THE BOMBAL FAMILY
Based on the book “Historias de Familias” by Jaime Correas.
In the early decades of the 18th century, in the French city of Limoges, Jean Bombal was born. Already an officer in the French army, he arrived in Buenos Aires. Here, he married María Sastre Lynch, a young woman from high society, with whom he had a son: Juan, who settled in Mendoza around 1760.
Juan Bombal married Isabel Valenzuela in 1779. The marriage produced four children, the youngest of whom, Ignacio, married Ramona Ugarte in 1887. He also held the rank of second lieutenant in the Cavalry Militia of Mendoza in 1813. They had six children. The fifth, Domingo, would eventually become an influential figure in Mendoza’s politics.
Domingo Bombal Ugarte
born in Mendoza and served as the governor of the province a remarkable 11 times between 1863 and 1890.
Domingo Bombal had an intense public career. In the 1861 earthquake, his first wife, Nemesia Videla, passed away, leaving behind three sons: Domingo, Jorge, and Ignacio. His daughters also perished in the disaster along with their mother.
Six years after the earthquake, Domingo entered into a second marriage with Delfina Obredor, with whom he had three children: Ricardo, Pedro, and Elvira.
One of the sons from Domingo Bombal’s first marriage, Ignacio Bombal Videla, married Lucila Barrionuevo Pescara in 1887. They had two children: Domingo Lucas and María Mercedes. Dr. Ignacio Bombal served as a judge, appellate judge, and senator. He passed away at a young age, and his wife took charge of the family business.
Lucila Barrionuevo Pescara de Bombal
She was an extraordinary figure. Born on July 8, 1869, in Guaymallén, where the Murialdo school now stands – on land she herself donated to the Josephine Fathers. She lived at 156 Catamarca Street, but her main residence was in Rodeo del Medio.
Doña Lucila advocated with ecclesiastical authorities for the founding of a religious school for girls. In 1901, she donated a 45-hectare plot of land, including her grandparents’ house. This is where the Congregation of the Sisters of María Auxiliadora and the Don Bosco school were established.
After the new house was built and baptized as San Ignacio in memory of her husband, Doña Lucila went to Europe to seek the best education for her children. Domingo Lucas attended the aristocratic Eton College in London, and his sister María Mercedes enrolled in a religious school in the same city. Later, Domingo Lucas would complete his studies at Cambridge.
In 1907, grieving the death of her daughter María Mercedes, Lucila decided that Domingo Lucas should stay in London while she returned to her home in Rodeo del Medio. In 1925, for her work with the humble, the Vatican decided to honor Doña Lucila with a gold medal, diploma, and noble title from the Santa Sede. To receive the distinction, she traveled to Rome and was received by Pope Pius XI.
Lucila Barrionuevo de Bombal was the one who initiated the family into the wine business. In 1914, along with Pedro Bombal Obredor, her husband’s half-brother, she founded a winery under the name Bombal, Melero Rodríguez y Compañía. The wine brands were Bristol, Bombal, and, a few years later, Chateau d’Ancón.
Money was never lacking in Lucila’s home, and neither was charity. “When her grandmother, Doña Escolástica Hilarnes, donated two adjoining houses in the city of Mendoza for the foundation of the Don Bosco school, Lucila accompanied her in the proceedings. This experience led her to offer 30 hectares of cultivable land on her property in Rodeo del Medio for Salesian Congregation religious to establish an agricultural school, which was realized in 1901 under the name of Colegio Vitivinícola Don Bosco,” said Rubén Peruzzi, director of the Rodeo del Medio Cultural Center.
Doña Lucila donated her house in Villa Nueva for the construction of the Leonardo Murialdo school, one of the dozens of contributions she generously made to Mendoza society over her 85 years. Doña Lucila passed away on May 22, 1955; her remains rest in the chapel of María Auxiliadora in Rodeo del Medio.
Domingo Lucas Bombal
Upon returning from England in 1917, Domingo Lucas Bombal, born in Mendoza on October 18, 1892, took charge of the family businesses. Over time, these businesses included not only the winery but also extensive land holdings in Mendoza, Santa Fe, and San Luis. In 1919, a town was born in Santa Fe, currently named Bombal in his honor.
In Tupungato, Bombal owned significant properties: Ancón and the La Carrera and Las Cuevas estates. The three fields totaled 45,000 hectares. They also owned the Los Molles hot springs. La Carrera raised livestock: sheep, horses, and mules. In Las Cuevas, they produced Tupungato cheese, of which 80,000 kilograms were made in 1929 using milk from Friburgo cows. Ancón was home to numerous walnut and chestnut trees. On this property, Chateau d’Ancón was built, a truly castle-like structure constructed with all imaginable refinement as a summer family residence.
Domingo Lucas Bombal met Katherine Harrison West in Paris and later married her.
In addition to his businesses in Mendoza, he had a factory in Poitiers, France, producing Celtic typewriters and sewing machines. He also owned a mansion on Jena Avenue in Paris, near the Arc de Triomphe, where important works of art were displayed.
From his marriage to Katherine Harrison West, Domingo Lucas had two daughters: Lucila Isabel and María Lorine.
Lucila Isabel Bombal
Those who knew her say that the owner of the magical and charming palace from the old world was a beauty and a queen at the same time: Lucila Bombal. She infused her style and legacy into every corner of the Chateau.
“The owner of the magical and regal palace with the charm of the old world is a beauty and a queen: Lucila Bombal. Her beauty is alluring, seductive, and intoxicating. Her silky blonde hair falls from the tortoiseshell brooch along the elegantly curved neckline. High cheekbones, sapphire eyes, and finely curved lips exude elegance and beauty.”
“She captivated her visitors with her sophisticated English accent, inherited from her father educated at Eton. With a broad culture and a keen interest in geopolitics and literature, she conveyed her passion for livestock and crops. Fun-loving and humane, she adored her workers.
Lucila radiated sophistication thanks to her majestic education and has welcomed some of the most prominent people in the world to her estate here on the outskirts of Mendoza, Argentina.”
A LOVE BETWEEN PAGODAS AND VINES, WITHOUT BORDERS AND ETERNAL
Lucila Bombal and Jorge Bailey met at a conference on the Orient given by Jorge, and they never separated again. Initially, he shared his passion for that ancient culture with her, and they traveled through Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Later, Lucila imparted her love for her lands and people to him. Together, they worked tirelessly, witnessing the prosperity of their plantations and winery. They enjoyed transforming the Chateau to host high-level guests, emphasizing quality, exclusivity, intimacy, the experience of the environment, unique landscapes, and local products. Above all, they maintained the traditional human warmth of the Bombal family.
Today, with Jorge Bailey at the helm, it reopens, revitalized, highlighting the spirit and enduring legacy always present and inspiring from Lucila, with her brilliant, cultured, and refined character that we want to honor at every moment and in every corner.
Ours is a story of love for our land and family, for work, for the product, for guests, and for a renewed affection for our past and future, continuing to do what we have done so far—sharing ourselves. A luxury surrounded by nature. A place to fall in love or renew vows.