Don Tiburcio Benegas (1844-1908), entrepreneur, winery owner and several-time governor of the province of Mendoza, is regarded as a decisive driving force and winegrowing pioneer in Argentina. Together with Silvestre Ochagavía Errázuriz (1820-1883) in Chile and Agoston Haraszthy (1812-1869) in California, he is counted among the three formative pioneers of the modern wine industry on the American double continent.

In 1861, the old colonial city of Mendoza was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake. Benegas became the city's banker and organised the chaotic finances caused by the disaster. In 1870, he married Lubina Blanco, daughter of the landowner Don Eusebio Blanco. In 1872, he wrote "Las viñas y los vinos de Mendoza", the first fundamental handbook on Argentinean viticulture. This family connection and the close dialogue with his father-in-law deepened Benegas' interest in viticulture.
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Markus J. Eser
Weinakademiker und Herausgeber „Der Weinkalender“