In the middle of the 90’s, Ward Lay, a North American decided to invest in Argentina, a country and its people that he admired greatly. Lay stemmed from a family who had great knowledge of the consumer market as his father was the founder of Frito-Lay and prior to that, president of PepsiCo. With access to resources and experience to make his venture a success, Ward Lay ventured in the world of wine. And thus Andeluna was conceived in 2003 along with learned people in the trade, in this case the Reina Rutini Family who were partners initially. The venture was housed in the best winelands in Argentina, in the Uco-Gualtallary Valley with international wine expert Michel Rolland heading up the project.
In October, 2011, Ward Lay passed away. The wine estate, however, continued to be managed by a dedicated and professional team who were committed to the same excellence as their founder. Lay’s heirs, at his request, decided to transfer his assets to people who were dedicated to his ideals and principles. The Barale family from the energy sector in Brazil as well as the wine sector in Argentina became the likely heirs. And within a short space of time, the Barale family took over the running of Andeluna.
The Barale family took over the running of the business and placed a strong focus on the human side as well as on the investments necessary for the wine estate and the cellars. The estate’s current objectives are to preserve the infrastructure necessary to produce wines of excellence as well as maintaining its image, along the lines laid down by Andeluna’s founders, maintaining its ideas and its inalterable principles.
Today Andeluna is a consolidated group. The estate has two areas of production: the first, and most important, is situated in Gualtallary, 10km from the town of Tupungato in the Uco Valley in the province of Mendoza while the second is close to Villa Atuel in the south of the same province with a bottling capacity of 2.300.000 liters. Andeluna is firmly rooted in Argentina as well as in 30 markets abroad with the firm conviction to being a reference to quality wine, locally as well as internationally. The wine estate in Mendoza is also a sought-after tourist destination within the province of Mendoza.