Molinos & Colomé

Molinos is one of the most complete colonial villages in the valleys, with its eighteenth-century church and the old hacienda of the last royalist governor of Salta. Up a side valley, at more than two thousand metres, Bodega Colomé has made wine since 1831 and is the oldest working winery in the country; among its vineyards stands a museum devoted entirely to the work of the American artist James Turrell. South along the Ruta 40, Angastaco sits among the jagged rocks of the Quebrada de las Flechas.

One or two nights, ideally at the estancia of Colomé, are what this stretch deserves: tastings of high-altitude wines, the Turrell museum, walks and rides through the vineyards and the empty valley around them. It sits between Cachi and Cafayate on the gravel stretch of the Ruta 40, and the drive from one to the other, through Molinos, Angastaco and the Quebrada de las Flechas, is one of the best in the Northwest. Families of the rural tourism network along the valley receive travellers in their homes.

Spring and autumn are the best. In summer, rain can cut the river crossings on the road for a few hours.