Tarija is famous for being the wine region of Bolivia. There are several wineries located here and we started by visiting Bodegas Aranjuez.

Since my in-laws were visiting and we wanted to take them somewhere traditional, we booked a tour with Bodegas Aranjuez and couldn’t have it enjoyed it more.

This winery was founded in 1976 by the Castellanos family. It is one of the big ones in Tarija and it now produces over 4 million bottles per year.  Aranjuez planted the first Tannat vine in 1999, a landmark in Bolivian history. This has proven very succesful and some Aranjuez wines have recently won important prizes.

Upon arrival, they showed us their brand new facilities in Tarija and had a first tasting. Then, they drove us to the countryside to their Finca El Origen in Santa Ana la Nueva, where Bodegas Aranjuez produces their wine. The winery oenologist, who is part of the Castellanos family, explained us the whole winemaking process, showed us the vast vineyards and we ended up pairing some wines with local cheeses and hams. We even visited Santa María de las Viñas, an intimate chapel the founding family built in the vineyards.

Tour details:  we booked the Premium Experience (175 Bs), which includes visiting the winery and the Finca El Origen and tasting various wines paired with local hams and cheeses. The whole tour lasted the whole morning (i.e, 5 hours) and was definitely worth it!.