen to street musicians on Caminito street and indulge in a family-style lunch.

After lunch, we’ll hop on a short flight to Mendoza. Once there, we’ll toast our arrival, marvel at the storybook views in every direction, and enjoy an evening of rest.

Today offers a deeper look at the traditions that have made this region one of South America’s most important centers of wine and olive oil production. We’ll begin with a tasting experience where olive oils, aged balsamic vinegars, local cheeses, chocolates, and wines reveal the flavors of the surrounding countryside.

Our next stop is a visit to local vineyards for a tour and tasting, each offering a distinct expression of the region’s vineyards and winemaking philosophy, including natural processes in which all grapes are hand harvested and most are foot crushed.

After, we gather for a leisurely Argentine barbecue lunch, where smoke, fire, and wine come together around the table in one of the country’s most enduring culinary traditions.

The rest of the day is a deeper dive into Mendoza, with a walking tour of the nearly 500-year-old bohemian town featuring an Art Deco center. If you’ve ever enjoyed a glass of Malbec, you’ll love its homeland.

Later this evening, we reconvene for dinner at one of Argentina’s Michelin-starred restaurants, for a fitting finale to a day shaped by the people, ingredients, and agricultural traditions that define this remarkable corner of the Andes.

After a relaxing breakfast at our hotel, we’ll spend more time immersed in vineyards that stretch toward the Andes. The story of Mendoza is often told through its wines, but the deeper story is one of land, water, and the generations of people who have shaped both. 

First, we’ll spend our time at a renowned, picturesque family winery. While there, we’ll savor a stunning wine-paired lunch that reflects the flavors of Mendoza’s kitchens and fields, each course paired with wines grown just beyond the table.

The afternoon continues at another nearby winery, where a thoughtfully curated tasting offers a different perspective on the region’s winemaking traditions and evolving identity.

As the sun begins to dip behind the mountains, we gather once more among the vines at one of Argentina’s most historic wineries. Conversations will linger over the table as glasses are filled with wines born from the same landscape that surrounds us.

Today, we tap into our inner gaucho with a full-on ranch experience at a traditional estancia! This morning, we leave Mendoza behind and follow the Andes deeper into the countryside, where broad valleys, snow-capped peaks, and working estancias have long shaped life on Argentina’s western frontier. Here, the pace slows to match the landscape.

Once at the ranch, you can spend the day as you choose. Ride horseback across open terrain, cast a line into mountain waters, set out on foot to take in the surrounding scenery, or simply settle into a chair with a glass of wine and watch the light shift across the peaks. At midday, we’ll sit down together for a traditional asado, where meats are cooked slowly over fire and shared around the table alongside wines from the region.

Our bellies full, we’ll continue on to the Uco Valley, check into our beautiful wine resort, and take some time to decompress and relax.

Dinner tonight is yours to embellish.

After breakfast, our wine immersion begins anew. Our first stop begins with a refreshing toast of sparkling wines—each bottle derives from hand-picked varietals sourced from the Uco Valley. Every transcendent wine tasting deserves another, so we’ll shuffle over to another heralded estate for a flight of some younger wines and a conversation with the cellarmaster.

Lunch is a special treat; Enjoy panoramic vineyard views while the sun dips behind the Andes at a winery nestled in the heart of the Uco Valley

After spending some time relaxing at the hotel this afternoon, we’ll reconvene for our farewell dinner. We’ll watch in awe as a team of chefs prepare a gaucho-worthy feast of slow-grilled rib eye roasted on an open flame. Wrapped in alpaca blankets, we’ll toast with Kevin to this perfect end to our week together.

Alas, it’s time for our journey to end. We’ll celebrate our adventure over breakfast, with a last cortado or glass of Malbec, before offering fond farewells.