Share
a Vine
Romance in
"the
next
Napa"
--
San Rafael,
Argentina
Great wines, great times, great adventures...
...all the fun of a vintner's lifestyle without the work...
(and with the added incentive of an 17.24% annual yield)...
Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,
Imagine waking up at the foot of Argentina's mighty Andes--to holiday-blue skies and sun-drenched vineyards as far as your eyes can see. Ripe and luscious, the treasured fruit hangs heavy on the vines, ready at last for plucking.
These grapes are special. Really special. You see, you have a personal stake in the wines this boutique vineyard will produce: magnificently seductive Malbec, classic Cabernet Sauvignon, big, bold Syrah and crisp, buttery Chardonnay.
What's more, these distinguished wines can be bottled under your own private label. An exclusive label that you've designed yourself.
All set for today's great outdoors adventure (followed by a party under a sky full of stars), you've never been so well rested. Now you understand what sheer tranquility means. In today's frantic and increasingly polluted world, it's easy to forget that places like San Rafael in Argentina exist.
No traffic noises on La Vida Buena Estate at night. Only the gentlest whisper of a breeze rustling through the vine leaves...
...only the chink of glasses and the conversational hum of good friends....
....only the sizzle of melt-in-the-mouth steaks, chicken, and lamb on an authentic parrilla, the famous Argentine barbecue grill...
...only the soft hoots of las lechuzas--the tiny "burrowing owls" that make their cave-like nests in the earth.
Now, though, you can hear a few morning sounds. Beyond the apricot grove, a parrot squawks as a neighbor clip-clops by on a sleek chestnut horse. From the vineyards comes a sing-song chatter. As they rose before the break of dawn, the laborers have stopped for a well-earned break.
It all sinks in. This is the day we've all been waiting for--the first day of the grape harvest.
 Your harvest. And it promises to be a vintage.
For me, one of life's greatest pleasures is sitting on the patio with Lief and our friends, enjoying a glass of fine wine. I've often thought this pleasure would be even more enhanced if the wine could come from our own private reserve.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a wine snob or a vintellectual. Fact is, wine writers who use nonsensical language comparisons about leather saddles, toast and freshly mown grass don't impress me.
Yet I do know when a wine tastes good. So I'm not unhappy if I can't detect its supposed accents of "wood smoke, spice box, soy, and pencil lead." (Pencil lead?)
But I'm sure you'll agree, whether you're an expert or a rookie enthusiast, having your own private cache of fine wines is something special. And very different to offering around jug plonk from a cardboard box or a mass-produced supermarket buy.
Of course, it's usually only celebrities and the privileged, wealthy few who ever get to reap the exclusive pleasures of a private wine reserve. But it's always fun to daydream...
...about experiencing the thrill of tasting your own wine as it ages in mammoth oak barrels inside a bodega...
...of getting together with artists and designing a personalized label for your own private reserve of bottles...
...and then serving your own vintage-grown, harvested, aged, and bottled under your own custom label just for you--to suitably impressed dinner guests...
Did I say a daydream? It doesn't have to be.
"I really think this is a win-win project. After meeting Tom and Yvonne, I see that they are really committed, and I look forward to enjoying 'our' (future) wine!"
-- Dirk Ponnet, Belgium
Great times, great wines
You see, I want to bring to your attention an intriguing concept...a unique and very affordable opportunity to have your own vineyard experience in the south of Mendoza, Argentina's most prestigious wine-producing region, home to 70% of the country's wine and 40% of all of the wine produced in South America...
...and to share in the bounty of this vineyard's future production.
 It's a gilt-edged invitation to become part of a select few--to join La Vida Buena Estate's community of wine-growers--an invitation to spend time with fellow wine--lovers and good food-enthusiasts down in San Rafael, Argentina.
This is where our friends Tom and Yvonne Phelan have embarked on a journey of viniculture excellence.
From the grape to the bottle, they want to share the fun, the joy, and yes--the romance--of the whole owning-a-vineyard experience with you, too.
I'm tremendously excited. In a nutshell, Tom and Yvonne have a simple and singular passion--to produce outstandingly good wines that you, too, will enjoy drinking and sharing with friends.
Lief Simon, my husband, caught up with them again a few weeks ago. It took almost a year-and-a-half of dedicated investigation, legwork, and detailed research before Tom and Yvonne purchased their 108 acres in San Rafael.
With views toward the Pre Cordillera de los Andes range, La Vida Buena Estate is set in San Rafael's bucolic countryside. Picture hummingbirds... woodpeckers... wildflowers. Parrots and those little burrowing owls. And not only vineyards, but peach, plum, cherry, and apricot orchards (imagine the sight and smell of the blossoms in spring).
Things are now firing on all cylinders. A great vineyard and winery is always down to team effort. Along with a highly experienced vineyard manager, Tom's team also includes an award-winning agronomist (who designed, planted, and maintained the Mumm's Champagne vineyard in San Rafael) and a Gold Medal-winning enologist (wine-maker). They are preparing to plant 3.5 acres each of Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay, the main grapes of the region.
And they're planting them for your benefit, too. They're turning those "daydreams" I mentioned into a reality.
Your own private reserve of wine?
Of course. I'm not talking about a couple of bottles a month, either. With the start of full production, for the lifetime of your Membership, you will receive 20 cases (240 bottles) of premium Argentine wines each year.
Three red varieties and one white: 60 bottles each of boutique-quality Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chardonnay.
These wines can carry your own private label--imagine the sheer cachet of that!
Can you drink 20 cases of wine each year? Maybe, maybe not.
If not, I can think of lots of ways you could put this special wine to good use. You could give some bottles away as business, birthday, special occasion and celebration gifts for friends and family to treasure. (They're unlikely to forget your generosity when seeing your unique label on a bottle in their wine rack.)
You could create a lasting impression on corporate clients...on friends at dinner parties...even on an old flame.
And, now and then, when you're feeling indulgent, curl up on the couch for a romantic night in with your partner...
...or relax in your favorite chair, with a good book, and pour yourself a glass of your own privately labeled red...
"When I was a teenager, my parents used to take me on holidays to the South of France. For me, vineyards are associated with memories of innocence and childhood.
"Argentina is very European. For me, it is like coming home, but with the added adventure of the unknown.
"I would advise anyone dreaming about vineyards and wine in this part of the world to come down and have a look firsthand. I spent three wonderful days with Tom and Yvonne, touring Mendoza and San Rafael, visiting bodegas and the La Vida Buena property, having interesting conversations and enjoying many glasses of extraordinary wine...all the while making my decision to invest in their boutique vineyard.
"For me it is important that Tom and Yvonne will be living at La Buena Vida themselves. They are building an authentic, beautiful, and cozy community of like-minded people interested in living the good life and still remembering the bottom line."
-- Jacobus Spreeuwenberg, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
$70 a bottle? No kidding
Not long back, a friend told me that the best Argentine wines have icon status--and can retail for as much as $70 a bottle in the States. To be candid, I found this difficult to believe.
Then I went looking. For oenophiles (wine-enthusiasts), Wine Spectator is one of the most prestigious publications on the market. Their experts had been busy tasting, rating, and pricing for December's Argentina Report.
$70 wines? For some bottles of Argentina's finest you'll pay $112...$120...and in one instance, a staggering $150 a bottle for a Malbec.
The sultry diva of Argentine wines, Malbec is the perfect match for succulent steaks from grass-fed cattle. This magnificent red is produced from a grape whose origins spool back over the centuries to France.
Oz Clarke, one of the UK's top wine critics, writes: "Malbec is now a seriously thrilling rising star in the red wine firmament."
If you haven't come across Malbec before, you're in for a treat. In the words of another wine writer, it's the finest red you've never tasted. Although I've never sampled a $70 bottle (much less a $150 bottle), it's no surprise to me that Argentina kept Malbec as its own "private reserve" for so long.
Here's what famed U.S. wine guru and critic Robert Parker says about Malbec:
"Malbec will make it big. By the year 2015, the greatness of Argentine wines made from the Malbec grape will be understood as a given. This French varietal has reached startling heights of quality in Argentina. Both inexpensive, delicious Malbecs and majestic, profoundly complex ones from high elevation vineyards are already being produced, and by 2015 this long-ignored grape's place in the pantheon of noble wines will be guaranteed."
The Next Napa
Business Week has proclaimed Argentina's Mendoza region as "the next Napa." Not that you meet many sexy tango dancers and handsomely mustached gaucho cowboys in the Napa Valley, of course...
But they're right. Starting to make an international name for itself with wine and gastro-tourism, San Rafael has already captured the attention of specialized wine tours.
Yet here among the tranquil comforts of La Vida Buena Estate, you'll get a feel for what Napa was like before the madness arrived...before collectors paid hundreds of dollars a bottle for wines from cult vineyards.
And, indeed, before people paid $150,000 as deposits for Wine Estate Memberships. You'd be surprised how many people long for the chance to get their hands stained purple with grape juice and to avail of exclusive private label wines.
$150,000? That, dear reader, is no exaggeration. If you're signed up to the limited-edition offerings of the Robb Report, you may even have received an invitation for 5-year Membership in one private Napa Valley winery priced at a staggering $600,000.
As I explained, private wine estate Membership is normally a privilege enjoyed only by the fortunate few.
(Not that you'll pay even close to $10,000 to become a Founder Member of La Vida Buena Estate in "the next Napa"--and enjoy your "own" vineyard for the next 23 years.)
 Maybe, as yet, you know little about the Mendoza region, San Rafael, Malbec, or any Argentine wines. But that doesn't mean you've been missing out on a secret known to everyone else on the planet. Until fairly recently, relatively few people--even committed wine-lovers--had a clue that Argentina is the world's fifth-largest wine-producing country.
Even fewer know that three-quarters of Argentina's wine is made in the Mendoza region. The long growing season is marked by sunny, warm, and dry days followed by cool evenings. It's an ideal combination for allowing grapes to ripen slowly and evenly.
The formidable snow-capped peaks of the Andes form a glittering curtain to many vineyards--more than 350,000 glorious green acres of them. All are silvered with a web of irrigation channels that precisely control the water supply.
It's the snow-melt from the Andes that irrigates Mendoza's high-altitude, low-rainfall terrain. When the Spanish first arrived here in the 16th century, they discovered a complex irrigation system already in place. It had been developed by the indigenous Indian people to grow corn and vegetables.
Along with introducing various grape varieties, waves of European immigrants further adapted the ancient irrigation channels. I can't give you precise technical details, but the system ensures optimum growth and protects the grapes from becoming water-logged.
 A few years ago, Wine Spectator called Argentina "the sleeping giant" of the international wine business. The giant has now awoken. The world is catching on fast to just how fabulous Argentine wines can be.
Even so, the locals still tango their way through 95% of the wine grown in their homeland. Thanks to its large population of European immigrants who brought their know-how with them, Argentina has always been a wine-drinking nation.
Released in January this year, the latest report from the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina (INDEC) said that 2007's wine exports had hit US$496m. This was a rise of $111m on the same period in 2006. Exports to the U.S. and Brazil, two of Argentina's main markets, had leapt by 40%.
Crunching the Numbers
I'm not an accountant, that's Lief's expertise. So I got him to look over La Vida Buena Estate's plans and projections. A vine romance down Argentina way is tempting, but does it make financial sense?
Here's what Lief says:
"It's not intended as an investment, but I've worked the numbers...and, frankly, I wouldn't turn up my nose at the returns.
"You could think of it like buying wine futures. As a member of La Vida Buena Estate, you're guaranteeing yourself Argentina wine futures for the rest of your life." (In fact, membership is for 23 years, and you can leave it to your heirs...or even sell it on.)
Let's do the math.
In years three and four, as a Member of La Vida Buena Estate, you'll begin receiving wine. The vineyard will go into full production in year five (by which time the vines will have matured fully). From that time through the lifetime of your Membership, you'll receive 20 cases (240) bottles of wine every year. You'll get five cases each per year of Tom's Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay production.
Using even low-end U.S. prices for Argentine wine, each of those 240 bottles would be worth at least $8, meaning the annual value of your wine would be around $2,000.
But Tom isn't planning (or planting) for low-end. He's working with an award-winning agronomist, a local Gold Medal-winning winery, and a Gold Medal-winning enologist (winemaker) with the objective of producing award-winning vintages that should have a retail value well over $8 a bottle. He's also planning to build his own La Vida Buena Bodega on the property.
Clearly, there's big upside potential here. The value of your wine could, in fact, prove to be twice what I've suggested, or $4,000 a year...or more. Then there's inflation...
Remember that we figured, using even the most conservative estimate of a value of $8 a bottle for your wine, that your Membership in La Vida Buena Estate would be worth around $2,000 a year.
As I've explained, wine production will start in year three...so you're positioned for 20 years of payout...20 years of 20 cases each year.
That means your Membership, according to my most conservative estimate, would be worth $40,000.
However, the current Membership fee is nothing like that. During the Charter Member phase, Membership in La Vida Buena Estate has been priced at $6,450. Tom and Yvonne are preparing to increase this price by $1,000, meaning Membership, starting Oct. 14, will cost $7,450. Right now, though, because you are a Live and Invest Overseas reader, you have one last chance to take advantage of the Charter Member price, even though this opportunity has moved well beyond the launch stage.
(Plus an annual maintenance fee, beginning in year three, of $249, to help cover the costs of running the vineyard, the clubhouse, and the general administration.)
Following through on the math, you see that your projected yield is 17.25% a year...for 23 years.
Again, this isn't an investment. You wouldn't become a Member of La Vida Buena Estate to get rich. But, as a Member, you sure wouldn't turn your nose up at an annual 17.25% yield on your cost of membership. 17.25% a year...for 23 years...
Plus, in addition, you've got the one-week, all-inclusive stay each year at the vineyard clubhouse in San Rafael.
Frankly, to my way of looking at it, this isn't the next best thing to owning your own vineyard in Mendoza. It's better. You don't ever have to worry about planting or harvesting or storing...or anything.
All you have to do is to show up once a year to savor the experience.
Perfect Pairings...and Malbec Jelly, Too
Our reds will be full-bodied with intense, spicy aromas and earthy bouquets typical of the southern regions. They will pair well with traditional Argentinean carnivore favorites.
Our white wines will be dry medium to full bodied allowing us to pair them with pork, as well as chicken, fish, shellfish.
I intend to make every meal a feast to be remembered. The local fare is a gourmand's heaven. With the international presence in the wine country--and so many great wines coming from Mendoza--this winery boom laid the path for creative chefs to breathe new life into existing products. I plan to follow that spirit and use the ingredients that grow nearby, showcasing them in both traditional and modern preparations.
An epicurean delight like Malbec jelly can be served with lamb or grilled beef with black pepper butter. The key is to use as many local ingredients as possible...and there are plenty.
-- Yvonne Phelan
The Good Life
We're both sold. We can't wait to take the kids down to Argentina wine country to show them "our" vines..."our" grapes..."our" vineyard...and to experience our first harvest party.
La Vida Buena means "the good life." It's a select community, limited to only 100Members. As a Founder Member in the vineyard, you'll enjoy not only the wine it produces, but also the property itself.
As a Member of La Vida Buena Estate, you're invited to come visit the vineyard each year if you can. Spend a week, with your family, at the clubhouse Tom is building right next to "your" vineyard.
I'll tell you more about the estancia and its clubhouse in a moment, but I must warn you: This is no place to start a diet.
Good food and wine are an intricate part of Tom and Yvonne's lives--and they share that love with everyone they meet.
As Yvonne says: "We start our day thinking about what we're going to prepare and eat that day ...and to know the best ingredients and highest quality foods are just outside my door sends chills up my spine. For the Members who visit us in our estancia, entertaining them in a grand way will be a pleasure."
But before I run away with myself, I should explain that Membership has nothing to do with the Phelans expecting you to get involved in the grunt work of operating a vineyard. You'll have lots of opportunity to learn and get involved in the wine-making art--but if you're like me, I'd guess it's more the romance aspect of vineyards and wineries that appeals.
Being honest with myself, it's certainly not about the hard labor and day-to-day details that go into making such a venture a success. There's a lot to running a vineyard that many people don't realize...certainly that I didn't realize.
For example, Tom tells me they will plant a rosebush at the end of each row of grapevines. The logic goes that any invading insects will first eat the rose bushes, thus giving advance warning to the vineyard manager.
As workplaces go, the vineyards of San Rafael must be among the world's loveliest...and the combination of vines and roses more than captivates the romantic in me. But doing the spade work to plant rose bushes? I don't think so...
When we come down to Argentina to stay with Tom and Yvonne, I guess I don't want to be tending the estancia's orchards and flower gardens either. And I can imagine Lief's reaction if he thought he was expected to work all week in the "communal" vegetable garden.
Of course, the kids will love picking a few onions, shallots, garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes, etc. Like the fruit orchards, the produce is there for the benefit of all La Vida Buena Estate's Members.
Plus, if you're keen to pick and stomp your own grapes, if you visit at the right time of year, during harvest, it can be arranged...
It won't be play-acting. Unlike in many other parts of the world, the harvest here isn't mechanized. Here the grapes are hand-picked, by laborers from the local community. The only difference from yesteryear is that trucks now haul the grapes to the Winery buying the grapes.
But my point is this. Why work when you could be riding horses...enjoying the vineyard's tranquility...benefiting from spa services as you lie around the swimming pool...relaxing with a good book in a lounge chair on the patio...bird-watching...getting in touch with your inner artist?
In fact, when you're staying here, it might be the ideal time to design your custom wine labels. The Phelans are former art gallery owners and have extended open invitations to their artist and writer friends to drop by. (Tom's vineyard manager is married to an Argentine artist.)
There's so much to do outside the vineyard, too. Venture outside the estate, and you'll find long, romantic vistas and acres of mountains as the backdrop for rafting, horseback riding, hiking, and skiing at Argentina's most exclusive ski resort. Remember, this is the Southern Hemisphere. Our summer is their winter, so you can ski from June to October.
San Rafael itself is a vibrant, old-fashioned town of handsome squares, wide wooded streets, and lots of green spaces. Home to around 130,000 people, it's got a very artistic vibe, drawing poets, painters, and musicians. There's even a Greek-style open-air theater that can seat 10,000 spectators.
If you're here around March, you may want to take in Mendoza City's Vendimia--the region's biggest grape harvest festivval. Attracting 300,000 to 400,000 people, its highlight is the election of the Harvest Reina (queen), chosen from one of Mendoza's 17 counties.
You'll want to cheer on San Rafael's Reina, our local beauty, but the entire event is a fantastic spectacle of folk music, dancers, gaucho's, and carriages. In the evening, the Harvest Queens ride by in a parade of carnival floats. It all ends with a grape-crushing fiesta. The queens join together to crush grapes the old-fashioned way--with their feet.
Your Vineyard Home Away From Home
In South America, the word estancia typically refers to a large estate or cattle ranch. However, please don't go thinking that Tom and Yvonne's estancia will be some form of Dude Ranch.
 Or, as Tom says, anything like the Ponderosa featured in the old TV series, Bonanza. (I certainly can't remember Hoss and the rest of the Cartwrights sipping fine wines and lazing around a swimming pool.)
Like the best traditional Argentine estancias, La Vida Buena Estate will mix rugged gaucho charm with bags of colonial chic and worldly style. High windows, carved doors, wrought ironwork.
Inspired by the plethora of colors and curios she saw while living in Buenos Aires' San Telmo District, Yvonne plans to incorporate a smart fusion of antiques with vibrant colors and textiles in her decorating motif.
I've talked at length with both Tom and Yvonne about the plans for the estancia (4,000 square feet, two stories). You'll have more than ample privacy...and its four guest bedroom suites--with private baths and balconies--will all deliver vineyard and orchard views.
Here's a photo of the proposed estancia style Tom and Yvonne intend. This is an estancia they visited recently. They'll use it as a model for their the La Vida Buena Estancia.
I'm particularly excited about the common area--where we'll all gather after the day's adventures. It will have a great room with a brick walk-in fireplace (in the old days, fireplaces were large enough to roast an ox), a library section, a dining area, a wine-tasting cellar and a media room for those who cannot bear to miss their favorite sports events.
There'll also be a sunken conversation pit for intimate get-togethers. There's nothing retro about conversation pits--they're now highly stylish. As the Wall Street Journal says: "They are showing up in the pads of cutting-edge design-o-philes and artists, as well as in trendy hotels."
From committed food-lovers, you'd expect a state-of-the-art gourmet kitchen. And you'd be right. The Phelans will be bringing in local chefs to conduct cooking classes. I can't think of any better way to discover the perfect pairing for our wines...
Come nightfall, we're all invited to partake of a parilla on the covered patio--while enjoying our own vintages, of course!
Like the long, sunny days, evenings really will be so much fun. Along with grape harvest parties, we'll enjoy musical entertainment--not only local musicians serenading us, but dance instructors to teach us the tango, too!
As I explained, if you happen to visit during the harvest season, you'll be invited (not forced!) to participate hands-on with the picking--and it can be arranged for you to stomp the grapes as well.
At other times of year, you can visit the bodega where the wines are made and learn the fine art of winemaking. Tom and Yvonne stress their goal is to provide a continuing and fun winemaking experience.
With the emphasis on fun, not work.
You know, I think Lief's "conservative estimate" of your Membership of La Vida Buena Estate being worth $40,000 is way too conservative.
For one thing, your week's stay will be on an all-inclusive basis--meals as well as accommodation. Along with flights, the only extras you'll pay for are spa treatments, excursions like hiking, rafting, horseback riding, and, in the winter, skiing, etc.
In March this year, the Wall Street Journal ran an article about Argentine wines. It included a Trip Planner to Mendoza. One of their Places to Stay recommendations was a finca (farm) built around a 5-acre vineyard. Its prices run from $200 to $300 a night. No cases of fine wines included.
I don't need Lief's help with the math here. A week's stay in such a place costs $1,400 to $2,100. Even if prices stayed the same (and that won't happen), you would pay anything from $14,000 to $21,000 to stay for a week over a 10-year period.
Membership of La Vida Buena Estate lasts for 23 years. Your clubhouse with a week's stay every year...your friends...and your own private cache of wine, too.
These wines will give you a taste of Argentina sunshine all year round. Every bottle...every mouthful... expresses the richness of the terrain and its people--a memory of this sultry land of tango and flashing-eyed passions...of the starry night skies of the Southern Cross.
And consider this. A glass or two of red, particularly Malbec, may even benefit your health:
The health benefits of a Mediterranean-style diet washed down with red wine are well-documented. And, when accompanied by red wine, France's love of foie gras, soft cheeses, and meats in cream-based sauces doesn't appear to be overly detrimental to bodily well-being.
The Red Wine Diet is a new book by Roger Corder, cardiovascular expert and professor of experimental therapeutics at London's William Harvey Research Institute. Corder puts some of the secrets of a healthy heart down to a polyphenol called procyanidin. (Polyphenols are the cocktail of chemicals that occur naturally in red wine.)
Some reds have more procyanadin than others--grape variety, soil type and winemaking style all make a difference. After analyzing numerous reds, Corder concludes that wines with the highest procyanadin concentrations are made from Tannat grapes (southwest France and Sardinia)...
...and Malbec grapes from Argentina.
Be with Tom and Yvonne Step-by-Step
Maybe you're wondering how our friends the Phelans came to own a boutique vineyard in this part of Argentina...to take the initial steps on the road to becoming great winemakers.
 Truth is, it was a natural step. Alongside their love of art, Tom and Yvonne have been involved in the food and hospitality business for years--owning a deli then a restaurant. Being ex-Californians, they were there when Napa Valley took off. Yvonne has lived in France (can you imagine a better place to start a wine education?), and their daughter graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
If you heard their inspiring story in person, you'll understand why I want to share in their dream.
Tom and Yvonne describe themselves as "senior adolescents." Having sold the nest and everything in it (except what they wanted to put into storage), they moved to Argentina, renting an apartment in Buenos Aires while seeking out the perfect place for their vineyard. Putting in miles of legwork, they traveled to various places, Mendoza being one of them.
"We were pretty sold on Mendoza," says Yvonne. "That's until we visited a friend in San Rafael who had bought a bodega. Then, there was no comparison...
"If you want to lose yourself in the romance of becoming a winemaker, then you need to go where you truly feel you are part of a community. The San Rafael community is a gracious and hospitable group of people, anxious to help foreigners through the transition of doing business and living in their town...
"We know we have their support and enthusiasm."
 Lief and I already know we'll be among friends--part of a very select group of like-minded people who share a passion for great wines, gourmet victuals, and the romance of Argentina itself.
And as a Member of La Vida Buena Estate, so will you.
As I explained, it's still early days, and this is Year One of operations. We all have to wait until nature does its part.
So, just to recap...
Four premium wines will be produced--three reds, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, and one white, Chardonnay. Because grapevines require nurturing and time to mature before they start to produce their grapes, here is what you can expect:
Year #1: Grapevines maturing (no wine distribution)
Year #2: Grapevines maturing (no wine distribution)
Year #3: A modest wine distribution (15% - 25% of year 5)
Year #4: A respectable wine distribution (25% - 40% of year 5)
Year #5: 100% wine distribution (240 x 750ml bottles)
Years #6 to 23: 100% wine distribution (240 x 750ml bottles)
Membership benefits of La Vida Buena Estate include:
- 240 bottles of wine shipped FREE to your residence or business doorstep at year five and each year thereafter...
- Private wine labeling (additional cost--you provide the design). All wine delivered to Members can have (at no cost) a La Vida Buena Estate wine label...
- After year three, a FREE one-week, all-inclusive stay at La Vida Buena Estate's Estancia each year with private suite and bathroom. (The second-story balconies and terraces overlook the vineyards and the park-like setting surrounded by an apricot grove. Variety of fruit and citrus trees plus vegetable gardens with large patio for the traditional parilla and a sparkling pool for your enjoyment.)...
- 24/7 groundskeeper and vineyard maintenance worker...
- Bi-monthly e-mail progress reports and pictures on the status of "your" vineyards...
- Newsletter keeping you abreast of vineyard activities and the Argentine wine world...
Right now, through Oct. 14, for Live and Invest Overseas readers only, Membership of La Vida Buena Estate costs $6,450 and runs for 23 years. Annual Wine Estate Association Dues of $249 begin the third year and will be used to help maintain the producing vineyard, grounds, and Members' clubhouse.
How much do special custom labels cost? Not a lot, not unless you insist on things like gold leafing and your face embossed on the label!
You can submit the artwork to the Phelans (they will provide the parameters, size, and details of what must be on the label, such as country of origin, alcohol content, etc.).
Having labels made in Argentina and placed on the bottles in San Rafael is usually far cheaper than in the States. For example, a modest custom-designed label might run 10 to 20 cents apiece, plus an extra 10 cents to have it hand-applied--ergo, 240 bottles with custom labels might cost an additional 30 cents per bottle, or $72. No big deal.
By being with Tom and Yvonne from the very beginning (even if not physically in Argentina with them!), you'll be kept abreast of all facets of the project. You'll also get updated video coverage as they breathe life into the vineyard and the estancia.
In short, you'll have a hands-on experience from the start. You'll feel you are right there with them as you are introduced via camera to all the people playing a part in your stake in San Rafael's La Vida Buena Estate.
In fact, you'll feel it's "your" vineyard immediately. And when we raise a glass to celebrate our first harvest, you, too, will feel as if you have truly been there...right from the day the first vine burst into glorious leaf.
I do hope you can join us on this grand Argentine adventure. If you need any more details, Tom and Yvonne Phelan can answer your questions. Reach them at TomandYvonne@LiveandInvestOverseas.com or click here to reach them now.
Yours Sincerely,
Kathleen Peddicord
P.S. Membership is strictly limited for obvious reasons. As of this writing, only 11 La Vida Buena Estate Memberships remain available. Don't take too long in making up your mind.
If you share our wine-loving interests, I'd hate for you to miss out on what truly is the chance of a lifetime.
P.P.S. Remember, this is your last chance to participate in this wine-lover’s dream at the under-valued Charter Member pricing. In addition, Tom is making it possible for Live and Invest Overseas readers also to take advantage of very appealing payment terms. Become a Member today at the Charter Member rate, then pay for your Membership over 12 months, interest free. Tom will give you all the details when you get in touch. Reach him here.
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