Mendoza Wine Tours: Luján, Maipú and the Uco Valley
Sixty listings from 20 to 498 EUR, median 242. Eight in ten are private, and the price is usually per booking, not per person.
Forty-eight of the 60 tours we list in Mendoza are private, and the median price is 242 EUR per listing. That single line explains most of what follows: Mendoza is sold as a car and a driver, not as a seat on a coach. Nine listings cost under 100 EUR, the tenth costs 126, and nothing sits in between. This page treats the wine area as one system: how far the three zones are from the city, how the harvest festival bends the calendar, who sells most of the tours, and what a tasting costs on top of the tour price. The products themselves have their own pages, for Luján de Cuyo and Maipú, the Uco Valley and private tours. The country view, with Salta, Patagonia and the comparison with other nations, is on the Argentina page.
Read the numbers on this page with one habit: ask what the price is for. A 27 EUR ticket buys a seat on a group tasting or a bus, a 350 EUR one buys a vehicle for up to two people, and both sit in the same grid of search results. Three things change the answer more than the zone does: whether the listing is private, whether tasting fees and lunch are inside the price, and how many people the booking allows. The sections below take them in that order, then cover the calendar, the grape and the road from Buenos Aires and Santiago. Every figure was read from the listings on 30 September 2026, and where a number is an operator's own estimate rather than a listing field, the text says so.
Choose a destination in Mendoza
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Luján de Cuyo & Maipú Wine Tours
Luján de Cuyo and Maipú wine tours, 20 to 377 EUR. Seven cost under 80 EUR, thirteen are full days from 175 EUR. What each includes, and which ratings to trust.
20 experiences -
Uco Valley Wine Tours
Uco Valley wine tours from 40 to 450 EUR, median 251. A 100 km drive, 16 private days, what each price leaves out, and where the ratings fall below 4.5.
20 experiences -
Private Mendoza Wine Tours
Private Mendoza wine tours from 126 to 498 EUR, median 260. Four shapes of day, what a per-booking price covers, and why the lunch-free listings cost more.
20 experiences
Wine Tours Experiences in Mendoza
Catena Zapata Winery and Casa Vigil Lunch with Private Driver from Your Hotel
A private driver connects the pyramid-shaped Catena Zapata winery, open to teens from 13, with a three-step lunch at Casa Vigil paired with Three Enemies wines.
Full-Day Maipú and Luján de Cuyo Wineries with Private Vehicle and Driver-Guide
A professional driver-guide and private vehicle link your pre-booked wineries in Luján de Cuyo and Maipú, with commentary in Spanish, Portuguese or English.
Full-Day Maipú Wine Tour: Trapiche, Santa Julia and Zuelo Olive Oil Lunch
A full day with a local guide: Trapiche's 1912 winery, Santa Julia wines, the Zuelo olive mill and a three-step Pan & Oliva lunch built around its oils.
Half-Day Maipú Tour: Three Wineries and an Olive Grove, All Tastings Included
Organic and sweet wines, plus olives, oils and preserves at an olive mill. Tastings at all four stops are included, and some wineries may swap by availability.
Huentala Wines Gualtallary Lunch: Group Shuttle from Mendoza with Wine Pairing
A shared shuttle from Mendoza City leads to a four-course lunch at Rastro, the estate restaurant with sculptures and 360° Andes views, with Gran Hat wines.
Luján de Cuyo Boutique Wine Tour with Peter Wine Tours and Family Producers
Small family wineries and hand-crafted Malbec with Peter Wine Tours, seen from the inside, with the Andes behind the vines in Luján de Cuyo, Argentina.
Luján de Cuyo Deluxe Full-Day Wine Tour: Caelum, Casarena and 6-Course Lunch
Three premium tastings in Agrelo and Perdriel, then a six-course lunch at Finca Minimal, a micro winery in a Malbec vineyard from 1905. Hotel transfers too.
Luján de Cuyo Wine Day with Clos de Chacras, Carmine Granata and Paired Lunch
Guides who favour wineries where the owner is around lead tastings and a paired lunch with wines, in English or Portuguese. Stops vary by availability.
Luján de Cuyo Wine Tasting: Benegas, Ruca Malen and Norton's Paired Lunch
Benegas wines with a cold-cuts picada, Ruca Malen with Andes views, then Norton's cellar, the largest in South America, and a multi-course paired lunch.
Luján de Cuyo Wine Tour: Caelum Tasting and Paired Lunch at Chandon
A Caelum tasting with winery pistachios, then a four-course lunch paired with Chandon sparkling wines, in Luján de Cuyo, the first wine area of Mendoza.
Maipú Afternoon Excursion: Three Wineries and an Olive Mill with Tastings
Three boutique wineries and one olive mill in Maipú, with at least three wines per cellar and olive oils with bread and preserves. Meets on Avenida Perú.
Maipú Private Wine Route: Finca Agostino, Sin Fin and an Olive Oil Boutique
Private full-day Maipú route from Mendoza airport: Sin Fin, Finca Agostino and an olive oil boutique, with sommeliers and a four-course wine-paired lunch.
Maipú Small-Group Wine, Olive Oil and Chocolate Tour with Florio and Vistandes
Small groups with a local guide and transfer from Mendoza city, ending with artisanal chocolate paired with regional wines at Chocolezza, after three wineries.
Maipú Small-Winery Day from Mendoza: Corbel, Esencia, El Cerno and Olive Grove
Three low-production Maipú wineries with at least three wines each, an olive grove, and a four-step Criollo lunch. Vegan and celiac options with notice.
Malbec Experience at Bodega Tierras Altas, Luján de Cuyo: Vineyards and Barrel Tasting
A boutique winery from 1999 with a walk through its vines, tastes straight from steel tanks and from the barrel in an underground cellar near Mendoza City.
Mendoza Custom Wine Tour: Vineyards, Mountain Views and Paired Lunch
A choose-your-own wine day in Mendoza that follows the grapes from harvest to marketing, with tastings among the vineyards and a lunch paired dish by dish.
Private 4x4 Uco Valley Wine and Mountain Day via Potrerillos Dam and Bousquet Lunch
A 4x4 ride on an unpaved mountain road through Valle de las Carreras, pickup at 10 am, two wineries and a five-course lunch with four wines, driver and guide.
Private Driver to Salentein Winery and Lunch at La Azul, Uco Valley, Mendoza
A private chauffeur collects you at your accommodation for a guided Salentein visit with four wines, then a three-course lunch with wine at Bodega La Azul.
Private Luján de Cuyo Sparkling Wine Tour: Chandon, Cruzat and Rosell Boher Lunch
Sparkling wine tastings at Chandon and Cruzat's underground cellar, then lunch at Rosell Boher, with hotel pickup at 9 am and a return to Mendoza around 5 pm.
Private Luján de Cuyo Tour: Chandon Sparkling Tasting and Sottano Barbecue Lunch
Three premium sparkling wines at Chandon, then a five-step Argentine barbecue-style lunch with wine at Sottano, on a private tour from your Mendoza hotel.
Private Luján de Cuyo Wine Day: Altieri, Susana Balbo and Sottano Lunch
Three wineries in Luján de Cuyo by private high-end vehicle, from the underground cellars at Altieri to a stepped lunch of about three hours with wine.
Private Luján de Cuyo Wine Day: Chandon, Budeguer and Lagarde, Michelin Lunch
Three private winery tastings in Luján de Cuyo, from sparkling wine to Malbec, with a Michelin Guide-listed lunch and round-trip transfers from Mendoza.
Private Luján de Cuyo Wine Day: Chandon, Kaiken and Bonfanti Lunch
A fully private transfer with a driver-guide who adapts the timing, two tastings at Chandon and Kaiken, and lunch at Bonfanti in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza.
Private Luján de Cuyo Wine Day from Mendoza: Three Stops, Andes-View Lunch
Bilingual driver, hotel pickup, three stops among vineyards at 600 to 800 metres, and a winemaker's lunch with Andes views. Out at 9:00, back about 5:00 p.m.
Ratings collected by Viator, Tripadvisor and Civitatis
Mendoza wine tours: three zones, three distances
Nearly every listing starts in Mendoza city, and the map shows the places they actually go. Luján de Cuyo is 18 km from the city and Maipú 20 km, so close that the drive is a matter of minutes and the day is spent at the bodegas. The Uco Valley is about 100 km south along Route 40, which the provincial tourist board puts at 90 minutes. One operator on our Uco page quotes 1 hour 15 minutes from the hotel. Either way, three hours of an eight-hour day are in a car.
The three dots at the bottom, Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos, are the three departments that make up the valley. Aconcagua, top left, marks the Andes; the wine towns all sit on the plain in front of the range.
Choosing a format: what the three pages sell
| Page | Listings | Median price | Typical day | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luján de Cuyo and Maipú | 20 | 202 EUR | 1.2 to 10.5 hours; 7 of 20 cost 78 EUR or less | Anyone with one day, a small budget or a wish to keep the drive short |
| Uco Valley | 20 | 251 EUR | Median 8 hours, 16 of 20 private, 16 with lunch | People who want altitude and views and will pay for the drive |
| Private Mendoza | 20 | 260 EUR | 4 to 10 hours, all private, 13 with lunch | Groups of two to eight who want their own itinerary |
What the 60 listings cost, and why the chart has a gap
The chart shows the three formats side by side, and the thin spread of Private Mendoza against the wide bar of Luján and Maipú is the whole story. Sort all 60 prices and the first nine are 20, 27, 27, 27, 29, 33, 40, 72 and 78 EUR. The tenth is 126. Nothing sits between 78 and 126 EUR: that is where a group ticket ends and a hired car begins.
Nine listings cost less than 100 EUR and the tenth costs 126. The cheap end and the private end are different products that share a search result.
The private side is tidier. The 48 private listings have a median of 260 EUR, and the other twelve have a median of 36.5 EUR. Only three of those twelve cost more than 100 EUR: a 197 EUR day with Huentala Wines, a 260 EUR guided lunch in Luján and a 296 EUR gourmet day in Uco.
Why eight in ten are private, and what per booking means
Private listings in Mendoza state their limit in the small print. Adora Mendoza, the operator with the most reviews across the three pages at 485, sells a private tour in Maipú at 350 EUR and one in Luján de Cuyo at 377 EUR, and both say up to 2 travelers per booking. A private Uco day with a driver at 241 EUR allows up to 4, a three-winery Luján day with a Michelin Guide lunch at 223 EUR allows up to 4, and a listing titled small group at 259 EUR allows up to 8. The price is for the booking. Divide by the people in your car and the same listings read very differently.
| Listing | Price | Travelers allowed | Per person if the car is full |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private tour in Maipú | 350 EUR | Up to 2 | 175 EUR |
| Uco Valley day with a private driver | 241 EUR | Up to 4 | 60 EUR, tastings and lunch extra |
| Private Luján day, three wineries, Michelin Guide lunch | 223 EUR | Up to 4 | 56 EUR |
| Small group, three wineries, lunch in Luján or Maipú | 259 EUR | Up to 8 | 32 EUR |
Two cautions. The chart and the medians use each price as the provider lists it, so a per-booking price sits next to a per-person one; that is why the private end looks expensive. And the 241 EUR Uco listing says wine tastings and lunch are not included, with the guide's own estimate at about 150 USD per person for both, so a 60 EUR share of the car is not the full day. The private tours page shows which of the twenty include what.
A semi-arid place that makes wine
Mendoza city receives about 223 mm of rain a year, which is desert by any usual measure, and summer hail is a regular risk. The vineyards live on irrigation and on altitude: the area's vines mostly sit between 600 and 1,100 m, and the Uco Valley climbs higher, around 850 to 1,200 m on most accounts. The snow on the Andes in the photograph is the reason the rows exist at all.
For a visitor this shows up in small ways. One private listing on our pages asks you to bring a cap, sunglasses, sunscreen and extra water, which tells you what midday is like.
The Vendimia and the calendar
Mendoza's harvest festival, the Vendimia, is the event around which the tourist year turns. The first official edition was held in 1936 according to Wikipedia. The Bendición de los Frutos falls on the last Sunday of February, the Vía Blanca parade on the first Friday of March and the Carrusel on the Saturday. The 2026 central act was staged on 7 March at the Teatro Griego Frank Romero Day, billed as "90 harvests of the same vine". The 2027 dates are not yet published, so check the tourism board before you plan around them.
The festival is a show and the harvest is a job. The wine tour calendar runs from late January to April, and the central weekend of the Vendimia sits in the middle of it.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
How Malbec came to Mendoza, and how much of Argentina's wine is made here
Malbec is a French grape. It reached Argentina in the nineteenth century when Domingo Sarmiento had the agronomist Miguel Aimé Pouget bring cuttings; the year 1853 is repeated everywhere, but we could not confirm it, so we stay with the mid-century. What is firm is the scale: Mendoza makes more than 60% of all Argentine wine, and the rail line to Buenos Aires opened in 1885, in decades when the vineyards grew from about 1,000 hectares in 1830 to 45,000 by 1910.
The photograph shows the dark bunches that sell the region. Malbec is not the only grape on the tasting list: the Uco Valley also grows Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo and Pinot Noir.
Mendoza in six dates
The facts below come from the tourism board and Wikipedia; each line is one that changes how you read a tour.
The origins
Mid 1800s
Malbec cuttings arrive
Sarmiento has Pouget bring vines from France. The widely quoted date of 1853 is not confirmed here.
1861
An earthquake rebuilds the city
An earthquake in 1861 is reported to have killed at least 5,000 people in Mendoza.
The growth
1885
The railway arrives
The Buenos Aires to Mendoza line opens, linking the vineyards to the Atlantic market.
1910
45,000 hectares of vines
Planted area rises from about 1,000 hectares in 1830.
1936
The first official Vendimia
The harvest festival becomes the region's yearly fixed point.
Today
2005
Great Wine Capitals
Mendoza joins the network and now counts more than 200 bodegas open to visitors.
Five operators hold 57% of the reviews
The Mendoza catalogue carries 3,426 reviews at a weighted 4.84, spread over 33 operators. Five of them hold 1,959 of those reviews, which is 57%: Adora Mendoza with 485 across three private tours, Bodega Tierras Altas with 469 on a single 1.5-hour visit, Agencia Sineus with 369, Cepas Turismo with 344 and Bodega Renacer with 292. The other 28 operators share the remaining 43%.
The consequence is that a rating here is often the rating of one business. A 5.0 from 189 reviews of Adora's Maipú tour is a solid signal; a 5.0 from six reviews is not, and the long tail of the private page is full of them.
In Mendoza the question to ask of a review score is how many people gave it, because three operators account for over a third of everything.
What a tasting costs on top of the tour
The figure that surprises people most is the bill at the door. The operator of the 241 EUR Uco day, who lists this openly, gives its own estimates in US dollars: about 25 USD for a visit and tasting at Domaine Bousquet, about 30 USD at Salentein, and about 85 USD for a four-course lunch at Andeluna. Its rule of thumb for tastings plus lunch on the day is around 150 USD per person. These are the operator's numbers, not the bodegas' price lists, and they will move with the exchange rate, so treat them as a scale.
| Item | Operator estimate | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Visit and tasting, organic bodega | About 25 USD | Domaine Bousquet, Uco |
| Visit and tasting, large bodega | About 30 USD | Salentein, Uco |
| Four-course lunch with wine pairing | About 85 USD | Andeluna, Uco |
| Tastings and lunch for the day | About 150 USD | Operator's rule of thumb |
Not every Mendoza tour leaves the bill to the door. A 26.90 EUR Maipú half day lists all tastings and the admission as included, and a 78 EUR Maipú day includes lunch and an olive tasting. The hop-on buses do not: the Luján and Uco wine buses sell transport, and the tasting fees come on top at special rates.
Do you need a car in Mendoza?
Not for Luján de Cuyo or Maipú. The TripAdvisor thread about biking to wineries near Mendoza reads the same way: Maipú works by bike, the Uco Valley needs a vehicle. Our catalogue contains no bike tour by title, so the bike option is a rental you arrange yourself. For the valley there are two routes without hiring a car: the wine bus, which stops at fixed wineries and leaves the tasting fees to you, or a group day such as the 72 EUR Uco and Cordón del Plata excursion, which reaches Tupungato, Jean Bousquet's organic winery and a lunch stop.
The question of who drives matters more than the vehicle. We have not confirmed the current alcohol limit for drivers in Mendoza against the law itself, so this page does not print a figure. The practical rule is the same under any limit: the person tasting should not be the person at the wheel, and a booked driver solves that.
| Option | Example price | Length | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wine bus, south Luján de Cuyo | 27 EUR | 10.5 hours | Bus ticket and a Spanish-speaking guide; tastings and meals extra |
| Wine bus, southern Uco Valley | 40 EUR | 11 hours | Bus ticket; tastings and lunch extra |
| Group half day in Maipú | 26.90 EUR | 5 hours | Three wineries and an olive producer, tastings and admission included |
| Group day, Uco and Cordón del Plata | 72 EUR | 8 hours | Transfer and guide; tasting and lunch listed inconsistently |
| Private car with driver | 126 to 498 EUR | 4 to 10 hours | Vehicle and driver; lunch varies |
Getting to Mendoza
Mendoza is 1,037 km from Buenos Aires, and the flight takes under two hours. The road to Santiago de Chile is 380 km and the bus takes six to seven hours, so the city is not a day trip from either capital.
Questions about Mendoza wine tours
Do I need to book a Mendoza wine tour in advance?
For a private car, book as early as your dates are fixed, because a private day is built around one driver and a set of tasting slots. Forum posts suggest Maipú can be done on the day and Uco cannot. The bus and group days are easier to join late.
Which is better for a first visit, Luján de Cuyo, Maipú or Uco?
Luján and Maipú are 18 and 20 km from the city and give the most bodegas for the least time in the car. Uco is about 100 km away and is worth the drive if altitude and mountain views are why you are here.
Are tastings included in the tour price?
It varies listing by listing. A 26.90 EUR Maipú half day includes them. The 241 EUR Uco private driver does not, and the wine buses leave them out too.
How much should I budget for a day?
Across 60 listings the median is 242 EUR, but that is a booking of two to four people for most private days. For two people, Adora Mendoza's private Maipú and Luján days work out at 175 and 189 EUR each; a group tasting in Maipú can cost under 30 EUR.
When is the Vendimia?
The harvest festival falls in late February and early March. In 2026 the main show was on 7 March. The 2027 date is not yet published.
Go to a product page
Each page breaks down twenty listings.
Plan your trip
Guides that apply to this destination.
When to go
A month-by-month climate matrix for 28 wine destinations, with the harvest windows we could verify.
Plan your wine tour
Nine decisions in order: tour or car, booking, what to wear and what to check on a listing.
How to choose a wine tour
Private, group, bike or scooter: four questions, and the cases where a tour is the wrong answer.
Data verified on. Tours, prices, limits and ratings read from the 60 Mendoza listings on 30 September 2026. Distances, festival and geography from the Mendoza tourism board and Wikipedia.