“Muy bien, Panchita,” I whispered to my horse as she picked her way up the rocky path. It was 5:30 a.m., and the stars above us were lighting the way. Our group was hushed, and the only sounds came from our horse's hooves, the gauchos' commands, and reverent gasps as the sun began to rise, revealing the Andes against a pinkening sky. I took a moment to let the experiences of the past weekend wash over me while we rode: Two days prior, I'd learned how to cook by fire with iconic Argentine chef Francis Mallmann. I had, later, taken a sensory wine course taught by one of the first certified sommeliers in Argentina, Mariana Onofri. When we reached the mountain peak, I dismounted my horse and joined my group of fellow travelers circling a roaring fire, as someone handed me a steaming gourd of maté.
The awe I felt in that moment was a reflection of the entire trip. When I was first invited on this group adventure to Mendoza’s Uco Valley wine region—crafted by The Vines, a luxury wine club—I found the idea of traveling with veritable oenophiles a bit daunting. I love drinking wine, but it’s a language I’m still learning how to speak. What I discovered over the course of the four-day trip, though, was a range of people—some with more wine knowledge than others—who took notes during cooking classes and tastings, who asked questions and readily answered mine, and who, above all, eagerly immersed themselves into every facet of the itinerary (wine-related or otherwise) from mastering the parrilla, to tango lessons. We were all there for a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, whatever that meant from one moment to the next.
This is the exact atmosphere The Vines hopes to create. The club organizes trips to the world’s most iconic winemaking regions, from Napa Valley to Montalcino, Italy, for its members—and for an initiation fee of $25,000, the “Adventurer” level provides access to about fifteen such experiences a year. Membership also unlocks tasting events throughout the US and Europe, and access to exclusive wineries around the globe, plus the chance to make your own custom wine. Members do need to go through a screening process, but it's for the benefit of every guest, The Vines founder Michael Evans told me with a smile. “Look, it only takes one jackass to mess up a dinner, and we really want these trips to be engaging and fun."
The Vines isn't cheap to join, either, but Evans says guests appreciate the value. “Our members want to maximize their chance of having an amazing trip," says Evans. "The issue is time, not money—and they know with us, it’s going to be an extraordinary experience.” For those not immediately convinced, The Vines allows non-members to do a trial trip. But with just 16-20 guests, each all-inclusive itinerary (starting at $6,710 for members, on top of the initiation fee; trial members pay about double) offers a remarkable level of access to unique activities—which is how I found myself cooking beside Mallmann at The Vines Resort & Spa.
“The day you decide you’re going to cook with fire, take your time, enjoy it,” Mallmann told us one morning. Our cooking classes were held al fresco in the surreal setting that is the Uco Valley, and we crowded around the famous chef's iconic dome smoking structure as the sun shone brightly ("speaking loudly," in Mallmann's words). He bent down and transformed a pile of kindling into a roaring fire with just one match, the scent of smoke quickly wafting through the rows of vineyards surrounding us. Everyone—a mix of couples in their 30s, empty nesters, and even a father-son duo—dutifully followed Mallman's guidance to then hang vegetables, and even whole pigs stuffed with flowering rosemary and oranges, over the flames, where they would roast for the entire day.
As ample wine pours of Malbec and Criolla filled the wine glasses at our stations, we learned how to make chimichurri, and spent time chopping vegetables with locally made knives that were engraved with our own initials. Under the tutelage of Mallmann's team, we even smothered trout in a thick layer of salt to cook using an ancient technique, with fires above and below the food (the setup is known as the infernillo—"little hell"). The seasoning both trapped the moisture inside the fish, and prevented burning, producing the juiciest piece of fish I’ve ever tasted.
“The thing that's made me love this experience the most is the cooking element,” Wendel Smith, a Los Angeles-local who was traveling with his father told me over our cutting boards. He'd previously done a trip to Oregon's Willamette Valley, which paired wine tastings with king salmon fishing. But, as he saw it, few experiences could compete with cooking beside Mallmann. I had to agree.
Because even though the trip was for wine lovers, that was just a portion of it. We did in fact spend hours devoted to our wine education—we toured the vineyards, bare before the harvest would begin in February, and got to see the 300 wines produced on property each year for private owners. (For more on that, check out The Vines of Mendoza: Evans’ initial dream, through which individuals from around the globe own acres of land in the Uco Valley, and work side-by-side with The Vines team to produce their wine.)
Our wine-tasting classes were taught by The Vines wine director, Mariana Onofri, and her team, who even showed us how to detect imperfections in wines with just our noses. We also put our senses to work with a Malbec blending session-turned-competition, where Onofri’s team of sommeliers blind-tasted each teams’ blend of four reds. I won't lie—I was proud when my group won as the judges' favorite. Maybe I had picked up a thing or two over the weekend. (Or maybe it was because a chef and a wine-loving couple from Miami really carried our team.)
Our dinner on the final night was set in the vineyard beneath a canopy of string lights. It was chilly, but nobody seemed to mind, warmed by the wine, the conversation, and the lap blankets offered by the ever-attentive team. Looking at the faces around me, I could see the appeal in continuing to see the world with a like-minded group. Wine is, really, a gateway to so much else. After many tastings, empanadas, and long walks, our group had become (dare I say it) quite well-blended—and I found myself craving more trips with the same sense of community.
