Salta

Estancia Colomé

The Colome Vineyard Hotel is an expensive, dreamy, honeymoon sort of place. There are only 9 guest rooms and every view is gorgeous with dry, colorful mountains and green vineyards and lavender flower gardens. Even the wine produced there is tops. The vineyard is owned by Donald Hess, who founded the Hess Collection winery in Napa, and he and his wife spend much of their time here, when they are not in California.

Our room, seen from the courtyard in the evening

Breakfast on the terrace. The vineyards below are some of the oldest on the property, more than 150 years old. The grape is Torrontes, a flowery and elegant white grape, for which Salta is famous.

Colome has the highest vineyards in the world at over 3,000 meters (9,850 ft), and we learned that those high altitude wines have more polyphenols, which means after 4 days in the vineyard hotel we were extremely healthy!

The winery is state-of-the-art, built in Germany and totally computer controlled. On the left are the stainless steel fermentation vats, and right, the ageing barrels of French and American oak.

The vineyards are managed to organic standards, and no pesticides or herbicides are used. This means having to resort to traditional means to keep the rows clear of weeds.

We walked in the hills, rode horses, and just sat on the veranda and enjoyed. The horses are Peruanos which have a gait similar to the famous Tennessee Walking horse. The feel for the rider is the same as floating on a cloud.

The groom at Colomé, Ernesto, ia a horse whisperer, and breaks and tames his horses just by talking to them. They will do just about anything he asks them to, including lying down.

A view of Colomé village church in the valley.

New Year’s dinner we had with an English couple and with a Swiss couple, whom we had met earlier in the day. Champagne, wine, fireworks and good company.

Andre Guthauser, Gabriella Zlauwinen, Misha Williams, Caroline and us on New Year´s eve.

¡Buen provecho!