Bodegas Salentein

Mendoza, Argentina

No.12 The World's 50 Best Vineyards 2025

Art, wine and gastronomy converge in the Uco Valley, where the cross‑shaped Salentein winery, established in 1996, is strikingly stamped onto the desert landscape of the Andean foothills just south of Mendoza. Its four wings each ferment and store wine before gravity carries it to the underground cellars to mature in oak barrels resting on natural stone floors decorated with compass roses. Tasting also takes place subterraneously, around a two‑tonne limestone conference table extracted from nearby San Juan. The ultra‑modern Killka gallery exhibits works by a host of artists – many of them local – while its glass‑fronted restaurant is presided over by the epic scenery. Elsewhere, there is a chapel and the homely Posada hotel, complete with a swimming pool overlooking the vines and a pavilion‑style restaurant serving traditional food, including Tomaticán stews and empanadas cooked in the clay oven. Horse rides will take you up to the San Pablo Ranch to roam some of the world's highest vineyards.