Bodega Benegas

The Benegas Family deeeply linked to the wine industry development in Argentina. Don Tiburcio Benegas was the descendant of an illustrious Argentine family. The Treaty of Benegas, signed in 1820 at his grandfather’s farm, was the first Independence War’s peace agreement between the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe. He was twice National Senator, three times Governor of the Province of Mendoza and two times Argentine Ambassador to Chile. Don Tiburcio Benegas was also a pioneer of the wine industry: he promoted Mendoza’s irrigation system; enacted the water law; he crossed the Andes Mountains on mule looking for vine cuttings in Chile; then traveled to France looking for French varieties; he wrote an essay on white and red varieties, and was instrumental in the building of the first dam in Mendoza.

Don Tiburcio’s father in law Eusebio Blanco, was not only a constituent for Mendoza in the Constitution of 1853 but also instrumental in French Agronomist Michel Pouget’s arrival to Mendoza. Pouget founded the Quinta Normal de Mendoza and was crucial to the emerging Argentine wine industry. Eusebio Blanco’s love for viticulture inspired Don Tiburcio.

In 1883 Don Tiburcio founded El Trapiche Winery. Tiburcio Benegas was one of the three pillars of the wine industry in the Americas, together with Silvestre Ochagavía Errázuriz in Chile and the Hungarian Agoston Haraszthy in California.

In 1970, El Trapiche and all its assets, including the brands were sold. However, they did not sell their surname, preserving the Benegas’ name through the generations.

The 4th generation of winemakers, Federico Benegas Lynch, was born and raised in the El Trapiche winery until it was sold. Under the guidance of Angel Mendoza, Trapiche’s head winemaker, Federico Benegas Lynch repurchased in 1999 the old vineyard Finca Libertad that had belonged to his family, and was planted by Don Tiburcio. Federico’s mother then gifts him with the Benegas brand.

In 2000 Federico Benegas Lynch buys a 19th century winery, and rebuild it, adding state of the art technology while keeping the history in the walls and pools.