The outdoor celebrations became the ideal excuse to tie the knot with your feet in the vineyard.
Wine tourism and the passion for wine have recently turned weddings in wineries into one of the most avant-garde trends in wedding celebrations. Not only do they offer the possibility of a totally different party, but also the guests are guaranteed to have the best postcards framed in dreamy landscapes.
1. Bodega Renacer
"At Bodega Renacer we have a dream setting to organise weddings and the team designs unforgettable tailor-made experiences ranging from intimate celebrations for 35 people to large parties for 400 people," says María Marta Guisasola, marketing manager of the winery located in Luján de Cuyo (Mendoza), who adds that the great differential of Renacer is, "besides the turnkey service, the architecture, landscaping and gardens, since getting married at the winery is like getting married in Tuscany". Such an affirmation has different endorsements since this winery was awarded with the Gold mention in the Small Wineries category of the Best of Mendoza's Wine Tourism 2016 awards, winner of Gold in the Best of Wine Tourism 2017 in the Innovative Experiences category and recently awarded with a silver medal for its restaurant according to the Best of Mendoza's Wine Tourism 2021.
2. Bodega Agrestis
In General Roca, in the Alto Valle de Río Negro, there is a winery that has a huge green esplanade next to the vineyard that Florencia Ghirardelli, director of events and wine tourism at Bodega Agrestis, could not pass up to organise parties, her own wedding and, of course, weddings for the whole city. "Twenty years ago, when the visits started, the first thing we added at the request of the people were birthday parties. And then on a trip to Italy to visit wineries I met a couple in the vineyard and they told me that they were celebrating a wedding. As soon as I got back I proposed it to the family and as they only cared about the sparkling wines of the winery, I sold them the concept, as it was the ideal excuse for our sparkling wines to be present at weddings" recalls Ghirardelli, who proudly explains that they usually have a minimum of twelve weddings a year, taking advantage of "the boom in sparkling wine consumption throughout the year and its deseasonalisation so that they are only enjoyed at the end of the year celebrations".
With so many celebrations under his belt, remembering "the" anecdote was a bit complex for him, but with a laugh, he reminisces and goes back to the day of his own wedding in which all the records were broken (with 240 guests, 240 bottles of sparkling wine were drunk, plus wines and drinks...) and at the end of the party, a friend had disappeared. "There was no one left in the bodega and Agustín didn't show up, so we assumed he had gone to the hotel on his own. But early the next day, as I got married in the middle of summer and grape harvest, when the harvesters arrived they noticed that among the rows of the vineyard there was someone sleeping and there was Agustín, the missing friend" laughingly recalls Ghirardelli who adds that their differential as wedding planners is to solve absolutely all the details of a party and "obviously to have the wines and sparkling wines of the winery available during the whole party without any kind of limit".
3. Bodega Familia Schroeder
Also in Patagonia, in the neighbouring province of San Patricio del Chañar, Neuquén, Lucía Irazusta, marketing manager of Bodega Familia Schroeder, says that "the idea of the founder Herman Schroeder since the beginning of the construction of the winery was to accompany the guests in the most important moments of their lives and that they could enjoy the wonderful views that the restaurant offers towards the vineyard". So, following this premise, the organisation of weddings was an obligatory celebration for them, who, taking advantage of the versatility of the place, offer different options for different types of brides and grooms.
"Every detail is adapted to the ideas you have so that your wedding day turns out as you had dreamed it", summarises Irazusta, who underlines that one of the differentials of the place is undoubtedly the combination of its wines and the gastronomy of Saurus, the winery's restaurant run by chef Ezequiel González, a specialist in regional gastronomy. In addition to "the landscape and the incredible views that the estate offers us both during the day and at sunset, which undoubtedly ensure an unforgettable moment". Curiously, the winery is not only the centre of the wedding celebrations but also of the wedding proposals, many of them surprises, in complicity with the winery team to make that moment truly magical. "We always remember with great affection a couple who got engaged in the Rose of the Winds room, where the winery's barrels are located, and every year for their wedding anniversary they return to the winery to celebrate it with us", says the marketing manager with great emotion.
4. Bodega Andeluna
If there is one feeling you get when you arrive in Mendoza's Uco Valley, it is that you can touch the Andes Mountains with your own hands. And of course, taking advantage of this unique location, wedding celebrations at Bodega Andeluna are already a true classic of classics.
With an idea centred 100% on the experience of each couple so that "they can enjoy the vineyards embraced by the mountains together with the wines and the fires, a key proposal in the development of the gastronomic offer, as well as the typical inputs of the region that are put in value with each creation of the menus" says Mariana Cerutti, head of hospitality of the winery, who recalls the ceremony of the knot of God in the celebration of the marriage of a foreign couple: "It is one of the most beautiful anecdotes we have experienced at Andeluna, which consists of a kind of religious rite that is performed when the couple for some reason cannot get married in church. The bride makes a braid with three strands and turns it into a single braid. Each thread represents one of the protagonists of the ritual: white represents the bride, violet the groom and gold God. In a way this rite is to symbolise that the marriage union will not be broken.
5. Susana Balbo Wines
And of course, in addition to the presence of the mountain and the vineyard, the location of a winery can define the choice of a couple to celebrate their wedding. "We started with family events, such as my wedding in 2014, and then spontaneously several people who got to know the winery through the restaurant -among them many wedding planners- and were interested in the view and above all the location -only 30 minutes away from downtown Mendoza, Ana Lovaglio, marketing manager of Susana Balbo Wines, located in Agrelo, in the heart of the first zone of Mendoza, begins, adding that in many celebrations they also like to learn the secrets of the winery and even add wine activities such as "blending art".
Getting married in a vineyard is no longer a decision only for wine sybarites, but for couples who want to live a totally different experience on a day full of happiness and, at the same time, take home a postcard not only of an incomparable landscape but also of flavours and dreamed wines as a souvenir of their great celebration.
Nota: Mariana Gil Juncal
Medio: Vinetur