A brief history
CHANDON Argentina, born of Robert-Jean de Vogüé’s original vision, broke ground in 1959 in Mendoza in the Andean foothills. From there, a world of unique sparkling wines opened up.
Robert-Jean de Vogüé with intuition and vision, he sensed that the Champagne region would not be enough to supply everyone around the world with bubbles. That is how, together with Renaud Poirier, they found the perfect place when arriving at the Mendoza desert, in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo. The pure water of the Andes, the temperature amplitude and the soils of more than 1,000 meters high were the perfect conditions to harvest the best grapes.
Baron Bertrand de Ladoucette accepted the challenge of leaving his native France to face this ambitious project: Creating a Sparkling Wine House in Argentina, in the middle of a desert and with practically no resources.
Who would be bold enough to start producing sparkling wines here in 1959? Chandon, of course. This would be the beginning of a relentless desire to reach higher and higher altitudes, in search of terroirs of greater expression and quality.
Renaud Poirier, a prestigious winemaker from the Champagne, fell in love with the place and the magnificent conditions of the terroir: a high-altitude desert where no one planted vines. Together with his disciple, Paul Caraguel, they discovered that altitude was crucial, so the search for even higher and more expressive mountain terroirs was on the move. It would become Chandon's conviction.
