Bodegas Vistalba

Bodega Vistalba, founded by Carlos Pulenta, goes into a life story that is the most important reference when it comes to assessing the excellence of its wines.

The descendant of an Italian family, Carlos Pulenta is the oldest son of Don Antonio Pulenta, one of the founders of the Bodega Peñaflor, 80 years ago, which endured until 1997, when it was sold. Bodega Vistalba was built between 2001 and 2004 in a family-owned land at the heart of Vistalba (Luján de Cuyo). This is where Carlos Pulenta developed his personal viticulture project, involving members of his family, consultants, enologists and a valuable group of people who really know this land.

The winery is inspired in the Creole culture, resorting to cutting-edge technology and paying homage to traditional wine-making. It has been designed so that the entire winemaking process is completed using gravity and without pumps. The first wines were produced in the year 2003, and they were first placed on the market in the year 2005. Today, our wines are sold in more than 20 countries.

In 2009 Alejandro Bulgheroni, connected to the agroindustry sector through several projects since the year 1999, began his participation in Bodega Vistalba, working with Carlos toward a common goal: “producing top-quality wines of world renown, with a marked identity and personality”.

Finca Don Antonio Valle de Uco / This land is located 135 km southwest of the city of Mendoza, 1,169 meters above sea level.

This property has an area of 402 ha, out of which 342 ha are planted with vines and 8 ha with walnut trees. The first vines were planted more than 40 years ago. Most of the water used is meltwater, as the land has irrigation rights, which is complemented by well water in moments of high water consumption due to evapotranspiration.

The land has a slope of 3%, which allows the mass of cold air to flow towards colder areas, avoiding climatic damage caused by frost.

The soils are alluvial terraces, which are young and formed by pebbles in depth, outcropping in certain areas. The soil is light and has excellent drainage properties and a loamy sand texture. There is an excellent balance among air, soil and water. Poor in nitrogen and organic matter. As far as soil management is concerned, a pasture intercropping is carried out, in order to increase the organic matter, improve the structure and create more permeable, balanced and “alive” soils. The watering system is trickle irrigation. Thus, a uniform distribution of water is achieved, as well as a strict control of vigor, which makes it possible to obtain smaller, more concentrated berries.

In the espaliers, different varieties grow, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Sémillon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noire, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Viognier. The broad temperature range and the permanent breeze confer on this land outstanding characteristics to obtain wines of unsurpassable qualities.

Finca Vistalba Lujan de Cuyo / This land is located in the Luján de Cuyo province, within the Vistalba district, 2 km southwest of the main city, Mendoza. Set at the foot of the Cordón del Plata, 980 meters above sea level.

The land comprises 50 hectares of vineyards planted with Malbec, Cabernet, Sauvignon and Bonarda vines of more than 70 years of age, with a density of six thousand vines per hectare. The traditional cultivation of the vine is reflected in each corner of the land. With traditional furrow watering and long pruning, just as vine growing was done 100 years ago. Due to its temperature range and the rough characteristics of the land, it is Malbec’s preferred home.

It has heterogeneous sedimentary alluvial soils, clay loam, and pebble subsoil with good drainage that allows roots to explore three to four meters in depth looking for minerals. Layers of different textures and structures may be seen, in accordance with the different geomorphological stages and the agriculture over many years.

A pasture intercropping is carried out, as well as deep ploughing for preserving the organic matter. Apart from externally adding wine by-products such as stalks and marcs, goat manure is added in the rows between vines in areas whose fertility is reduced. No herbicide is used in the row, in order to favor the development of microorganisms in the soil. This improves infiltration and water retention in the soil, apart from ventilating and improving the general characteristics of the substrate.

Our winery was a pioneer in using concrete again as the material to build our vessels, just like it was done years ago. We believe that this is a noble material with great advantages such as its thermic stability and semipermeability to gases. The basins have a temperature control system integrated into its structure, an exclusive design for making red wine.

The winery has a room to store barrels located in the cellar, with an avant-garde design that manages to maintain the ideal temperature without losing its natural humidity, which is extremely important in this process. During this stage, devattings are carried out, with the aim of separating the lees and thus achieving a natural limpidity in the wines.

The wine is bottled under very strict cleanliness conditions and avoiding contact with air, thus protecting its bouquet and leaving it in its best condition for the final stage. We have an underground wine cellar with controlled temperature and a capacity for more than 400,000 bottles.