Wine tours are not something we normally do - we prefer to do wineries ourselves independently. However reading the info on tripadvisor, we decided to go with Ampora - Im so glad we did - their tour was one of the highlights of our trip. Why is it so good? 1) its small - we had about 8 people on ours, 2) the tour guide is very knowledgeable about the area and wine - if you already know a lot about wine STILL do this tour - these people know what they are talking about!! 3) they choose great wineries - a real mix of historic and new 4) it takes all the hassle out of making reservations yourself - tasting in Argentina is not like in Oz or NZ (only places Ive done it) where you just turn up and taste - here you must reserve in advance and also pay for tastings. The tastings are a lot more formalised (and generous!) - sometimes seated by the fireside with nibbles etc - not just standing at a counter for 5 mins. Doing the tour means this is all organised for you. 5) the price by the time you have paid for a driver and paid for tastings and lunch is pretty competitive - theres not much in it - maybe if you hired a car yourself it would be a lot cheaper but a lot more hassle. 6) finally - ITS GREAT FUN!! we did the Lujan de Cuyo tour and the lunch at Ruca Malen was fantastic (5 course tasting lunch) - we loved it so much we wanted to do then do the Uco Valley tour but ran out of time. we ended up hiring a driver for a half day whip around Uco Valley - definitely recommend this area - the scenery is a lot more spectacular - but then the Lujan tour we did is also great - so best do both tours if you can!! all in all cant rate them highly enough - so good to know there are intelligent wine tour operators out there which can cater for people that already know a bit about wine!!
thanks Ampora.



