There are projects that are born only to sell and others that are built around a way of looking at the world. Huentala Group belongs to the second category. What began as a company linked to the financial and fintech sectors was transformed, with the help of Julio Camsen, into an ecosystem where hospitality, gastronomy, art, tourism and wine coexist. Today the group has three hotels in Mendoza, located at kilometer zero of the city, connected to each other; several restaurants, including La Cabrera, whose Mendoza headquarters is among the three best in the world, and Rastro, the gastronomic proposal of Huentala Winesa winery with an exceptional terroir that has just put Argentina back on the international map.
Awarded
Thirteen years after making its first wine, Huentala Wines became the Argentine winery with the most awards in blind tasting competitions. In the 2026 edition of the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in Londonone of the most prestigious and rigorous competitions in the world of wine, two of its labels achieved extraordinary results: Huentala Calizo Albar Block 06 2023 obtained 97 points and Gran Sombrero Malbec 2024, 96.
“These contests are very competitive because they are 100% blind and there are many cups with which to compete to reach. What surprises us most is Gran Sombrero: 96 points for a wine of 23,000 pesos (15 dollars), it does not exist in the world,” says Julio Camsen. Gran Sombrero undoubtedly defies the logic of great wines associated exclusively with high prices.
But this is not an isolated achievement. In 2021, 2023 and 2025 the winery also obtained important recognitions in the same competition, a regularity that speaks less of a surprise and more of a path traveled.
a visionary
Although his professional training was not developed within the world of wine, Julio Camsen found in him a life project. In 2002, when Gualtallary was just beginning to emerge as a privileged area, he found a virgin land at 1,400 meters and marked it with the condition of finding water. They found her. And that decision ended up being the starting point for everything that came after, including these important awards.
“They are the achievements that give us strength because the wine business is not a profitable business, it is a passionate business – says Camsen -. We make a product by dint of passion and love for wine.”
The phrase is not a slogan. It is enough to walk through the project to understand that the winery was never thought of in isolation. Wine is the center, but a much broader proposal revolves around it that includes hospitality, gastronomy, art and experiences..
According to those behind these achievements, International results not only depend on the oenological team, but also on a unique combination of altitude, soil and geographical location. “We have the family garden right there and the vegetables have an exuberant color and aroma. And the same thing happens with the grapes. That height and that conformation of the soils are a perfect combo for these ‘bombs’ to come out, with an explosive violet color,” says Camsen.
Based on a soil study, they prepared a detailed map of the vineyard and defined three main profiles: completely sandy sectors, others with a surface layer of sand and a bottom of stones covered with calcium carbonate and small “islands” of “explosions” of calcareous rock, with enormous mineral concentration. From these differences, wines with different profiles are born: Gran Sombrero comes from the second type of soil, which is the most productive sector; while Calizo arises from those small exceptional islands that require almost artisanal work.
Interpretive oenology
Translating that landscape into a bottle is the job of winemaker José “Pepe” Morales. “Malbec is a translator of terroir. It is the one that most notices the differences: if we change some condition, the way it expresses itself changes. That doesn’t happen as much with other strains,” says Morales.
At Huentala they practice interpretive oenology: they do not seek to impose a recipe but rather read each harvest and adapt to it. Morales’ most important decision is defining when to harvest. At 1,400 meters above sea level, the climate changes constantly and requires constant observation. “2026 was one of the best harvests of the last 20 years. There was sun, rain, humidity, cold, snow and frost throughout the province. When we harvested it was very sunny and that rounded out the grapes. It gave it a wonderful flavor,” says the winemaker.
In the heart of Mendoza, The Curio Collection by Hilton is home to a rarity: an experimental winery where guests can participate in the wine-making process from grapes from Gualtallary. There they produced Serie Urbana, a special edition of three bottles that will go on the market in August, composed of wines made from the same base, but aged in different materials: wood, concrete and clay. The proposal invites you to uncork the three bottles together and discover how a wine changes depending on where it was raised.
Gastronomy and art
Next to the wonderful La Isabel Estate in Gualtallary, in Valle de Uco, the wine experience expands at Rastro by Huentala Wines. More than a restaurant, it is a cultural project whose cuisine, created with the advice of the chef Sebastián Weigandt – winner of a Michelin star for his Azafrán project– is inspired by products and recipes inherited from the different immigration currents that built Argentina.
The complete menu with wines is one of the most accessible in the region and those who stay in the group’s hotels have free transportation to enjoy the experience.
“The tourism that is coming to Mendoza today is more selective, it is in search of experience,” says Camsen. The response to this new demand shines throughout the farm.
Since 2019, the winery has had an open-air sculpture park. There coexists a monumental work dedicated to the foxes of the region, the ant “Perspectives”, a nine-ton piece that reflects on the human dimension and collective work, created by Orlando Leytes; and Sonitus Huentala, the interactive work by artist Daniel Papaleo that responds to the voices of visitors.
Everything converges in The Isabel Estate: the strength of the terroir, the precision of oenology and a particular way of understanding wine as an art form. Because in Huentala wine was never just a drink. From the beginning, it was a passion turned into a project.
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