THE EMPIRE OF
ALEJANDRO
W
ith wine projects on four continents, you would think that
Argentine native, Alejandro Bulgheroni had wine flowing
through his blood, or at least had grown up on a vineyard. This
is not the case. Bulgheroni’s family owned cattle ranches in
Argentina and the family fortune was actually made in energy;
the international oil and gas industry. Bulgheroni’s father founded
Bridas Corporation in 1948. It provided parts for the national oil
industry in Argentina.
Alejandro Bulgheroni was born in Rufino, Santa Fe Province,
Argentina, to a Spanish mother and an Italian father, also called
Alejandro Bulgheroni. He was educated at the University of Buenos
Aires, from where he obtained a degree in Industrial Engineering
and went to work for his father when he was just 22.
power and renewable energy to the portfolio. In 2011 they sold
50% to CNOOC, China’s state overseas oil company for $3.1
billion. In 2017, Bridas joined forces with BP to form the largest
privately owned energy company in Argentina.
In the 1990s, Bulgheroni bought a large property in Uruguay near
the tony beach town of Punta del Este, an hour and a half from
Montevideo, where he planted olive trees and built a wind farm.
He also reached out to a friend with a long history in Argentina’s
wine industry, Carlos Pulenta, to talk about growing grapes on his
property in Uruguay. Pulenta in turn called his wine consultant
Alberto Antonini and Bulgheroni’s first wine project was launched;
Bodega Garzón. Bulgheroni didn’t stop there. He was hooked.
In a short time, Bulgheroni made several investments in wine
He and his late brother, Carlos Bulgheroni (Carlos died of cancer projects from Argentina to Australia. Some of these projects started
in 2016) took over the company in 1985, eventually adding wind from scratch and others are centuries old.
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THE MARK WINE NEWS