As red canyon walls embraced us while cycling up a mountain pass, we continued to marvel at the diverse landscapes of Argentina’s legendary Route 40. The crowded highway just north of Mendoza had given way to a remote, high desert populated by tall, saguaro cacti, guanacos, and long-legged rodents five times the size of a rabbit. Gold, silver and copper lured prospective miners to isolated towns, where they built amazing feats of engineering to haul the ore out of the mountains. And in the lowlands, vineyards continued to attest to wine’s central place in the country’s economy and psyche.

As we crested a hill a broad, brown valley stretched before us in the morning light, marking Patagonia’s northern boundary and the gateway to Argentina’s wine country. The river below symbolized a cultural shift, from the rugged gauchos of the southern frontier to the country’s fertile agricultural heartland. There was still plenty of wild country ahead, including a massive lava field and high deserts in the shadow of volcanos. But eventually we rolled into the more developed lowlands of Mendoza - draped with autumn-toned grapevines, nurtured by glacial meltwater flowing down from the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere.