“With no respect for the land we wouldn’t get wines like ours”

Miguel Ángel Benito, oenologist at Dehesa del Carrizal

Share ->


Miguel Ángel Benito, the oenologist at Dehesa del Carrizal since 1998, is one of the people who better know our plot and its possibilities when producing unique wines. He enjoys the simple pleasures, like walking on the mountains or tasting a good cod stew, but above all, he enjoys his job.

When did your relationship with the world of the vineyard start?

When I was still a child; my family had vineyards and I’ve always been bound to that world. 

What are your memories from those years?

I remember going with my dad to the countryside… helping out as much as I could… in a way I grew up in that world.

Eventually you choose to commit yourself professionally to the wine sector. What attracts you the most in your job?

I think the most interesting thing is the challenge of facing a different year every time. I’m referring to the conditions; when producing a good wine everything that matters changes from one year to the next… that means that each new season’s a new challenge. What was useful last year could be useless this one, so you have to be constantly alert. In this job you cannot relax, just the opposite. Every year’s different.

And isn’t it somehow frustrating to start from scratch every year?

Well, we don’t actually start from scratch. Some things don’t change from one season to the next… but the external agents do change every year and in my opinion that’s the beautiful thing about my job. It’s not frustrating, not at all… just the opposite. Every year there are new vintages and the challenge’s to always obtain wines with the highest quality.

And is that easy to achieve?

No, it’s not… it’s very complicated. That’s why when you keep a quality standard throughout time and it’s recognized you feel encouraged. It’s very gratifying. And it doesn’t have to be a great prize, it could be simply someone telling you “this wine’s really good”. 

But winning the Grand Gold Bacchus is more satisfying, isn’t it?

Now, something of that sort is very heartening because it’s a very important prize, of course, and it provides media visibility. On the other hand, someone telling you “hey, this wine gets ten out of ten”… that’s also a prize, right?

What does it take to get a Grand Gold Bacchus? Is there a secret?

I don’t think there’s a secret… only a great wine wins such a prize, perhaps with a little luck… the jury has to like it, they have to opt for certain features your wine has… but the secret’s making a great wine.

So what does it take to make a great wine?

A great work, both in the vineyard and in the winery. Personally, I don’t think a great wine can be made by working very well in the winery and paying no attention to the vineyard or the other way round. In my opinion, the secret’s to watch out in both places. At Dehesa del Carrizal, for instance, we go to a lot of effort in the vineyard, for obtaining a quality grape is essential to us. Then, a lot of work has to be done in the winery, of course, but without an exceptional grape it’d be impossible to produce an exceptional wine. The key? To choose the perfect moment of ripeness and the right time of maceration. 

The motto of Dehesa del Carrizal is “in harmony with the land”. Why?

Because that’s the way it is. We do respect the land and we also believe that’s the right way to make a good wine: to look after the land in order to obtain an excellent raw material; and then to handle it with care, to avoid crushing the grape. With no respect for the land we’d never get wines like ours.

What are the wines of Dehesa del Carrizal like?

Oh! Very good! (he laughs)… good and unique. They embody those elements peculiar to our estate which, I think, pass on their distinct sensations. We’ve always had the idea of creating a particular wine, unique, so that when people taste it they can say “it’s a Dehesa del Carrizal”.

Can the wines of Dehesa del Carrizal be considered as signature wines?

No, they cannot. In our wines the main figure is the terroir. In a signature wine the person who produces it is more important than the terroir, that’s not our case. We don’t give it a personal touch, and by personal I mean that of a person. We prefer that touch to be given by our soil. These terms are sometimes mixed up and I think it’s important to differentiate them, because a wine such as ours —a wine whose prominence resides in the terroir— accentuates different features than a signature wine does.

As an oenologist, do you have to keep an eye on trends, what’s consumed at present or the tendency to be followed in the medium term?

We don’t focus on that, on the near future trend. It’s true that some other wineries do, for they have a huge production and they have to meet a considerable demand. In that type of wineries they do think about what will be consumed in the medium term, but we don’t pay attention to which grape will be preferred in four years time. Our focus is on creating wines Dehesa del Carrizal, with their own touch.

Tell us a secret… among all the wines of Dehesa del Carrizal, which one’s your favourite? Is it Petit Verdot, the one that won the Grand Gold Bacchus?

(He smiles) To be honest… Cabernet Sauvignon.

Why?

Well, it was my first vintage at Dehesa del Carrizal and I’m particularly fond of it. It’s the most complex to produce… and yet, it always gives me a great satisfaction. 

When you order a wine in a restaurant, do you enjoy it or are you always in the role of the oenologist who has to analise it as a professional?

I do enjoy it… wine must be enjoyed. Even if it’s my role, I also enjoy it, sure.

What’s your favourite meal?

Oh! It’s hard to pick one… I don’t know… it depends somehow on the season. I love soups and stews, a potaje de bacalao (cod stew), a marmitako (tuna and potato stew)… but it depends on the day, the time of the year…

To go with a good Spanish stew?

Cabernet Sauvignon by Dehesa del Carrizal (he smiles).

The last one: winning the Grand Gold Bacchus, is it a satisfaction or a responsibility?

(He laughs) Well, it’s both things… on the one hand you feel proud, on the other hand you know you’ll have to be at the cutting edge the next year. Anyway, that’s the kind of responsibilities I like.

Contact

Finca Dehesa del Carrizal
Retuerta del Bullaque
13194 - Ciudad Real
Spain [Ver mapa]

Tel: 925 421 773    Fax: 925 421 761
email: info@dehesadelcarrizal.com

Newsletter

Introduce your email to receive our newsletter.

Como apoyo al proceso de Internacionalización, Dehesa del Carrizal ha desarrollado un Plan Individual de Promoción Exterior con objetivos de tener su marca registrada a nivel internacional y conseguir nuevos mercados en los países siguientes: Puerto Rico, Colombia y Perú.
Para llevar a cabo esta actuación, ha contado con el apoyo financiero de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La-Mancha, a través del IPEX, así como con la cofinanciación del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) en el marco del Programa operativo 2014-2020.
dehesadelcarrizal
Copyright © 2024 Finca Dehesa del Carrizal