Amber Rose Wines: An Independent Winemaking Story in Cafayate

In this interview Terri Casey, www.caseyargentina.com, interviews Amber Wiedenhoeft, an independent winemaker, sommelier, and entrepreneur based in Cafayate, Salta Province, Argentina. She is the founder and owner of the boutique label Amber Rose Wines.

Originally from the United States, Amber attended University of Wisconsin, Madison before pursuing professional wine education through the UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education program.

Before launching her own venture, she gained hands-on local experience in high-altitude, organic wines as a winemaking intern at Valsecchi Wines in Cafayate from 2020 to 2022.

She is an active figure in the local wine community as a member of the local professional winemaker’s association, CoProVi. She also serves as an expert guest evaluator alongside prominent regional oenologists for the final Enology and Gastronomy examinations at the UPATECO Sede Cafayate university.

---

You completed wine education at UC Davis California. With the entire wine world open to you, what was it about the specific terroir—or the community—of Cafayate that made you decide to plant roots here permanently?"

When I decided to shift my career from sommelier into winemaking, I knew I wanted to focus on natural and sustainable wines, wines made with very little intervention. When I first came to Cafayate in 2019 to work harvest with Agustín Lanus of Bad Brothers Wines, I quickly realized that this was an extraordinary place to pursue that philosophy.

I was immediately captivated by the landscape, but what really convinced me was the quality and health of the grapes. The dry, high-altitude climate of the Calchaquí Valley creates conditions with relatively low disease and pest pressure, which can allow winemakers to work with exceptionally healthy fruit and make beautiful wines with less intervention.

The more time I spent here, the more I discovered. The Calchaquí Valley has an incredible diversity of elevations, microclimates, and soil types, and each can bring something different to the wines. There is also a deep winemaking history and a community full of talented, passionate people. At the same time, there is still room for experimentation and for small producers to develop their own ideas.

For me, Cafayate offered the combination I was looking for: extraordinary raw materials, a fascinating place to live, a strong but close-knit wine community, and the opportunity to develop my own winemaking project. I came here because of the wine, but over time I developed relationships and a connection to the place that made me want to stay.

What was the steepest learning curve you faced when working hands-on in the extreme, high-altitude vineyards of the Calchaquí Valleys?

One of my biggest challenges has been learning how to proceed when something breaks, and during the harvest something always breaks. As a North American, I had been accustomed to running to the hardware store to buy a replacement part or waiting for an expert to repair key equipment. That is not always possible here in Cafayate; it’s a “pueblito”, isolated and resources aren’t always immediately available.  However, grapes during harvest cannot wait, so I learned quickly to become handy, adapt and ask for advice.

During the 2025 harvest, I received new French oak barrels for my reserve Malbec and carefully prepared them over the course of several days to be ready to receive wine. A week after filling the prepared barrels with wine, one of the new wine barrels sprung a leak. To make the situation more complicated, the pump at the facility I was working at was broken so we could not empty the barrel to fix it.  I started asking around to my professional contacts and someone suggested using a cactus spine to plug the leak. The next morning, we foraged some cactus spines and repaired the leaky barrel with the spine of a local cardón cactus. To this day the barrel holds wine perfectly.

Salta is historically famous for heavy, high-alcohol reds and intensely floral whites. Your signature release is a fresh Malbec Rosé. What was your stylistic goal with this wine, and how do you harness Cafayate's intense sun without ending up with too much alcohol or losing crisp acidity?

My signature wine, Amber Rose Rosado, is 100% Malbec and balances elegant burnt orange peel and mineral notes with a generous body. When first creating this wine, I envisioned a complex rosé that highlighted both the power and the beauty of the Calchaqui Valley with ripe fruit notes but also restraint, perfect for lunch or a sunset.

This wine uses Malbec grapes grown in a pergola which gives the grape clusters more shade with bigger berries and a little less concentrated color.  After the grapes are crushed, the juice spends a very short time in contact with the grape skins, causing the lovely pale color. I like using both concrete tanks and acacia barrels to highlight fruity aromas and give a round mouth feel to the rosé.

As an independent, small-batch producer working without massive estate resources, what are the creative logistics behind sourcing your fruit and managing production in a tight-knit valley like Cafayate?

Community is very important in Cafayate, especially for small wine producers.  My success in sourcing fruit and managing production has come from developing relationships with many different people inside of and adjacent to the wine industry. There are many passionate and accomplished people from diverse backgrounds here. It has been important for me to talk to everyone, share my story and project. Small producers here survive through their network of relationships which can involve borrowing equipment, purchasing small quantities of supplies or being introduced to other contacts.

Cafayate's wine scene is deeply rooted in multi-generational family legacies. As both an outsider and a woman building a brand from scratch, how would you describe the reception, collaboration, and support you’ve experienced within the local winemaking community?

When I first came to Cafayate in 2019 to work the harvest, I personally encountered very few women or foreigners working in winemaking. Most women seemed to work in laboratories, tasting rooms or bottling lines. Now, in 2026, there are a lot more women working in wine. The professional winemaking schools, of which there are two in Cafayate, are at least one half female students.

When I started my boutique wine project in 2023, I received a lot of interest but also caused a lot of confusion because I was not focused on the classic Calchaqui Valley style. My project has benefitted from curiosity and acceptance as the international wine market has also shifted away from heavily aged, high alcohol wines towards younger, lighter wines.

---

If you would like more information on options to participate in living life in such a special place as Cafayate, please contact me. With confidentiality and confidence we can assist you to find the right fit for you to enjoy this wonderful place and invest in the bright future there.

Email: caseyteresita1@gmail.com • Tel: +54 9 11 4145 6640 WhatsApp: +54 9 11 4145 6640 • Skype: tcaseyskype or +1 650 206 - 2550