Cafayate is a wine town at about sixteen hundred metres in the Calchaquí valleys of Salta province, in the dry north-west of Argentina, and it is the reward at the end of a long ride south. After days of high desert, salt flats and unpaved passes, you come down into a flat valley full of vines and suddenly there is shade, cold white wine and a plaza where people sit for hours. The mountains stand on both sides, brown and bare, and the light is so clear that distances seem shorter than they are.
The valley's signature grape is Torrontés, a white variety that thrives in the thin air and strong sun and produces a wine that smells of roses and peach. The vineyards here are among the highest in the world, and several bodegas on the edge of town offer tastings, with long afternoon lunches that pair the wine with grilled meat, goat cheese and empanadas salteñas, the small spicy ones with a juicy filling. If you plan to ride afterwards, be sensible with the tasting spoons.
The roads around Cafayate are some of the best in the north-west. To the north, Ruta 40 climbs through the valley toward Angastaco and Molinos, partly unpaved and often covered with loose gravel. To the south and east, the road through the Quebrada de las Conchas, a gorge of red, orange and ochre sandstone, offers wonderful riding with sweeping views, rock formations known as the Devil's Throat and the Amphitheatre, and light that changes by the hour. The wind picks up in the afternoon, sometimes with serious force, so start early and keep a tight grip. Summer thunderstorms can flood the gorge floor, and dust in the dry season lingers behind every vehicle.
Cafayate has about twelve thousand people and has everything a rider needs: petrol stations, workshops of a modest kind, hostels, restaurants and a good bakery. The nights are cool, even in summer, and in winter the temperature can fall below freezing, so pack a warm layer. April and May, after the harvest, are lovely, with golden vine leaves, while the winter months are dry and clear. Sit in the plaza, buy an ice cream and let the long ride settle.