[CARMELO, URUGUAY] — Along the cool banks of the muddy Rio de la Plata is the wine region of Carmelo, Uruguay’s top wine region. All the best Uruguayan vintners are here, including Finca Narbona. Restored to turn of the century newness, Narbona Wine Lodge is like a museum of the past, with antiques, buildings and charm that dates back over a century.  With only and handful of rooms nestled right up along the vines, you feel like you’re staying in a period movie. The rooms are huge. The service minimal. The quiet is deafening. What a great place to relax, eat and take in the cool air of the wine region. It’s a Tablet Hotels and Relais & Chateaux property, so you know it’s good. And so’s the food in the quaint restaurant — one of the best in the region. Here’s a perfect summary of the area in the New York Times.

The Road to Carmelo Uruguay

When you first get to Carmelo, the scenery shifts from rolling farmland to alleys of gorgeous cypress trees that look more like Louisiana and Napa. . Each time I drove through this glorious stretch of cypress trees along the main highway outside Carmelo, I had to get out and take another hundred pics.

Carmelo is known as one of the best wine regions of Uruguay and quickly growing its world reputation. It sits inland, amidst the gentle rolling Uruguayan hills and a only a couple of kms from the undulating mud carpet that is the Rio de la Plata river. It’s an easy ferry ride from Buenos Aires to Colonia, where you can rent a car for the short ride up-river to Carmelo. Carmelo is on the far left side of Uruguay, along the border with Argentina and where the La Plata opens it’s mouth wide to the giant muddy bay.

Narbona Wine Lodge

You don’t hear much about the great wines from Uruguay. Nor the remarkable, unending estancias. Nor the amazing beaches. Or the killer beef. I think they do that on purpose, keeping it all to themselves. Hiding gems like the lovely but persnickety Tannat wines that grow so abundantly rich here, yet few other places.

I think there must be a rule or something somewhere that if you have a winery, you must have a cool old delivery truck lying around.

Is this the best boutique hotel I’ve ever stayed in? No. Some of the rooms were nice, the property was cool and the recent, decent. But there was really something missing about Narbona Wine Lodge. That’s hospitality.

It’s a quirky place. There really wasn’t a soul or heart in it. I don’t remember a single person that helped me. No family stories or personality. The check-in was like “Here’s your key.” The cute restaurant felt more like a roadside stand.

I thought it might be me. But I checked in with other travel writers on Instagram and they confirmed the same thing. It all felt more like self-service than anything. But still, it’s a cool place in a beautiful area.

The Restaurant at Narbona Wine Lodge

Yeah, you need to look for this talented little Tannat. Finca Narbona Luz de Luna. Yumski. Buy it and drink it. Or better, go to Uruguay and stay at this pretty little hotel overlooking the vines, amidst the gentle rolling Uruguayan hills and a only a couple of kms from the undulating mud carpet that is the Rio de la Plata. It’s an easy ferry ride from Buenos Aires.

I just loved sitting out here. When I see awesome B&W tile like this, I feel like getting down and rolling around on it like a Labrador in a good smelling patch of grass.

The Rooms at Narbona Wine Lodge

This great room at the Narbona Wine Lodge, nestled in an old industrial building from 1908, where a scented breeze wafts over the vines and then your bed… greeting you each morning and beckoning you back for a nap in the afternoon.

There are only five rooms and they are huge. Some modern and others museum-like, with vintage everything. I mean, you feel like you are literally living in 1908.

— Last Visited March 2014 —

More Information on Narbona Wine Lodge and the Carmelo Region

Here’s a NYTimes article on the area around Narbona Wine Lodge, Carmelo, and its notoriety for good olive oil and wine. And here’s the TripAdvisor for Carmelo region. And Fodor’s Top Five Things to do in Carmelo. Here is the Wine Lodge’s web page. And here’s a Conde Nast Traveler has a nice recap on Narbona Wine Lodge. And here’s some info about their wines.