This peaceful piece of paradise is located about 35 minutes from
San Rafael on a quiet country lane, and has served as home and spiritual
retreat to a Dutch farmer and his accomplished artist wife -- Nancy Hernandez --
for the past 10 years.
The artist hosted international artists' workshops there, and the couple has
been famous for spectacular dinner parties, brunches and traditional
Argentine barbeques, which remain fond memories for the hundreds of
locals and foreigners who ventured there. Every occasion was a
special one. The wine flowed with dish after dish, and often the
laughter would continue until early in the morning.
There are 25 acres of wine grapes, including about 11 acres of table
wine grapes, 3 acres of bonarda, 3 acres of syrah and 5 acres of malbec
fine wine grapes. About 3 acres of grapes are under netting, with another
9 acres ready to go. There are 30 plum trees in good production, another
1,000 new plums recently planted, 4 large old olive trees which they used
to cure their own olives, 50 new olive trees and 100 new mixed
fruit trees (mostly peaches).
Grape harvest from 2007 totalled just under 90,000 kilos, according to
figures verified by the Wine Institute. This represents 80 percent more grapes
than in 2006. Substantial gains are also projected for 2008 as the new
grape vines mature. The vineyard can be expected to continue producing
increasingly higher totals of grapes over the next three consecutive years.
The property also has mature peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums,
cherries, pears, apples, walnuts, quince, almonds and some blueberry plants.
The couple made their own wine on the finca (licensed by the wine
institute) and produced an assortment of jams, jellies and other products
from the fruit trees on the property.
The house -- totalling about 2,800 square feet -- is divided into two
sections, to accommodate guests, and has six bedrooms and three bathrooms,
an office, a cellar, a kitchen, pantry, and a dining room which accommodates
up to 25 guests. There is an additional 400-square-foot patio gallery under
cover that has also been used for dinner parties, etc. The house includes
some nice touches, such as hand-painted artwork on kitchen cabinets and on
various walls, and an interior design reflecting the artist's passion
for vivid colors and liveliness.
Other features include a windmill, a 700-square foot barn about 16 feet
in height, and a tractor with implements. There are 10 acres of fallow land
that could be put into further production, and 5,000 poplar trees for
windbreak and beauty that have been strategically planted over the past 3 years.
Located in a quiet section of La Llave Sur with almost no traffic, about
22 miles from San Rafael, the farm has electric, a well and Direct TV.
There are full water irrigation rights attached to the deed, which run
through the finca from government-controlled irrigation canals.
Satellite Internet has recently been installed, making this farm suitable for
running a home business, etc. The Internet set-up is optional, to be
negotiated separately.
In early December 2007 the owners also completed
the installation of a huge water holdng tank for the windmill. |
