Originally from Bordeaux, Noguiez has nearly 35 years of winemaking experience including winemaking stints in New Zealand, Australia and Uruguay. In 1998 he worked for four years at Terrazas de los Andes in Mendoza, before heading back to France to work as a technical consultant with Oenodev (now Vivelys) looking after the Argentinian, Chilean and Californian markets. Providing technical and operational support from the vineyard to the winery, Noguiez notes this was also an ideal way for him to keep up relationships in Argentina.
In 2013, when Alejandro Bulgheroni expanded his wine businesses to France, he asked Noguiez to head up the operations and winemaking at Château Suau and Château de Langalerie in Bordeaux. After 13 years with the group, Bulgheroni’s proposal for him to move back to Argentina as technical director at Grupo Avinea was “a surprise and a pleasure,” Noguiez says.
Groupo Avinea's new technical director, Franck Noguiez: looking “to get the best from all of our properties.”
Noguiez started the new role formally on 1 July, but the transition started in December last year, spending harvest with the team in Mendoza and going back to check on the wines after fermentation. He has still been overseeing operations in Bordeaux and will move out to Mendoza with his family in August. As managing director as well as winemaker in Bordeaux, Noguiez jokes that “it will be easier for me in Argentina, I will just be focused on viticulture and winemaking!”
Noguiez tells me he is looking forward to the new role, “because I think they have built a beautiful thing, but there is still a lot to do,” adding that he is always looking “to get the best from all of our properties.”
Achillea used as a cover crop at Vina Artesano, Paraje Altamira
Increasing biodiversity
Part of that search for excellence includes an R&D programme the company has been running for the last five years to increase biodiversity. Through cover crop trials of autochthonous species of flowers, Viña Artesano has been able to see which species best benefits which plots. This project, called MatrizViva, initially led to the production of five top-end wines, three of which were launched in the UK market in November 2025, named after the flowers chosen as the best for each site: Nassella in Gualtallary, Achillea in Paraje Altamira and Gazania in Alto Agrelo.
Noguiez explains that cover crops can reduce soil temperature by up to 10°C degrees, having a big effect on the ecosystem in the vineyard. To make great wine with a sense of place, Noguiez says, “we have to have the best grapes we can” which starts with healthy vines, and therefore healthy soil.
He tells me the philosophy of Viña Artesano is about craftsmanship, using years of experience to improve year on year. Rather than just planting good material and letting it do its own thing, he believes “we have to help a bit more than just planting and waiting - it is up to us to try to get the best of those places.”
That philosophy extends to the winery, with Noguiez telling me he wants to make modern wines, fruity, fresh and easy, “but we don’t have to make something just simple. I think when you have the beautiful grapes that we have, we have to add all that we know about winemaking.”
Piedraviva premium wines
This year Viña Artesano is expanding beyond its ‘flowers’ range with three additional ranges for the on-trade in the UK: Piedraviva, premium wines from the Uco Valley; Trescencia, Malbec and Cabernet Franc; and Veraprima, entry-level Malbec and Pinot Grigio. Off-trade options from the group come from Bodega Argento, which is expanding into the off-trade after 15 years concentrating on on-trade.
I tasted through some of the new Piedraviva range as well as the three premium ‘flowers’ wines:
Piedraviva Gualtallary Chardonnay 2024
This is from a plot at 1400m, with a sandy layer over limestone. It has a beautifully floral nose with a lovely silky texture and salinity on the palate. Partial ageing in oak puncheons is used to keep the oak minimal and retain a balanced concentration of fruit.
Piedraviva Gualtallary Malbec 2024
This Malbec has lovely aromatic berry fruits on the nose, fresh and fruity. When I remark upon the herbal aromas Noguiez says they are specific to Gualtallary, smelling like the jarilla (creosote bush) which grows there. A small percentage of whole bunches brings fruitiness while the same streak of salinity appears on the finish.
Piedraviva Altamira Malbec 2024
From soil with large stones and more calcium carbonate than Gualtallary, bringing deeper, earthier aromas, more black fruit and a different texture with soft smooth tannins.
MatrizViva – Viña Artesano's flowers range
Achillea Malbec 2021
Thisis from a dedicated 4-hectare plot in Paraje Altamira. Achillea flowers are important for attracting bees and other insects with their flowering season. Deep clay loam soils bring depth and concentration to the wine, with 18 months in untoasted French oak foudres bringing complexity and roundness while 25-30% whole bunches help retain freshness with lifted herbal and floral notes.
Gazania Cabernet Franc 2022
From a 1-hectare plot at 980m in Agrelo. Gazania flowers help to control the vigour of Cabernet Franc and regulate yields, something the variety needs for quality. With no leafy character or pyrazines to detect, it’s more savoury and spicy with lovely tannins and dark fruit. Cabernet Franc is fast becoming one of my favourite grapes from Argentina, and this is a great example of why.
Nassella Chardonnay 2022
This is from a plot at 1450m in Gualtallary. Nassella plants help to prevent the sandy topsoils of this plot being eroded by wind. A beautiful nose of almond blossom evolves into elegant citrus and dense ripe fruit on the palate, with great acidity, freshness and depth. A little secret ingredient – a tiny drop of vin de voile (aged under a layer of flor) – is blended in for complexity. “I think it is an impressive wine” Noguiez says, and I would have to agree with him.
Viña Artesano wines are available through Freixenet Copestick.
