Posts

Beyond Mendoza: Discovering Tarija’s Emerging Wine Story

Image
The first thing that caught my attention was not the wine, It was the location. Tarija, Bolivia. I had been looking at the results of the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards when I came across Campos de Solana, a winery in Tarija that had collected five medals. One Silver and four Bronze awards, from a competition that assessed more than 16,000 entries, was enough to make me stop scrolling. Having lived in Argentina surrounded by one of South America’s great wine cultures for as long as I have, I know how easy it is for Mendoza to become the beginning and end of the conversation. It is a superb destination, and deservedly famous. Yet after years of living here, I find myself increasingly interested in the places that sit just beyond the established map. Tarija made me curious. That is where I think wine tourism becomes useful for Caribbean travellers. A medal can catch your attention, but a place has to give you a reason to travel. Campos de Solana’s result is worth understanding in simple...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beyond Mendoza: Why Buenos Aires Province Is Redefining Argentine Wine Travel

Image
  The story of Buenos Aires Province as a wine destination begins in contradiction. For decades, Argentina’s global wine identity has been tethered to elevation, to the mineral austerity of the Andes as well as the dramatic extremes that shape Malbec into a flagship export. Yet across the lowlands and coastal corridors surrounding the capital, a different narrative has been gathering momentum. It is one rooted in accessibility, in maritime influence, in cultural continuity, and in a recalibration of how wine integrates into everyday life. This is the tension that defines Buenos Aires province today: a region historically peripheral to Argentina’s viticultural prestige now asserting relevance through innovation, intimacy, and strategic positioning within a shifting global wine economy. The emergence of this province as a credible wine destination is neither accidental nor purely aesthetic. It reflects broader transformations identified by institutions such as the International Organ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Altieri Wines: Reading Place Through the Wine

Image
In Mendoza, I pay attention to what happens before the wine reaches the glass. After close to a decade living in Argentina, I have learnt that the details surrounding a winery can tell me as much as the tasting itself. A building that has survived several generations. An old tool that still has a story attached to it. A family name that remains visible in the business. These things give a wine somewhere to begin. That is what interests me about Altieri Wines. The winery stands in Brandsen Street in Perdriel, Luján de Cuyo, in a building constructed in 1930. Cecilia Buj and Guillermo Altieri acquired the property in 1998, when it had already been abandoned for years, and developed it into the boutique winery it is today. The project retained the character of the old property while giving it a new working life. The family also began collecting objects connected to Argentina's wine history. That collection became the Museo de la Cultura del Vino, now comprising more than 3,000 pieces ...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Demand Grows, Connectivity Still Has to Work

Image
  Jamaica's Latin American opportunity is growing. The economics of getting those travellers there are changing. LATAM's decision to end its Lima–Montego Bay service from 1 April 2027 creates an important distinction for Jamaica's tourism industry: market demand and route viability are two different things. LATAM announced on 16 September that flights LA2446 and LA2447 between Lima and Montego Bay will cease from 1 April 2027. The airline described the decision as driven by commercial needs. Reporting from El Comercio , citing LATAM, identified rising fuel costs and Lima's international connection fee, TUUA, among the external factors affecting the viability of the route. That decision comes at an interesting moment for Jamaica. At JAPEX 2026, the destination reported continued growth from Latin America. Arrivals from the region increased 26.4 percent between January and August 2026. Argentina recorded 10,533 arrivals through June, up 29.1 percent on the same period in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jamaica Inn y el Caribe reinterpretado para el viajero Argentino de lujo

Image
  El Caribe continúa evolucionando como propuesta de viajes de lujo, y Jamaica ocupa un lugar natural en esa conversación. Su atractivo surge de una combinación difícil de replicar: una identidad cultural sólida, una naturaleza impactante y una hospitalidad marcada por la calidez y la naturalidad. En la costa norte, Jamaica Inn ofrece una expresión particularmente clara de ese carácter. Para los viajeros argentinos, los destinos más atractivos ofrecen cada vez más una identidad propia junto con confort. Jamaica reúne playas de arena blanca, paisajes tropicales y un patrimonio cultural que permanece presente en la vida cotidiana. Esa combinación le otorga a la isla una posición distintiva dentro del Caribe. Su propuesta de lujo se construye sobre el espacio, la privacidad, el servicio personalizado y una relación directa con el paisaje. Jamaica puede así atraer a viajeros que buscan los placeres de un resort sofisticado sin perder el vínculo con el carácter del destino. El atractivo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bodega Urqo: Beyond the Medals.

A medal can get a wine onto your radar. It cannot tell you what makes the winery worth remembering. That distinction matters in Mendoza. International recognition has become almost routine here. Argentina continues to collect medals, scores and global attention, while the Valle de Uco has developed into one of South America's most closely watched wine regions. So when five recent international results brought Bodega Urqo to my attention, I was interested in the wines, certainly. I wanted to know what sat behind the results. What does a relatively young producer look like when it is still establishing its identity in a region already crowded with famous names? Urqo's answer begins with the Urquía family and three vineyard sites across the Valle de Uco: Finca Algarrobos and Finca Durmientes in Tupungato, and Finca Mirador in Los Chacayes. Altitude, soil and site provide the geographical framework. Malbec is the familiar starting point. Chardonnay opens another door. That combinat...
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Decanter Results, 1 Uco Valley Story

Image
  After several years of living in Argentina, I have stopped describing Mendoza simply as wine country. That phrase is accurate, but it leaves too much out. From the Caribbean, I arrived with a fairly uncomplicated idea of Argentine wine, Mendoza meant Malbec. It did not take long to realise that the interesting part begins when you stop asking whether a wine is from Mendoza and start asking where in Mendoza it comes from, what the producer wanted to express and why the wine tastes the way it does. That is where the Uco Valley keeps my attention. The valley has become one of the most closely watched parts of Argentine wine, yet it continues to resist easy definition. Gualtallary, El Cepillo, Paraje Altamira and Vista Flores each bring different possibilities, and Vinos de La Luz works across those areas. Its Callejón del Crimen vineyards are identified by the winery at approximately 1,350 metres in Gualtallary, 1,200 metres in El Cepillo, 1,100 metres in Altamira and 1,080 metres i...
Post a Comment
Read more

WINES OF THE YEAR (PART 1): ARGENTINA

Image
  The annual Decanter World Wine Awards sets the global benchmark for excellence in wines. Judges drawn from an international cohort apply rigourous blind tasting, precise scoring, and calibrations that send clear signals to producers and consumers which are the wines that must be experienced. In 2025, Argentina achieved a landmark performance that crystallizes two truths: quality advances across its regions, and its leading bodegas speak with focus and confidence. Decanter awarded 50 Best in Show, 137 Platinum, and 732 Gold medals across all countries, numbers that confirm a step change in elite quality at the competition as a whole. Within that panorama, Argentina secured two Best in Show, seven Platinum, and 37 Gold medals, its best top-tier haul to date. This result carries weight as it validates long-term viticultural decisions and careful oenology, while deepening interest from collectors, sommeliers, and travelling wine lovers.  Argentina’s viticulture boasts high altit...
Post a Comment
Read more