Bodegas Salentein: how a Dutch family seized opportunity in Argentina
The story behind one of the (many) iconic vineyards in Argentina
Welcome Avatar! With the very likely opening up of the Argentine economy under the new president, it’s a great time to start highlighting some of the most important families and entrepreneurs in the country and how they made bank despite very adverse market conditions. Today we’ll discuss some of my compatriots: a Dutch family that seized an epic opportunity at the brink of one of the country’s previous biggest crises.
Mijndert Pon
Dutch national Mijndert Pon moved to Argentina in the 1990s, starting out with a livestock and cereals enterprise in 3 provinces: Entre Ríos, the Province of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, after purchasing a total of 100,000 hectares.
That company was called Salentein Farming and it was the kickstart for more businesses, like the one that would make Salentein famous: wine.
In 1995 he arrived in Mendoza and close contacts convinced him that he should invest in the Uco Valley. In that same year he bought the first vineyards.
Back then, very few investors were fully betting on that terroir that would be the future of Argentine viticulture and Mijndert was definitely a pioneer in that regard. It was about a decade before Argentina’s international fame for its household Malbec grape.
They began to plant vines and three years later in 1998 the Salentein winery building was built to make the wines, with a 10 meter deep underground cellar to store the wine aging in French oak barrels.
Autist Note: if you’re visiting Mendoza, visiting both Salentein and Catena Zapata (voted best vineyard in the world) is a must. Both give tours and you can have a great lunch at the restaurant on the premises.
Bodegas Salentein
The name Salentein is the same name that has a mansion and estate located in the city of Nijkerk, in the heart of Holland. It was built in the 18th century and, as explained by the winery, in 1980 it became the property of the Pon family.
They did consider a different name “Salentino” for the winery (a combination of Salentein and Argentino), but this turned out to be an Italian wine brand that was registered in many countries, which made it impossible to market that brand internationally.
This clashed with Mijndert’s vision of making world-class wines in the Uco Valley to export them to the largest number of countries in the world.
Mendoza has a dry climate, so 15 million dollars were invested in irrigation systems, a more than impressive figure since Mijndert started out with 2,000 hectares of which just over 700 have vineyards already planted.
Keeping it in the Fam
Mijndert’s long-term vision and his comprehensive view were key in the transformation of the Uco Valley and Salentein wines.
With Mijndert's death in 2014 at 82 years old, his daughter Frederike Pon took over the company and its shareholdings, together with her siblings.
They added another step in deepening the professionalizing of the winery, maintaining the long-term vision that characterizes the Pon family.
This family vision based on passion for work, love for Argentina and commitment to its people, years later made Valle de Uco the most recognized wine region in the country in the world.
In the Netherlands the family also promotes its love for Argentina, with a restaurant at the Salentein estate:
“We set up a restaurant dedicated to fires, where Argentine Angus is served with chimichurri.
The best thing is that we import KDS knives, originally from Tupungato, to serve the meat as tradition dictates. Whoever comes to our mansion in Holland breathes Argentina everywhere. We talk about the Pampas, mate, polo and we have an Argentine chef.”
Final Thoughts
Learning more about Mijndert Pon, it’s clear he was a real visionary to get into the wine business in Argentina when he did, because it was well before the Malbec boom that started in the early 2000s.
The care and effort that went into making Bodegas Salentein a very successful winery, which is a very hard thing to pull off, required a lot of hard work and persistence. Especially in a boom and bust economy like Argentina.
But Bodegas Salentein rode the waves and grew exponentially. It exports half of its production to more than 40 countries, and expanded into other provinces as well.
They are also owners of Bodegas Callia in San Juan, a very successful winery whose Syrah is internationally recognized, which is treated as a separate business unit. Both Salentein and Callia have their own strength and personality and employ more than 400 people in Argentina.
See you in the Jungle, anon!
land-wise for owning horses, which province would you say has the best laws for an Expat?
Interesting! Is this the wine that you were drinking with Lucho, Mara? Very interesting reading the story behind it.