Argentina · Mendoza

Bodega Argento S.A

Mendoza organic Malbec producer farming 485 hectares at the Andean foothills, certified organic across the entire range.

The producer

Bodega Argento is based in Maipú at the Andean foothills of Mendoza's Central Region, with additional vineyards in Alto Agrelo, Ugarteche, and Altamira. The company was established in 1998 and acquired by Alejandro Bulgheroni in 2012, at which point the estate committed to organic and sustainable viticulture across all five of its vineyards. The range carries organic, Fairtrade, and vegan certification on every bottle, with production reaching around 210,000 cases of certified-organic wine annually. The wines centre on Malbec, in two tiers that separate fresh, fruit-forward character from oak-aged depth.

Known for

Certified organic Mendoza Malbec at scale

Notable facts

The story

Bulgheroni's organic pivot

When Alejandro Bulgheroni acquired Bodega Argento in 2012, the estate already had established export markets for its Mendoza Malbec. Bulgheroni set organic and sustainable viticulture as the immediate working premise rather than a long-term goal. The conversion covered all 485 hectares across five estate vineyards, with independent third-party auditors brought in to certify the process. Water treatment systems were installed to recycle cellar washing solutions, energy-saving machinery replaced older equipment, and recycled glass bottles became standard. In September 2021, the parent group joined the Sustainable Wine Roundtable, connecting Argento's practices to a cross-industry global framework. Every bottle leaving the bodega now carries organic, Fairtrade, and vegan certification.

From the atlas

Bodega Argento S.A

Mendoza organic producer based in Maipú, farming 485 hectares toward full organic certification and bottling certified Malbec at a scale few Argentine estates have matched.

At A Glance

RegionMendoza, Argentina
Sub-regionMaipú (Central Region)
Main grapeMalbec
Signature wineEstate Reserve Organic Malbec
Defining featureArgentina's largest certified-organic Malbec operation

The Producer

Bodega Argento is based in Maipú, at the foothills of the Andes in Mendoza's Central Region. The company was established in 1998, and the wines have always centred on Malbec, the grape that anchors Argentine red wine production. What changed in 2012, when industrialist Alejandro Bulgheroni acquired the bodega, was the farming philosophy. Organic conversion became the organising principle across all five of the estate's vineyards, a shift that has made Argento one of the largest producers of certified-organic wine in Argentina. The range now carries organic, Fairtrade, and vegan certification across every bottle.

Place

Maipú sits in the Central Region of Mendoza, where the Andes form a western wall that shapes everything about how the vines ripen. The foothills location gives the vineyards altitude, strong diurnal swings, and the dry air, making organic farming more practicable in Mendoza than in wetter climates: disease pressure is lower, and the grapes can ripen slowly without the chemical interventions that humid regions often require. Argento also farms in Alto Agrelo and Ugarteche in Luján de Cuyo, and in Altamira in the Uco Valley, spreading the estate across meaningfully different elevations and soil profiles within greater Mendoza.

Story

Alejandro Bulgheroni bought Bodega Argento in 2012 and set organic and sustainable viticulture as the explicit mission from that point forward. The conversion across 485 hectares was not a rapid rebranding. It required vineyard-by-vineyard certification work, with Alto Agrelo reaching 231.8 certified organic hectares as one documented milestone along the way. Parallel infrastructure investments followed: a water treatment plant to recycle the alkaline washing solutions used in the cellar, energy-saving machinery across the facility, and a switch to recycled glass bottles. In September 2021, the parent group joined the Sustainable Wine Roundtable, a cross-industry body working to align global sustainability standards, bringing Argento's practices into a wider accountability framework.

Vineyards And Cellar

The estate farms 485 hectares across five vineyard sites, with the organic conversion process underway across the full holding. All wines leaving the bodega carry certified organic, Fairtrade, and vegan status, independently audited by third-party bodies. Annual production reaches approximately 210,000 nine-litre cases of certified organic wine. In the cellar, the Estate Reserve Malbec receives gentle oak ageing, which integrates the fruit and adds a secondary layer to the palate without dominating the wine's character.

Wines

The range is built around two organic Malbec tiers. The Estate Bottled Organic Malbec is the lighter and fresher of the two: mid-bodied, with round tannins and a fruit-forward character; it is the more immediate bottle. The Estate Reserve Organic Malbec sits above it in the range, with oak ageing adding weight and a secondary spice layer to the ripe dark fruit. Both wines carry the same certification stack but differ in how they handle oak and body. The separation between the two tiers is about texture and depth rather than grape or appellation.

In The Glass

The Estate Bottled Malbec opens with aromas of fresh plums, raspberries, cherries, and violet, all forward and clear. On the palate it is mid-bodied with round, velvety tannins and a fresh, clean finish. The Estate Reserve works with darker material: deep purple in the glass, with ripe plums and black cherries on the nose alongside hints of spice. The oak ageing integrates the red fruit into a fuller palate, and the tannins stay soft rather than drying. Both wines reflect Malbec ripened at altitude in dry Andean conditions, where the fruit concentrates without losing freshness.

A Bottle To Understand It

The Estate Bottled Organic Malbec is the place to begin. It is an uncluttered version of what Argento grows: Malbec from certified-organic estate vines, bottled without the oak overlay that defines the Reserve tier. The violet note on the nose is characteristic of Malbec grown at Mendoza's Andean elevations, and the velvety tannins and clean mid-body show the grape without the additional weight that oak ageing introduces. Once the baseline is understood, the Reserve's added depth reads as a deliberate addition rather than a different wine.

Anecdote

When Alejandro Bulgheroni took ownership of Bodega Argento in 2012, the estate already bottled Malbec under the Argento name with established export markets. Bulgheroni redirected the operation from its foundations: organic and sustainable viticulture would not be a future aspiration but the immediate working premise. The conversion covered all 485 hectares across five estate vineyards, with third-party certifiers brought in to audit the process independently rather than self-certifying. By the time the parent group joined the Sustainable Wine Roundtable in September 2021, every bottle leaving the bodega carried organic, Fairtrade, and vegan certification.

Final Word

Bodega Argento bottles certified-organic Mendoza Malbec at a scale that few Argentine estates have reached, with independent certification across every wine in the range.

Sources

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