Two new wineries to open in Argentina

In Argentina Roberto Luka and Manuel Gallardo, former General Mangers of the wineries Finca Flichman and Seagram have decided to open their own respective wineries in Mendoza province, Argentina.

Luka said that last year they had their first harvest and started to sell their grape production to other wineries. But now, Luka plans to start the production of his own wine. For this he associated with another three local businessmen and together they invested Pesos$4 million (€1.2m) to start the construction of a new winery in Mendoza province.

The new company is called Finca Sophenia, and more than 90 per cent of its production will be exported, mainly to England. Initially this winery will have a production capacity of 300,000 litres annually, to be increased to 450,000 litres in the future.

Manuel Gallardo has also decided to open its own winery. Two years ago, he acquired land and a small winery in Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza province. The new firm is called Filippo Figari and the investment in this project is around Pesos$1mil. The company's goal is to turn over nearly Pesos$500,000 in the internal market in the first year of operations, and export more than 80 per cent of its production in the future.