Cavas de Zonda

The other day trip that we'd planned from San Juan was to the Cavas de Zonda, a champagne winery just outside of town. We asked around how to get there and then waited for bus 23 for over an hour. No bus 23 turned up.

Once we'd given up, we accidentally found the other information centre inside the bus terminal that not only had a timetable, but also correctly informed us that the stop was in front of the station but not marked on the sign. Just as we were getting lunch at a nearby street stall, the bus pulled up around 10 minutes early but luckily still let us on with food.

Leaving town we stopped about 50 or so times, wherever someone hailed the bus and as they paid the driver, he would already be back on the road, juggling both tickets and steering wheel while counting change. At least it became clear that we could also be dropped off anywhere we wanted, so as we passed the cliff side entrance to the caves and went and jumped up and down next to him. It hadn't occurred to me to work out how to ask 'can you please let us off here.'

Cavas de Zonda boasts that it has a mountain for a roof and that's a pretty accurate description. The entrance to the winery is through a massive gate set into the side of a very steep, dry hill that Jeff had the urge to go walking on despite the hot sun. Outside a group of people waited to be let in.

The tour last approximately 10 minutes with a quick walk along the full length of the caves stone arch, up lit to create a warm glow. It included a detailed explanation of the champagne making process which sounded a lot like making home brew. It appeared to be similarly technologically advanced with old machines from the 50's.

In dozens of large plastic crates along the wall of the cave were Champagne bottles. Two men sat at a long table with a bottle stand in front of them, delicately applying each label by hand.

The tasting involved buying a bottle of champagne and taking it home to taste, but I suggested drinking the nice cool bottle in the park across the road, where the grass was green and the shade pleasant. My suggestion was turned down, despite the fact that we had hours to kill before our overnight bus. We had a nap under the trees instead, before waiting on the side of the road to hail our bus.

With another few spare hours before our bus to Salta, we sat in the main square and watched the locals enjoying their weekend afternoon as the sun went down. And much like our first impression of local fashion, we now pronounce San Juan the muffin top capital of Argentina.

No stray dogs were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Next Stop: Salta!