CV
50
Born: Monaco
Lives: Palermo
Education: French Baccalaureate, also studied accounting
Profession: President of Bodega Marco Zunino
Currently reading: The daily papers
Last film: Relatos Salvajes
Gadget: I'm a tech addict – iPhone, iPad...
Over the years, Monaco-born Frenchman Marc Zunino has been in various lines of work, including textiles and automobiles. An unexpected romance with Argentina led him to make a permanent move to the capital almost seven years ago: he now co-owns a winery and has absolutely no regrets about the decision.
Marc says: “I moved to Buenos Aires in 2008 but had been here five times over the past 25 years. My first visit was in 1986 and from then on I came out every five years or so. I travelled a lot for work as well as pleasure and while I loved Latin America, Argentina had an attraction that I couldn’t – and still cannot – define.
“Back then I had a large textiles company based in Morocco and Monaco, where I was born and lived for most of my life, but in 2008 I sold that company and decided, more or less within an hour, that I would move to Argentina.”
Landlubber
After 20 years of working across several industries, Argentina was a dream, he says, though he did not know the difficulties that the labour market could present. And while making wine had never been on the cards in France, Marc knew that Mother Earth would somehow be involved. He says: “I’ve always changed job every several years – I had a car dealership, I’ve imported car oil from Africa, and also worked for Mercedes. But when I came here, I really wanted to get involved with land.
“I arrived on April 20, 2008, and my aim was to retire and take things easy as I had enough money to live on. But I realized very quickly I wanted to live here so I bought a house, then set about searching for a new project related to land. I had no idea back then that I would end up making wine! But I travelled around the country, north to south and east to west, looking for a project and while I was on that search, I met my now business partner Ronan Guevel. He had already kicked off the winery project and in fact it turned out that we’d already met via the French embassy.
“He took me to San Rafael in Mendoza for the first time – it’s a magnificent zone, and I loved the estate, the area, the vineyards, everything. Ronan had started a small project that aimed to produce 40,000 bottles a year but I told him I’d always had large companies and that I couldn’t have such a small winery, so we decided to up the numbers by 20.”
Settling right in
In the early days, Marc rented a place close to Plaza Serrano and after a week, was looking to buy a property: that was the force of his new relationship with Argentina. He says: “I didn’t speak a word of Spanish, though I do speak Italian as my mum is from Italy. I like the people, the accent, the slang, everything! The difficulty with this country is, however, is with regard to labour as it’s hard to work well here. There are a lot of hurdles, such as bureaucracy, the administration and the Central Bank. Lots of documents need to be filled in and adhered to, documents that don’t exist any more in Europe! I used to live in the most simple country in the world, Monaco, so it was hard to get used to. But to avoid additional problems, we decided to sell our wine abroad.
“But on the plus side, there is a lot of freedom in comparison with Europe. When we built the winery, for example, we decided the plan from one night to the next morning – and we started construction the very next day. It’s a lot quicker in Argentina, provided you stay within the legal parameters. It would be impossible to get authorized so fast in Europe. But in general, there are lots more positives than negatives – there have to be, else I would have already left!”
Marc still lives in Palermo Viejo although he doesn’t own this particular property: “Our three-million-dollar investment in the winery meant the money I made from selling my Palermo house went straight into that. I love the neighbourhood and Buenos Aires. There are lots of areas that I like, but Palermo is very attractive. I know all my neighbours, for example, and there’s a very local feel – that’s very distinctive given that Buenos Aires is the third-largest city in South America.
“It’s also very cultural and you can do whatever you like here: take piano lessons, drawing or painting classes – you can do whatever you like and at a reasonable cost. I always liked to paint, for example, but I never did it in France. But I found a workshop here, in an old house with an 80-year-old teacher who’s dedicated her whole life to fine arts. Half the pupils are psychoanalysts and as I’ve been through psychoanalysis, that’s creates an interesting atmosphere – I love going to my workshop!”
Olympian in the making
One of Marc’s other interests reverts back to his passion for land and the countryside. He says: “I love the fact that I can keep horses in the city. I can go every afternoon yet live in the centre of Buenos Aires – that would be totally impossible in Paris or London. My mare is here in Palermo and I can go and see her in 10 minutes. My other one is out in the countryside 100 km away. We’re training the mother for the Olympic Games – she hasn’t completed all the jumps as yet but my business partner and I think we have a great chance at competing. I can jump but I can’t jump this type of horse, so I won’t be competing on her!
“The mare would be representing Argentina of course. I’m French but in my mind I’m Argentine. When I say ‘we grow soy’ for example, I mean all of us together! I have my documents, my DNI, my business and life here, so I feel very Argentine.”
Marc enjoys the varied nightlife and dining scene that Buenos Aires offers, and has a mixture of friends that includes other foreigners and Argentines. He says: “In the beginning, we had a lot of French friends as I didn’t speak any Spanish so I couldn’t really have any Argentine ones. There are a lot of French people living in this city! But after a year, I started to make Argentine friends, and there are more in my social group now than French ones. But I don’t mix the two groups to keep the linguistics simple.”
After six years living in Buenos Aires, Marc says his most Argentine characteristic is keeping his cool. He adds: “I’m more relaxed and less exacting than I used to be, plus I often think that matters can wait until tomorrow.”
@sorrelmw