Andeluna

Bodega Andeluna 1300 is the vineyard-pairing restaurant of Bodega Andeluna — a high-altitude (1,300 metres) Uco Valley Malbec winery founded in 2003 by Argentine Carlos Rolando and the American H. Ward Lay (the founder's grandson of Lay's potato chips) — and is the most photographed wine-country lunch terrace in the Uco Valley. The dining room sits in a glass-walled pavilion at the centre of the vineyards, with a direct view of the Andes peaks (Aconcagua visible 70 kilometres west).

The format is a four-course Argentine fixed menu with four Andeluna wine pairings, served at 12:30 lunch. Signatures include a hand-cut Andean lamb empanada with the entry-level Estate Malbec; a slow-roasted Andean lamb with the Reserva Malbec; an Argentine ribeye with the Pasionado Malbec; the famous 'flan de Andeluna' — a salt-caramel flan with the late-harvest Torrontés.

The wine programme is the Andeluna estate vertical — four vintages across the day's flight. The cellar is open to view through the dining room's glass wall.

The dining room sits at 1,300 metres altitude — directly named in the restaurant's name — with a 270-degree view of the Uco Valley vineyards and the Andes peaks. The lunch terrace is among the most photographed wine-country lunch settings in continental South America.

Andeluna 1300 is the easy first-date lunch in Mendoza wine country — the high-altitude vineyard terrace with the Andes view is the conversation, the four-course pairing format is the Uco Valley canon, and the lunch-only format means a half-day occasion. Book the corner two-top.