Torrontés Wine, Holy Water

Cafayate is not just a small city lost in the Province of Salta which has become famous for its wineries and the best torrontés in the world. Or is it? That is left for the reader to make their own judgment depending on what each one feels when visiting this heavenly place.

The wineries contribute with that sacred juice which has amazed men for thousands of years and which will continue to amaze us for all eternity.

At first sight, the main square does not say much. But it has its own codes and experience. Most times, the great wine producers have gathered there, in some of the coffee-shops surrounding it -paradoxically enough!- and spent hours taking about wines, vines, grapes, varietals and finally end the meeting reinforcing that the best torrontés in the world is grown and tasted there. All of them come to the conclusion that they should continue investing, even if they have not had the best of harvests. They would have God's help.

The large sandhills and the wind give the place a unique aspect, a furious desert with white sands that nourish the soil with the appropriate minerals for the vine to acquire its right ripeness, its exact color, its clear and fresh aroma, piercing and alive.

The scarce water bathes the vineyards and contributes with the exact measure, just enough to hydrate the grapes so as not to make them larger. This is done so that they reach the correct alcoholic degree and the most appropriate future fermentation. As if this process was also part of nature. As if this was managed without man's assistance.

This is a unique micro-climate where the minimum annual temperature is 10°C, the average annual temperature is 15°C and the maximum annual temperature never surpasses the 30° C. The weather is dry and temperate with large doses of sunshine. It is said that it is always sunny and nights are very cold. The ideal temperature extremes to grow good wine.

This city also gives lodge to the Museum of Wine, a real homage to the pioneers who brought the first vines from France and who, with great effort and passion, insisted until mother nature said “yes”. From the start, they knew that wine is not only pleasure. It is also culture and education.

The torrontés is in the weather, in the soil, in the heights, in the humidity, in the sceneries, in Cafayate and, of course, in all the people that make it possible to exist. In each of those who work every day of the year, night and day, whether it is sunny, rainy or stormy, to make their dream come true, whether rationally or naively: finding the perfect grape, the grape of eternal life.