Argentina's nostalgic Ruta 40 passes along the base of the Cordillera of the Andes from the extreme north to the southernmost road in the nation. On its way Ruta 40 meets the famed wine capital of Mendoza, whose dedication to Malbec wine is recent, but whose win production dates to colonial times. David lingers in the vineyards and bodegas, sampling the varieties of Malbec and Argentine food. Farther south, Ruta 40 penetrates the northern reaches of Patagonia, a windswept desert boarded on the west by the incomparable Andes, and massive pre-Andean volcanoes.