Hoeveel Salentein heeft ’t Bockje op voorraad?

Zesentwintig wijnen, van 15,95 tot 110 euro. Daarmee is dit na Laurent Miquel het huis waarvan wij de meeste flessen voeren.

Klopt het dat Salentein Nederlandse wortels heeft?

Ja. Het huis is in 1996 opgericht door de Nederlandse ondernemer Mijndert Pon en is genoemd naar de familieboerderij in Nederland. De familie Pon leidt het bedrijf nog steeds.

Waarom is hoogte zo belangrijk bij deze wijnen?

De wijngaarden liggen tussen 1.050 en 1.700 meter. Daar is de zon overdag fel maar koelt het ’s nachts sterk af, waardoor de druif langzaam rijpt en zijn frisheid houdt.

Wat is het verschil tussen Barrel Selection, Numina en Primus?

Barrel Selection is de kernreeks. Numina komt van geselecteerde percelen en heeft meer diepte. Primus en Gran VU staan aan de top; die laatste wordt alleen in uitzonderlijke jaren gemaakt.

Wat zit er in de proefdozen?

Twee niveaus van dezelfde druif naast elkaar: Barrel Selection met Numina. Zo proeft u direct wat een stap omhoog in de reeks doet.

Welke Salentein kunt u het beste als eerste proberen?

De Barrel Selection Malbec. Dat is de druif waar Argentinië om bekendstaat, en deze fles laat goed zien wat hoogte ermee doet.

Verstuurt ’t Bockje deze wijnen ook naar het buitenland?

Ja. Wij verzenden naar ongeveer veertig landen. Mail info@bockje.nl als u wilt weten of uw land erbij zit.

Wine · Argentina · brand

Salentein. Twenty-six wines.

View all bottles All wine houses

26wines in stock

4types

Argentinacountry of origin

1shop, not a warehouse

Bodega Salentein in the Uco Valley, with the Andes as a backdrop

Founded: 1996, by Mijndert Pon
Region: Uco Valley (Tunuyán), Mendoza, Argentina
Fincas: El Oasis, La Pampa en San Pablo
Vineyards: approximately 800 hectares planted
Bodega architects: Bórmida & Yanzón
Owner: Pon family

Why here

An Argentine house with Dutch roots

Salentein was founded by the Dutch entrepreneur Mijndert Pon and is named after the family farm in the Netherlands. It is now one of the best-known houses in Argentina, and we stock twenty-six of its wines, after Laurent Miquel the largest selection on our shelves.

The two tasting boxes are a nice touch: they contain the same grapes at two levels, Barrel Selection next to Numina. That way you taste in one go exactly what a step up in the range does. If you are not sure which one you need, give us a quick call. That is what we are here for.

About the Salentein wine house

Behind the bottles are two places: a Gelderland estate that gave the name and a bodega on the high plateau of Mendoza. Below, more about the estate in Nijkerk, the three fincas, the cellar that doubles as a concert hall and the Killka art centre.

The white house of Landgoed de Salentein in Nijkerk with towers, reflected in the water

The estate in Nijkerk that gave the name

The name Salentein comes from a country house on the Putterstraatweg in Nijkerk. It began in the sixteenth century as the farmstead Groot Vaneveld. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the farm grew into an estate, and that is when the name Salentein also appeared. Where that name comes from, nobody knows for certain.

The house received its present appearance in 1906. Willem Marcus van Weede, lord of Salentein and De Berencamp, had it rebuilt in neo-medieval style, with battlements and corner towers. The coach house bears a gable stone from 1826, and the arched bridge over the water dates from 1849.

The complex is registered as a national monument, with park, coach house, threshing mill and burial vault. The park is freely accessible, the house is used for receptions and meetings.

Three fincas at three altitudes

Salentein works with three fincas of its own in the Tunuyán department, together accounting for some 800 hectares of vineyard on a much larger estate. Each finca lies at a different altitude, and you can taste that.

El Oasis, near Los Árboles, is the lowest. The grapes get the longest growing season there. La Pampa lies higher up. Here are the bodega, the Killka art centre, the chapel and the posada, the estate's small hotel. San Pablo is the highest and coolest finca, up against the Cordón del Plata mountain range. The area now has its own geographical indication.

In addition, Salentein has a smaller plot in Paraje Altamira. Water comes from Andean meltwater and goes drop by drop to the vines. Green manure has grown between the rows from the start; the vineyards are being converted to organic farming.

The Salentein bodega among the vineyards, with the snow-capped Andes behind it

A cellar in the shape of a cross

The bodega at La Pampa was designed by the Argentine firm Bórmida & Yanzón. From above, the building has the shape of a cross: four wings that meet in a round central space.

The wine moves largely by gravity, so hardly any pumping is needed. The fermentation vats are on the ground floor; below ground are the cellars where the wine matures in French oak.

The heart of the cellar is built like an amphitheatre. A compass rose is set in the stone floor and a grand piano stands next to it. The acoustics are so good that concerts are given twice a year, among the casks.

Mundus Vini 2019 Best Oversea Winery award for Bodegas Salentein

Killka: art with the wine

Visitors to the bodega first enter through Killka. This reception building, completed in 2007 by the same architects, rests on heavy concrete volumes reminiscent of the earth layers of the region. Around a patio with a floor of water lie the exhibition rooms, a restaurant and the hall where the tours begin.

The halls display Argentine art from the second half of the twentieth century, alongside a permanent collection of Dutch painting from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. That way the Dutch side of the story returns in Mendoza too.

The estate also has a stone chapel and a posada with sixteen rooms. In 2019 the German wine competition Mundus Vini named Salentein Best Oversea Winery.