Cafayate is a tourist town founded in 1840 with 12,000 inhabitants so it has a bit of character and colonial charm but more than that it has wine.
It’s a pretty town too.
General Guëmes is one of the national heroes that pops up all the time. He was the scion of a wealthy family but turned out to be a pretty good tactician on the battlefield. He was responsible in the war of independence from Spain for defending northern Argentina with General Belgrano against the Spanish. The rebels screwed up and split into competing factions and in 1821 Guëmes was shot in the back by a fellow Argentine.
Layne went to get empanadas at the empanada shop, of course, but they saw me outside with the nuisance and weren’t we surprised when he was welcomed in. He sat politely waiting with us for our order to be cooked.
I don’t know if it looks particularly pleasant but for whatever reason we enjoy being here. It’s a small town in the middle of nowhere so we had to get our Rusty papers in the big city and they have to be used with ten days so we have a deadline to reach the Chilean border. More on that later but we will have to leave town on Saturday.
Here he is again looking ferocious.
Wine is for sale here. They grow the usual Malbec, Argentina’s most famous grape but Cafayate is known for torrontés, a white grape that does well in high altitude arid conditions.
And they make ice cream too.
Pistachio and white chocolate.
And artisanal beer.
As good as it looks. I don’t like IPA bitterness so this red ale tasted good to me.
Wine tasting. Of course.
We bought a bottle of white and rosé torrontés for $20 the pair.
Rusty was resting at the campground as he doesn’t like the heat. We were going to bring him but he got on his bed and looked comfortable.
Dinner was for grown ups only. Argentines eat late but we are Americans and we had dinner at opening time, 7 pm.
Pacha, offering high end local cuisine, said to be the best eatery in town.
The food tasted good and was well served, not surprising but memorable. Our first lentil pâté:
Croquettes of beef and goat cheese to share.
Never had this before so this was a surprise.
I started with pork and Layne had the beef then we swapped.
Chocolate volcano to share.
They did it right.
$90 for dinner plus a cash tip and in the street we met Eeyore. Key West has chickens, Cafayate has mules.
A short walk home in the cool night air and Rusty was glad to see us. Always a great welcome.
