In 1883, the great-grandfather of Federico Benegas Lynch, Don Tiburcio Benegas founded the winery "El Trapiche". Faced with the economic crisis in the province, which was a producer of alfalfa and wheat, Don Tiburcio had the vision that Mendoza should become a great producer of fine wines of worldwide fame. Until that time during the nineteenth century, only between 500 and 2,000 hectares of vineyards had been planted. He did not only focus on his personal project, but also encouraged other producers to incorporate new techniques and plant fine varieties by distributing the vine cuttings that had been brought from France to anyone who wanted to grow wine in the province. As a result, Don Tiburcio became one of the most prominent personalities of 19th century American viticulture together with Agoston Haraszthy in California and Silvestre Ochagavia in Chile. At the beginning of the 70’s when the Argentine wine industry was immersed in a crisis, the shareholders who controlled the family business of Benegas Hnos. decided to dissolve the El Trapiche winery, disposing of its assets separately, including its brands, demolishing the winery and selling off the vineyards in smaller lots. Federico grew up accompanying his father who was the winemaker in El Trapiche. Following the dissolution of the company, he moved to Buenos Aires. However, his passion for Mendoza and for winemaking led him to return in a search to recover the family legacy. This is how in 1999 he had the opportunity to buy Finca Libertad, an old vineyard first planted by his great-grandfather Don Tiburcio, which was the basis of the project to return to producing high-end wines - the BENEGAS wines. Two years later he bought an old winery located in Luján de Cuyo, which he completely restored respecting the 19th century architecture and incorporating the most up-to-date technology. In 2000, the first harvest was made and sold under the name of Benegas wines.
