Over 100 Hundred Years of History
The Tonelli Family has owned estates for many years in Mendoza, in the province's best wine countries such as Medrano and Luján de Cuyo. Luis Tonelli, who was born in Tuscany, specifically in the City of Luca, moved from Italy in the 19 th century and in the lands of Mendoza, with its climate so similar to that of his homeland, he devoted to growing vines. He built his house and the first vineyard in the area of General Luzuriaga and there he married Teresa Bianchi. His 10 children were born there too and he youngest one, Italo Tonelli, studied in Buenos Aires like his brothers, and after becoming an Agricultural Engineer, continued to work at the estates and vineyards in Luzuriaga and Medrano.
The major newspaper in the Province of Mendoza, Diario Los Andes, published an article in 1971 that was titled, “One hundred years after the birth of Luis Tonelli, an industry pioneer is remembered.” This article refers how much the mendocino wine industry owes him, the knowledge he brought from Italy. He is referred to as a great advocate of winemaking. The article also explains the even the olive-growing life in the province is closely linked to Luis Tonelli. It was he who brought the first olive trees to Mendoza intended for plantations for industrial purposes. That was around 1903 by commission of Emilio Civit, who later became the province governor.
The company Luis Tonelli S.A. is devoted to winemaking and was founded in 1897, which makes it one of the oldest in the Province.
Italo Tonelli, now the second generation devoted to winemaking in Mendoza, was left with two important estates. They are called “Finca Tonelli” and “Finca La Capilla.” The two estates have an average annual production of 500,000 liters of fine wine, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, and Chardonnay grapes among others. This production historically has been sold to the major wineries in the province and the best wines are made with these grapes.
Jorge Gonzalo Faccas took over the estates when he married Maria Tonelli, Italo's daughter. They are the third generation. Although a surgeon, he led the wine company. His personality, his desire to do things to perfection and Maria, as an excellent companion, helped him keep the estates in excellent conditions and combine this work with his profession
Today we are one of the few estates with vineyards of very old fine grapes, which is the reason why they have a wine quality that is unequalled, something that can only be achieved with the years. Proof of this is the fact that the best wineries pay for the harvest in advance, just so we sell them our grapes. Enologist at these wine companies have always praised the quality of the grape we sent them from our estates, saying that it is the best grape they receive.
Knowing this, the fourth generation asked itself, “If we are suppliers to the major wineries and if they achieve excellent wines with these grapes, why shouldn't we accomplish the same? They had their mendocino heart, which always wanted to have its wine.
The idea was to change the family routine from being purely and exclusively producers of raw material and going to give that raw material an added value.
The Don Gonzalo label shows a chapel, which actually exists, and is the reason for the estate's name “La Capilla.” It was built by Italo Tonelli with the idea that his two daughters would marry there in the future. His dream finally came true, as Jorge and Maria were married in the chapel. Now the archbishopric of Mendoza has asked us to lend it to them to celebrate mass in the area.
In conclusion, we can say that Don Gonzalo is the sum of over 100 years of history of my family, a dream of the fourth generation, the excellent vineyards that make it possible to produce very good wine. All this added to the desire of everyone committed to this project to maintain the quality of this wine and to continue to improve day by day.
Gonzalo Faccas Tonelli.