The viticulture is definitely a long term business. The decision to inject a dollar into Argentine soil will not end up being defined by the price of the dollar today or by the inflation data from last month. Those behind the wine business always look to the long term, the very long term, especially when it comes to financially sustainable projects.
When the business plan is built on these bases, what they prioritize is the quality. And reaching high levels of quality implies, precisely, timea variable that goes beyond the current value of the currency in the City of Buenos Aires.
It is always interesting and it can even be striking to see that a company invests in a very complex context for the economy. For this reason, when analyzing how a sector works, in this case the wine sector, it is important to do so by putting the long term factor.
She is embarked on that same plan Bodegas Salente which, as part of the celebration of its 25th harvest, is advancing with a ambitious business strategy what consolidates it as the most active in all Valle de Uco.
The winery, which until 2021 had 850 planted hectares, just exceeded 1,000 hectaresconsidering the vineyards it owns in the areas of Los Árboles, Paraje Altamira, La Consulta and the terroir where today they are referents: Saint Paulwhich since 2019 was recognized as a Geographical Indication by the INV.
Using grapes from these vineyards, the winery makes its high-end wines, its Salentein and Alyda van Salentein sparkling wines, the Killka brand of young wines, and some Portillo labels.
Bodegas Salentein is exploiting the highest part of the IG San Pablo
“Since 2020 we have been planting 80 hectares per year and in the next two years we will reach the 1,160 hectares“, he highlighted to iProfessional Matías Bauzá, PR & marketing manager Luxury Wines, who added that they are investing at a rate of US$2 million a year in new plantations, thus totaling a disbursement of US$8 million until 2023, only considering the expansion of new vineyards. In this way, Salentein is consolidated as the winery with the largest area in the entire Uco Valley.
It should be noted that Salentein has been betting heavily on the GI San Pabloone of the most interesting terroirs in Uco, which starts at 1,200 meters above sea level and reaches 1,700 meters, the “peak” where agronomists and oenologists are beginning to think about the winery’s future wines, through from soils with a high gypsum content, scarce and very unique.
More white wines
An interesting fact: when analyzing how the mix of vineyards is distributed, from Salentein they explained that currently, 780 hectares are of red varieties, while the remaining 220 correspond to white.
Bodegas Salentein is planting vineyards at a rate of 80 hectares per year
Now, a good part of the expansion of the surface is destined to white varieties such as Semillón, Albariño and Riesling. In fact, Bauzá assures that “in the highest area of São Paulo “there is great potential to make a world-class Riesling.”
In addition, Bauzá stated that Salentein is making strong progress in the expansion of its sparkling wine business: “Since 2021, 50% of the new plantings have been for varieties for sparkling wines: Chardonnay y Pinot Noir“.
“The demand for this category is growing, and in order to continue guaranteeing the highest quality for lovers of our labels, we have made a strong commitment to the growth of these two varieties,” he concluded.
Strong commitment to organic wines
A key point is that the winery is also advancing towards a increasingly sustainable viticulture: They currently have 19 hectares free of agrochemicals in their vineyards in San Pablo, which are added to another 10 hectares in Altamira and 39 in Consulta, totaling some 68 hectares.
The winery will invest up to 2023 a total of US$8 million only in the expansion of vineyards
“We believe that in the export business it will have a positive impact and in the not too distant future it will be largely key, especially in the premium and high-end lines,” explains Bauzá about the commitment to organic.
However, he prefers to talk about a work philosophy, rather than an opportunity to export more: “In Salentein, sustainability was always a pillar. The organic certification of several of our best vineyards was a natural step that would come as part of a work philosophy and not just to produce an organic product,” he added.
