Colomé winery - 2,300m of history

Visit the world's highest winery (2,300m), founded in 1831 and revived by Swiss wine legend Donald Hess. Tour the stunning James Turrell Museum on-site, taste wines from the legendary Altura Maxima vineyard (3,111m), and stay at the boutique estate guesthouse.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Conquer the Gravel Road That Earns You Everything Adventure · Free

   The last 20km from Molinos to Colomé is a bone-rattling, dust-cloud gravel road that climbs into a hidden valley most maps barely acknowledge. There are no guardrails, no cafes, no signs of civilization — just the Andes closing in, red rock walls rising to 4,000m, and the growing sense that you are arriving somewhere the world has forgotten. This is not an inconvenience. It is the experience. The remoteness is what makes everything that follows feel like discovery.

   Where: Molinos village (GPS: -25.13, -66.28) — take Ruta Provincial 53 east from the village plaza. The turn is signed. The gravel begins immediately.

   What: You are driving into one of Argentina's oldest wine valleys — a valley the last Spanish colonial governor of Salta owned, where Jesuit missionaries planted the first vines in the 1600s, and where the Inca Empire conquered the indigenous Diaguita people in 1480. This road looks like nothing. It is everything. The final 20km takes 45–60 minutes on gravel. Do not rush it.

   How: 4WD vehicle or high-clearance SUV is strongly recommended (gravel/dirt, sometimes washboard). From Cafayate: 4 hours north via Ruta 40 to Molinos, then left onto RP53. From Cachi: 1.5 hours south to Molinos, then right. Arrive 30 minutes before your booked tour time. You cannot be late — tours start promptly.

   Backup: No 4WD? Ask Colomé directly (reservas@grupocolome.com) — they sometimes arrange transfer from Molinos or Cachi for overnight guests. The Estancia's own vehicle can meet guests.

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2. 2 Touch the Adobe Walls Built in 1831 — Argentina's First Winery History · Free

   At the entrance to Estancia Colomé, before you reach the modern winery or the museum, there is a small adobe building that most visitors walk past. Stop. This is Argentina's oldest winery building — a small witness to time, its sun-dried brick walls and hand-hewn wooden staircase unchanged since Nicolás Severo de Isasmendi y Echalar, the last colonial governor of Salta, ordered it built in 1831. Run your hand along the wall. That is 195 years of Argentine wine history.

   Where: At the estate entrance, left side as you approach the main reception building. GPS: -25.5128, -66.3922. It is a low, single-story adobe structure — sun-dried brick, wooden beams overhead, clearly older than everything around it.

   What: Isasmendi founded this winery the year after Argentina declared its constitution. His daughter Ascención inherited it — and in 1854 she imported Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon vines from France, pre-phylloxera. Those vines, now 170 years old and likely ungrafted (phylloxera never reached this altitude), still produce wine. The same year she brought French vines here, the rest of Europe's vineyards were being destroyed by phylloxera. This valley was protected by its altitude and its isolation. The adobe building was a working winery until the modern facility was built. It still stands. Nobody told it to stop.

   How: The building is visible on any standard winery tour (Tue–Sun, 11:30 AM in English; 3:00 PM in Spanish). Book the 'Experiencia Colomé' tour at bodegacolome.com or call +54 9 387 522 3322. Your guide will walk you past it — ask them to stop here specifically.

   Backup: If the exterior is closed for maintenance, ask at reception for a photo of the interior. The winery team is proud of this building and happy to discuss its history.

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3. 3 Drink the 170-Year-Old Malbec Vine's Last Secret Wine · Price: moderate

   The Auténtico Malbec is made from pre-phylloxera vines planted in 1854 — ungrafted, at 2,300m, still alive and producing. No oak. No manipulation. Winemaker Thibaut Delmotte, Burgundy-trained, uses only concrete tanks and indigenous yeasts, then bottles it after 20 months. What you drink is what those vines tasted like before the industrial age intervened. Wild blackberry, balsamic, minerals that taste like the Andes themselves. Probably the most historically intact Malbec on the planet.

   Where: The tasting room, main bodega building. GPS: -25.5128, -66.3922. It is included in the standard 'Experiencia Colomé' tour — book at bodegacolome.com or reservas@grupocolome.com. Tour is Tue–Sun at 11:30 AM (English/Spanish) or 3:00 PM (Spanish only). Max 15 people per tour. Book minimum 1 week in advance; high season books out weeks ahead.

   What: The 3-wine tasting includes Colomé Estate Torrontés (the valley's signature white — jasmine and rose petal on the nose, bone dry on the palate), Colomé Estate Malbec (2,300m estate wine, pure concrete-aged fruit), and the Auténtico Malbec. When the Auténtico arrives, ask your guide: 'Are these the same root stocks Ascención Dávalos brought from France in 1854?' The answer is almost certainly yes. You are drinking a vine that predates the phylloxera epidemic. Nothing in Mendoza can say that.

   How: The 'Experiencia Colomé' (winery tour + 3-wine tasting + James Turrell Museum visit) runs approximately 2 hours. Price is not publicly listed — book directly and confirm cost (estimate USD $40–70/person based on comparable programs). A 15% discount on wine shop purchases is included. For the full experience, book the 4-hour version that adds lunch at La Estancia restaurant.

   Backup: If the Auténtico is sold out in the shop (it sells fast), the Estate Malbec shares the same concrete-aged, low-intervention approach. Both express the same ancient terroir — the Auténtico is just the older story.

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4. 4 Lie Down Inside the World's Only James Turrell Museum at Sunset Adventure · Price: moderate

   The Turrell Museum at Colomé is not a gallery. It is nine chambers built to Turrell's personal specifications in the middle of the Andes, 18,000 square feet where light becomes the subject and your eyes become the medium. The final chamber, 'Unseen Blue' (2002), is a Skyspace — an opening in the ceiling, a 40-minute light sequence, and the high-altitude Andean sky doing things it cannot do at sea level. Sunset slots are booked weeks out. If you get one, lie down on the bench. Do not look at your phone. Let your perception dissolve.

   Where: James Turrell Museum building, Estancia Colomé. GPS: -25.5130, -66.3925. Accessible only as part of a guided tour — the museum is not open independently.

   What: Opened April 22, 2009 — the world's ONLY museum dedicated exclusively to James Turrell. Nine chambers spanning five decades of his career: - 'Spread': 4,000 sq ft walk-in environment. The room is the work. Blue light consumes your spatial perception. - 'Alta Green': one of Turrell's earliest architectural experiments - 'Lunette': a darkened corridor with a vertical slit of sky — white neon and daylight in dialogue - 'Unseen Blue' (2002): the Skyspace. A square aperture to the Andean sky. 40-minute light sequence that warps color perception. At altitude, the sky turns colors impossible at sea level. Visitors lie on benches or the floor. The museum attracts 8,000 visitors/year. Nearly all of them drove 4+ hours on gravel to get here. Zero regret is reported.

   How: Book the 'Experiencia Colomé' tour at bodegacolome.com — the museum is included. The sunset Skyspace experience is separate and requires advance booking (often 2–4 weeks out in peak season). Email reservas@grupocolome.com specifically requesting the sunset museum slot. Museum is age 12+ only. Total visit time: 60–90 minutes.

   Backup: If sunset is booked, the daytime tour of all nine chambers is still transformative — the Spread installation and Lunette work at any hour. The Skyspace at noon is different, not lesser.

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5. 5 Eat Lunch in the Kitchen Garden at 2,300 Meters History · Price: high · Optional

   La Estancia restaurant operates on a single principle: everything edible comes from the valley floor you can see from your table. Chef Patricia Courtois built the menu around what the agroecological garden and farm produce each day — salteña-style empanadas with Andean herbs, braised lamb that grazed on mountain pasture, trout from cold Andean streams, quinoa grown at altitude. You drink wine from grapes grown within a stone's throw of where you're sitting. At 2,300m, with the Calchaquí Valley walls closing in on three sides, this is the most remote fine dining in Argentina.

   Where: La Estancia restaurant, main estancia building. GPS: -25.5126, -66.3918. Open Monday–Sunday, 11:30 AM–2:45 PM. Dinner is only available for overnight guests.

   What: Order the salteña-style empanadas first — the crimp pattern (the repulgue) differs from Mendoza and Buenos Aires, using a distinctive Andean fold that signals you are in the far north. Ask which wines are paired by the kitchen today. Then ask for the Colomé 1831 Malbec — the flagship. Made from 100+ year old vines (some of the same 1831 root stocks), aged 18 months in French oak. It costs significantly more than the Estate Malbec, but this is one of the least accessible fine wine experiences in the world. The 1831 is the winery's definitive statement.

   How: Reservations required — book via bodegacolome.com or call +54 9 387 522 3322. À la carte lunch runs approximately ARS 15,000–25,000/person (check current rate — Argentina's peso fluctuates significantly). The Colomé 1831 Malbec by the bottle will be an additional cost. Overnight packages ($370–$585 USD/night for 2, all-inclusive) include dinner — far better value if you can stay.

   Backup: If you cannot stay for lunch, the winery shop sells bottles of the Auténtico and Estate Malbec to take home (15% discount with your tour). Buy the Auténtico — it will not be available at your local wine shop.

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Insider tips

• Book overnight - the drive from Cafayate takes 4+ hours on winding mountain roads

• The James Turrell light installations are world-class - allow 2 hours for museum

• Request the Altura Maxima single-vineyard tasting (limited production)