Get to know:Benegas Estate Malbec

Tasting Note

Floral and mineral aromatics typical of this area mingle with impressive black & red fruit (blackberry, plum, raspberry) concentration in a wine that is big and polished, but ultimately fresh and very finely judged with just 6 months in second use French oak barrels. A lovely, big, decadent bottle of Malbec for sharing; or keeping for a few years.

Try this with roast lamb or beef.

Kate Says

“All you would expect from a big Malbec and more. Big intense fruit of course, but there’s depth and breadth too and really good freshness throughout. It can age for a few years if you can resist it.”

Producer Info

Benegas is one of the great true stories of the wine world, a slice of living history no less, and with Gisella Garrido and Maria Alvarez in the winemakers team at the helm day-to-day, the future looks very bright indeed.

Federico Benegas Lynch was raised at El Trapiche, a winery established in 1883 by his great, great grandfather, Don Tiburcio Benegas, one of the original pioneers of Argentine wine. The winery was finally sold in the 1970s and in 1998, following a successful business career in Buenos Aires, Federico returned to Mendoza to re-kindle his lifelong passion and professional destiny, wine. He bought Finca La Libertad, an historic 40-hectare vineyard with soils of stone on the old Upper Mendoza riverbank in Cruz de Piedra, and the old winery that belonged to his mothers family which he quickly set about refurbishing. His idea was based on the traditional French Chteaux system, where proprietorship of vineyard and winery are inextricably linked.

Today Bodega Benegas itself is a marvel, a real treat for the visitor, a sort of hybrid between a museum and a welcoming family home with extensive underground cellars where archive vintages are kept, and upstairs one of the most impressive dining rooms you can imagine (with legendary asado to match if youre lucky).